What is graphic design for?

Are you a comic sans criminal? I stumbled across this website and I really like it. Not only does it play on the fact the most serious graphic designers and typographers hate comic sans with a passion, but it actually gives some information as well. It says why it was originally designed, when it has been used inappropriately and when are the only reasons to use this font, one being that dyslexics find it easier to read (although it explains that there are far better fonts to be used than comic sans for these reasons).

http://comicsanscriminal.com/

This website is great to look at as well, I love the colour scheme and think that it merges well with the type and layout used. It's a good thing the type works as it is slagging off another font, so to mess up your own typography would be awful and quite contradictory.

It also has helpful links to crack that comic sans habit. These include:

Alternative comic book fonts

Alternative dyslexia fonts

Type DNA

Text and Image

 I didn't find much in the book 'Type and Image' that appealed to me for this particular project, but there were a few images that I might take influence from in my final designs.

This image, in all its simplicity I particularly like. It highlights how type can be a strong enough image without overdecorating it with over the top illustrations. 

New Illustration With Type

 Another book I have been looking at, 'New Illustration with Type'. This is quite similar to some of the type I have already been looking at, but also had a few gems in there that have sparked some ideas for me.

Some graffiti art. I don't intend to go around the streets graffitiing, I was initially attracted to these images because of their aesthetic value. I really like the contrasting colour combinations and the thick, bold black outlines that make them pop out at you. Although nice to look at they are a little illegible.

Something I have come across a few times before and have always really liked. An innovative way of using type on different surfaces, and experimenting with different medias to make your idea different.

This I really like, but it would be quite hard to achieve myself. I might experiment with inks however that may create a similar, yet more hand rendered effect.

 A couple of pieces of scribbled down conversations and doodles made by my room mate. She has a tendency to write down what we are talking about without us knowing. Some of these snippets of conversations are quite funny and I'll probably use them within my work.

Playful Type

To help with the development of my designs I have been looking at a book called Playful Type. I really like some of the designs and it has opened up my mind to how different type can be when you play around with it and just be a little bit creative.

A really nice invent full way to make a word that little bit different. The way it literally leaps out of the page is both attention grabbing and and aesthetically pleasing.

This hand rendered piece is lovely, and i can particularly see it working with conversations, as the letters and words flow together and are interlinked just like a conversation.

I think I want to use a similar style to this with the quote from a conversation I overheard at college, 'I heard that Prince William is Friends with Snoop Dogg'. I think this would work well as incorporating image with type would highlight the difference between the two personalities of Prince William and Snoop Dogg. 

I love this image, the colours are attractive but also the individual words are illustrated in a way that communicates its individual meaning, something that would definitely work when using illustrative type when communicating conversations.

I like how these phrases have been illustrated, they remind me a bit of the work by Kate Moross that I have looked at previously. I am really fond of Kate Moross' work and I can see the similarity in style here.

 I love the media used here, it would definitely work well within my project and I intend to buy some etching boards if I can find some!

 Brilliant how the words themselves have been used to create an image.This may prove to be quite difficult to do myself but worth a try.

Words that have been created by shaping and moulding salt on a flat surface. I really like the temporality of this, which is quite similar to a conversation itself... passing conversations I suppose are rarely recorded and are gone without anyone realising.

Overheard in Court

I have just found another really interesting website, it consists of real conversations and things that have been said in court. A really good example of how things are lot funnier and more interesting when said in a serious situation or scenario. This makes me think of maybe using serious quotes out of context, which will change the way they are read or percieved.


http://rinkworks.com/said/courtroom.shtml

What is graphic design for?

 I have come across a clever way of merging illustration and photography by Ben Heine. These images aren't particularly trying to solve a problem as such, but are there for their aesthetic. I think they just pull you in because of there cleverness and creativeness. A lot of patience must have gone in to these to get them lined up properly. My personal favourite is the burning face.

http://thewondrous.com/amazingly-creative-drawing-vs-photography/

http://subnav.com/2008/06/12/dynamix-hip-hop-beatstrumentals-mix-by-dj-nels/

 

http://writers-connection.noblogs.org/post/2008/04/

I really like these images of type, I think that the monochrome look is very effective, although it may be less attention grabbing when viewed initially.

What is Graphic design for?

I think this is brilliant! So creepy, but hilarious... definitely evokes a reaction, something your not going to forget about in a hurry! I've shown loads of people and it definitely makes you cringe. I like how they've used a really simple idea to make you interact with the advert, very effective. This could work on television but I think its supposed to be solely an online video which to me seems more appropriate. 

I found some really helpful websites relating directly to my What is a Line brief. They are called 'Overheard in London' and 'Overheard in New York'. People write or email in conversations that they find interesting or funny and they get rated by people who view the website. I am going to scour these sites and find my favourites to use.

http://www.overheardinlondon.co.uk/ 
 http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/


I also found an archive dedicated to gossip overheard on the London underground.

http://www.themanwhofellasleep.com/gossip.html