xheight::downloads

widget v1.0

widget v2.0

ecard

type iv:: revised website layout

Revised my wireframes/layouts of the XHEIGHT webpage from Wednesday. Final site will be built in Flash. Go AS3.0!

type iv:: artifact designs

Website layout still needs refinement...

type iv:: XHEIGHT Widget v2.0

Revised the original XHEIGHT widget - made it a bit smaller, and included meters for hours, minutes and seconds. Also, there's a button on the back that links to our blog with info about the conference

Screenshot of it in action on my Dashboard.

To download it, click here.

type iv:: xheight: now with dashboard widget!

a simple dashboard countdown widget made for our XHEIGHT conference:

Screenshot of said widget in action:

When the clock hits zero, the widget is programmed to detonate your laptop, therefore forcing the user to make hand-rendered typography.

Just kidding...it'll just throw some positive words your way about attending and whatnot.

Still need to figure how to code it to countdown hours, minutes, seconds.

You can download it here.

type conference :: x-height

"X-HEIGHT"
non-digital typography in a modern era.

In typography, the 'x-height' refers to the distance between the baseline and the mean line in a typeface. The median, if you will. Therefore, our conference is a meeting ground between non-digital typography in a modern digital age.
Our typographic conference will address the topic of non-digital and hand rendered typography. Things such as letterpress, unconventional materials and/or mediums, old type methods and processes. Activities include lectures from prominent designers and studios, demonstrations, exhibitions, and more. Even in today's increasingly digital world, non-digital typography still has a firm place in the field of design.

conference artifacts will include items such as: 

• t-shirts
  
• backpack/laptop cases
  
• armbands (to denote staff, administration, etc)
• schedules (with lanyard)
• website
• exhibition book (a print showcasing all of the gallery work and possibly some event photos. will be published post-conference.)
• convention dvd - an archive of conference highlights, lectures, etc.

Guest speakers at this event include Yee-Haw Industries and artists Eva Bachmann and Jonas Jaegar. Bachmann and Jaegar work in Wuerzburg, Germany. Their recent project, "Typotonic," explored the use of a liquid media (in this case, tonic water) in the rendering of typography. Using a pipette, they applied the tonic water to a flat surface. Afterwards, they digitalized their liquid type and created a truetype font, Aquabembo.

For more information, click here.

t4:: concept map

timeline

type iv:: baskerville liquid video

siphoning off the extra ink.


I began this project considering:

1.) How can hand rendered typography be affected by the surface(s) it exists on?
2.) How can it be controlled via the medium used?
3.) "             " transcend the page?
4.) "             "  reflect the designer's unique process?
5.) "             "  have a limited lifespan?

type iv - explorations

typeiv - hand rendered type objectives

questions:

• how can hand rendered typography be temporary?
• what happens when you apply it to a grid system?
• how can it raise environmental awareness?
  

through the study of different examples of hand-rendered typography, I chose to study in particular liquid typography. I was particularly inspired after looking at works/exhibits such as "Typotonic", from a German studio. Water/liquids are a free-form substance. So what happens when you apply it to a gridded system? But the selected medium here is in itself quite temporary - which addresses one of my aforementioned questions.

secondly, i am interested in the numerous ad campaigns around which seek to raise one's awareness of the situation our environment is in. these are almost always predominantly image-focused. which leads me to my third question: how can it raise environmental awareness? namely, how could hand generated typography be just as impactful as an image?

How can hand rendered typography...

1. bring depth to print?
2. have more legibility than digital typefaces?
3. reflect rhetorical devices?
4. extend the letterform?
5. reflect an artist's unique process?
6. have a limited lifespan?
7. transcend the page?
8. raise awareness of environmental issues?

hand rendered typography

Is handmade the new modern? I sure hope so.

The increasingly digital sphere we inhabit is filled with ever-increasing amounts of computer-generated graphics and typography - but hopefully, there are artists whom still don't mind working a bit harder when it comes to letterforms. After going through various blogs and design websites, I encountered numerous examples of hand rendered typography in today's graphic landscape. There's definitely a certain aesthetic to these handmade artifacts - something that can't always necessarily duplicated through digital means. But that doesn't mean we can't combine the digital with the more tactile qualities of handmade elements. Hand rendered type is fairly ubiquitous, and can be found in numerous places; whether it be posters, cd covers, album art, websites, titles, etc. Some of the artists I have found working in this field include Stefan Sagmeister, Ray Fenwick, Mike Perry (author of "Hand Job: a catalog of type."), Hjarta Smarta (did some works with sewn type), and Peter Blake.

Among Sagmeister's work, I was particularly attracted to his recent environmental "Urban Play" piece, which featured type which was made from thousands of euro pennies. While he could have easily made this on the computer, it puts itself onto a new level by being hand-rendered.

Whether or not the audiences we design for realize it, typography conveys mood, information, style, etc. While much of this can be conveyed through digital works, there are definitely numerous nuances that the handmade keeps in itself. Hand-drawn work is entirely shaped by their artist's unique process - tempered by things such as accidents, line, color or craft.