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.

the eco zoo :: find+share

The EcoZoo. A cute interactive website that utilizes fun 3D graphics to educate viewers about energy conservation. The user is about to view things from all angles, and can sometimes reveal details they hadn't seen previously.

Oh...and a new vinyl toy has been added to my collection:

ia::more revisions

revised the site's title a little - rearranged the revealed infographic compositions.

still need to find better images for my two informational pages.

ia:: more website compositions

ia:: website brainstorming

Still working on titles for my website.

• vinyl core
  
• vinyl vision
  
• vinyl initiative
  
• vinyl mayhem
  
• vinyl clutter
  
• pliant playthings
  
• designer vinyl
  
• master of monster
• plastic menagerie
• limited editions
• eclectic playthings
• plastic playground
• vinyl variants

ia:: website layouts+interactivity

IA: layout revisions+ object renders

99% conference::find+share

The 99% conference from behance. click it.

"99% is a conference that focuses less on inspiration, and more on how idea generation and organization come together to make ideas happen. 99% brings together some of the world's most productive creative visionaries to offer a sneak peek into their processes, and share insights on how they bring their ideas to life."

info arch:: wireframes

Basic layout - user scrolls left/right to view the collection. Fixed top-oriented navigation menu.

Clicking "sort collection" reveals a secondary menu, with options on how the user can sort the aforementioned collection. Clicking one will rearrange the collection appropriately.
Clicking on a specific toy will reveal information about the toy/brand, with photographs, infographs, etc. User can repeat this process on the other items as well.

Left-oriented menu bar, with simple rectangular graphics to denote hierarchy of the navigational items.

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.

Wurman - POV reading

question: How did this reading effect your view point on the project readings?

One of the first things that Wurman's reading called to mind was the concept of selective incorporation in my high school politics class. We all have our own set of biases in regards to what we see and understand. Perhaps this is our own way of outlining information in our minds, just as we outline text with bullet points and numbers in a word processor.

That being said, we place emphasis on the points in a story that we feel is important; but that in itself can be a very subjective process.

As far as effecting my point of view on the project readings - I looked over my outlines again, this time analyzing what I thought was important. If Vignelli or McCoy were to make outlines of these, would they have emphasized the same points and quotes?