After returning from Krakow, I felt that I had a better mindset towards materiality and how it supports my own practice-based research. I decided to get stuck in now by making things, this is another area of my own practice that I love to do. I decided to use the initial sketches that I had done previously to then transfer them over to my Mac by refining the letters. I decided to use Adobe Illustrator as this is part of my own practice as a graphic designer and is best accurate to use when designing for typography at this stage because working with grid systems seen in the images here allows you to create accuracy within your design decision-making.
 |
| The image shows the iteration and development stages created by Jordan Jones (2023) |
Whilst exploring the Alef letter by design, I decided to look into the work of designer and typographer Nigel Cottier. I knew that I had a copy of Cottier's Letterform Variation book, so I decided to explore in great depth to see if I could find any visual connotations towards such structures that could be implemented into my development of the Alef letter.
Scanned image of Nigel Cottier's book Letterform Variations (2021)
|
From the initial discovery of the front cover, I was able to analyse the visual forms of the letter A which alludes towards such angularity structures that for me hold great value within the overall design of the Alef letter.
 |
| Scanned image of Nigel Cottier's book Letterform Variations |
As well as such forms of angularity within the work of Cottier, it is clear to me that his work also supports modularity in type design. This is another important aspect to consider in dealing with letter forms, as most of the time modularity is considered when dealing with building letter forms within a systematic approach. Layla Panham writes in The-Brand Identity that, "Cottier’s modular systems are built within expansive design spaces that facilitate the production of an almost infinite range of outputs" (Panam, 2022). This for me addresses my current exploration of the letter Alef and highlights that I can be rather expansive with my designs whilst considering the outputs to which the letter will be designed.
Scanned image of Nigel Cottier's book Letterform Variations
|
From the research into the work of Cottier, I decided to adapt my current letterforms in accordance to the methods that Cottier uses in his approach. This was done by analysing the iterations and adaptations of my current designs via Illustrator by developing Alef within a grid structure and the snaps-to-grid feature. This allowed me to explore further within the confinements of having some form of structure in place to allow each letter form to visualise balance and readability. This was important to me as the letters needed to be legible so that you could identify them as the letter Alef.
 |
| The image shows the iteration and development stages created by Jordan Jones (2023) |
I feel that exploring each design in colour as well as using black in some of the designs, has allowed me to appreciate the power and simplicity of working with black. This is because "Black is the strongest of the neutral colours. On the positive side, it’s commonly associated with power, elegance, and formality" (Colour Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Colour — Smashing Magazine, 2010).
 |
The image shows the iteration and development stages created by Jordan Jones (2023)
|
As you can see from above the design development for each variation of the letter Aleph connotes a strong visual presence of a modernised nature which is something that I want to explore further whilst adapting key features in this letter so that it supports my question of research. These designs will be now used as part of my ongoing practice-based research in print design. I can't help but distinguish each design through the type characteristics of the letters N and X of the Latin alphabet. I feel also that some of these designs connote a visual response to a monograph-type logo which to me is rather interesting to discover at this stage.
Now that I have these designs developed, I will be exploring them further from the use of print design, this will reflect a form of materiality and show my continual journey into my own practice.
Comments
Post a Comment