June 30, 2009

Congrats Stuart, er..uh - I mean Al

You're in luck....

I found it right away—But you can still do 2 covers if you like....


Neal

MJ Album Tribute

Considering our current project and as a tribute to "MJ" and his many album covers...

How it Began

I believe this may have been the first Jackson 5 album cover. This album cover comprises of a few different font types, both serif and san serif. the colors and wide typeface used for the "The Jackson 5" part screams 70's funk.




(image source: http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/J/jackson5_ross.html)


People ♥ Michael

Micheal's first solo album... I noticed the fiolex girls like font. The hearts give it away. I believe this font helped capture his target audience of young teen girls.

(image source: http://sleevage.com/michael-jackson-got-to-be-there)



Thriller


Thriller is seen as his break out album.. With this cover I see the font becoming more personalized with the use of a script typeface as his signature. Both artist and album title use the same font too. (image source: http://85.21.19.21/bcovers/alb3877.jpg)



Elise

Duet

Posted by: Lisa P

Down and Out

"Down and Out Blues" Sonny Boy Williamson Sings (1959)

Posted by: Lisa P

June 29, 2009

Good type!

Excellent source for typography inspiration!


Posted by Neal.

June 23, 2009

Daves new picture


OK, I got ADHD so I'm not going to wait anymore- plus I was assigned a bad picture. I guess it was fate that I wouldn't find it again ; )

Here's the one I found (yes it was the third on interesting/7days. And yeah, this picture couldn't be better if I had tried for many days to find it.
Again, my info for assignment 1 is:
Band: Broken Angels
Album: You're a Failure.
Image: See above.

Assignment 2- A little help please...

Yes, I did go online already to find my picture and could not find it on Flicker. Neal - what do you say? Should I randomly search another or do you want to do it and post it. If you want to try to find it , I was assigned: 'A Father to A Son' by Chris-Lu.
Thanks
Dave

The Beatles - get it, not the "Beetles"


I did not realize the play on words until after many years of listening to their music. How odd.

Ethel Merman

Inspiration sitting around

Here are a couple of typography pieces I've found around my apartment. Things I've held on to because I find them inspiring.


I found this "Make Art, Not War" post card in a cafe in Copenhagen. I'm attracted to the illustration hand and the mix of type and images.


This is a swatch from the cover of the course catalog from the School of Visual Arts.

posted by: Kali

Album cover hierarchy options

Assume you don't know either of these artists or albums.
Look at the covers: Who's the artist and what's the album name?




50's PSA

Movement and interest with type... Take a look with the sound on or off.

Posted by: Lisa P.

Public Moments



I liked the usage of a very basic material - toilet paper - to form the letters. Also, note the characteristics of the letters B, P, and R, and how they differ from the other letters in this set. The visual created forms a picture that resonates to others including myself.

Elise M.

Objectifying Oneself - Dancers Forming Type



this video runs about 2 minutes as the dancers shape A to Z. I liked seeing the creative letter formations by using one's body.

Elise M.

June 19, 2009

Tomato, Tomato








I thought this was cute... Other examples included on the site.



Posted by Lisa P.













June 16, 2009

Mentioned websites from class....

http://www.aestheticapparatus.com




Posted by Neal.

We love you Janis!


Posted by Dave.
My first impression of the font for 'Janis Joplin' was, Oh, they're making the space between the letters in 'Janis' even and the spaces between 'Joplin' increasingly wide from left to right. In addition, the letters at times have a wide range between thick and thin lines (linage?) - this is of course most prominent with the N and L. So both the characters and the spacing between them shows a wide range visually with line/space (form?). To me this convey's a kind of wildness/chaos - that is somewhat countered by the consistent yet still varying pattern within the letter forms.

With the first four letters in 'Joplin' being so much closer together, the text overall (both words) seems to lean to the left wanting to slip down the deep black negative space below them and to Janice's right (our left) which visually balances off Janice' figure as she leans WAY to the opposite direction as she performs. She is so cool! I love this woman. Don't you love Janice? And dont forget the negative space (black) throughout the entire image - all if it is very dynamic and working hard to keep up with the intensity of Janice rockin' worshipful attitude - not only her torso and head but her foreharms also create very strong diagonals making both her and the negative space her body creates very intense.

Fonts on Record Albums / CD Covers

Posted by Dave.
This intrigued me as the font is generally basic as a "contemporary" sans serif yet "there's something about it" or at least a few things, that are unique - at least what I can notice right now are:
1) The "sloppy" / "inky" D and A - how the wholes are "smudged" as if by a hand press that's been overloaded with thick black gooy ink. The letters' gritty / industrial feel are further manifested in the irregular application of the "ink" on all the letters where you "wholes" appear in the black where you can see the red background through them.
2) The 'L' is probably the coolest letter here and no doubt its strategic as its position is most obvious being directly in the middle of the word - the sharp 90 degree corner and stubbed horizontal edge seems very industrial and what else about it I like escapes words for the moment - obviously, the horizontal is way under proportion (traditionally) in relation to the vertical line. The L could be a leg ready to kick the A so in this way its anthropomorphic.
3) The Y is quite a "character" as well - very tightly pushed up as if the space for the Y was determined before the Y was designed and so the question was: so how do we fit a Y into this space? The Y more than any other letter is anthropomorphic like the Village People performing the YMCA song.
4) The proximity of the letters is very tight - hairline spaces within the letter N and the negative space between A and N and on either side of Y are bold and designed intentionally enough to almost be read as positive space - they look like daggers moving up and down - that in combination with the virtual "blood red" create an ominous if not intense feeling.
5) Since the overall feel is industrial, the toughest letters are D and A for the reasons stated under point #1 and because, obviously, they are thicker and there for visually weighter being almost solid black and taking up much more real estate in the space occupied by the entire word.

June 15, 2009

First Amendment

Although this is not handmade type, I thought is was relevant to our current assisgnment.

From Etsy.com (By FreckledHound)

Posted by: Lisa P

June 14, 2009

Ballin' Font Style


Image from: http://www.chank.com/freefont_detail.php?sku=1103

These letters were constructed using beads and gems during a workshop in Atlanta. The bright colors and lights caught my eye. I also like the urban appeal of this creation.

As a side note, I found out that "Chank" has a Minnesota connection too and found many interesting videos on the site, including the following: Chank Fonts Across America - Eat Street Minneapolis

Elise M.

Type in Motion


About 40 seconds into the video, the word "type" is spelled out using various mediums. The "less is more" statement toward the end is interesting too.
Elise M.

June 13, 2009

Typography Using Found Objects

Here are a couple of examples of typography using found objects:


And a link to the blog where I found it.




Found here.



Found here.


posted by: Kali

June 12, 2009

Three words

I like this cover...

Posted by: Lisa P.

June 11, 2009

Handmade type!

Marian Bantjes: A god amongst men and women.

June 9, 2009

Sesame Street Fairy Alphabet

I found the Fairy Alphabet from Sesame Street, as mentioned in post below. Click Here to watch.

May bring back some memories for some?

posted by: Kali

1970's Levi's Commercial

Watch 1970's Levis commercial HERE.

It doesn't really have anything to do with type. But I thought I'd share it, because its pretty cool. The morphing images reminds me of an old Sesame Street cartoon where different icons and images morphed into letters.

posted by: Kali

Create your own font


Interesting info on creating your own font. It also provides a few font editing programs.


Lisa P.

Inspiration: Hand Job

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

June 8, 2009

Jazzed

I first saw a poster for this at a local pub. It caught my eye. I like the usage of colors, including white, and fonts used. Although it's somewhat busy with the amount of text, it works for me.


Elise M.

June 7, 2009

Appendix


After reading this week's assignment, I found Lupton's experience and information interesting. I particularly enjoyed her tips on punctuation. I have been confused over which rules apply, as the AP, MLA guides lists conflicting guidelines. I prefer her take and reasoning for the "rules" she highlights. I understand the graphic design requirements vary from writing a press release. However, it would be logical, since much of the printed word is often read via the web.

I have included an excerpt from an email that most definitely drives me crazy. I am thinking about buying a copy of our book for this person. I know, I am not perfect as well.

Posted by: Lisa P.

June 2, 2009

Summer



Welcome to Typography I, Summer Semester @ MCAD!

Posted by Neal