Digital Type

Wanting to discuss all things related to the Digital period in graphic design, we'll take a look at digital typography this week. I wonder if Gutenberg could have even imagined where type was going to be in the future, in this period. I'm sure that what is being done today in typography, during the digital era, would have blown Gutenberg's mind. I'm not talking about digital type, like in the image below, but that was a groundbreaking way to display electronic type when it first came out to the public, on calculators, clocks, and VCRs. Remember VCRs?

When I think of digital type, I think of fonts that couldn't possibly done in any traditional method. Letters that look like broken glass on the ground, or letters in various colors that would drive a traditional press operator bonkers, from trying to recreate all the different swatches. I'm thinking of type like this:

And, like this:

There is no way that type of the following examples could be done any other way, than with a computer. Hand-drawing the type would be a long and arduous chore that would take too long to complete normally. Most of the type that looks like this, digital, is usually distressed looking, or broken into pieces, and the drawback to that is that this type of font would really only work as a display font, or a title, or header. You would still want to use a font that was easy to read when choosing a font for reading material, that would be used in books, newspapers, blogs, and websites.

Some more examples of digital type above. These samples would be perfect for the title of a book, or even a movie. Some styles of digital type are more than type, they are pictures in their own right, conceptual images and type, a style that emerged out the Contemporary period in graphic design.

Just like Gutenberg probably couldn't have imagined the way type and letters are being rendered today, I cannot fathom how letters and words will be perceived hundreds of years from now. Perhaps letters will dance in front of our eyes, without the use of glasses, the opacity of letters changing quickly as words stream across our faces. Just a thought.

The Digital Art Period

The Digital Art period, we're in it. Starting with the Renaissance, my graphic design history class has been taking a look at all the movements in art, including typography, and we are coming to the end of the line, the Digital Art era. I actually have to write a presentation on the digital style of designers today, so this blog is sort of a warm up for that.

I really just want to showcase some pieces for this blog that are examples of some of the best digital art I could find on a website that I frequent, and hope to upload some of my work to one day, CG Hub. Ever since I decided I wanted to follow a career in art, I knew that I would have move away from the pencil and paper that I have always used in the past, and move on to a graphics tablet with my lines now being produced in a program, like Adobe Photoshop. These artists show exactly what can be done on a computer nowadays.

Sure, it may look like some of the art I'm show you is painted, but I assure you, it was all done on a computer, and that's beauty of it all. What can be created on a computer today is vastly superior to what could be done on a canvas, and without the mess.

If anyone would want to have the talent to create work such as the pieces in this blog, I advise you chain yourself to your desk and use Photoshop for the next several years.







Almost everything I've shown in this blog has been two dimensional work, but there is another thing artists today can do on a computer that could be considered art, and that's 3D animation. I have included one piece in this blog that has been done in 3D. It's Poison Ivy from Batman and you don't typically see 3D models that look so good, unless you're into this sort of thing.

This semester I have come to really appreciate 3D art so much that I have been seriously considering changing my major to the Digital Media program. When I look at work like this, on the left, it inspires me to learn to make something similar. 

I leave you with some art from the Killzone franchise, a video game that I wish I used to play a while ago. I'm going to refrain from going into how video games can be construed as art nowadays and will save that for a later blog this semester.

FIN

Another Banksy Blog

This isn't the first one, and it won't be the last Banksy blog either. When looking for images of the artist's work, I stumbled upon tons or blog posts dedicated to the graffiti artist, political activist, painter, and film director from Bristol, England. Banksy even has a Wikipedia entry and his work can be found all over the world.

The messages he gets across with his stencils and spray paint are interesting to say the least, there is a range from beautiful to political with a touch of humorous at the same time. There is also a lot of work out there from Banksy. One could say he is prolific, and it goes beyond that as well, his style is copied and emulated all over.

Every time I look at Banksy's artwork, I tell myself I could do that, or I would like to try to do that, but then I chicken out. I think I will have to just be content with just appreciating his art, thinking about it and using his work as an influence. 

8 bit Fonts

When I was a kid (I'm old now) this typeface became very familiar to me. It was so popular with people in my age group, because we all played video games and this font was used in practically every game ever published between a certain time range, somewhere from about the late 80s into the early 90s. The console systems back then were 8-bit, meaning they all ran on 8-bit microprocessors, and their limited memory, combined with low computing ability, produced the above typeface we all became so familiar with. I remember some of the early computers used type like this as well, back when the monitor colors used to be black and green only. I told you I'm old. I'm very fond of this type and every time I see it, I become nostalgic. I can recall a time when I used to break down the letters on a piece of paper and figured out how little squares and rectangles could make up any given letter or number. As time went on and the systems became more advanced, these letters became obsolete, as more rounded letters were generated by our computers.

Take a look at some of the video game industry's most popular franchises' titles. I think it's really rad how the industry has maintained creating cutting edge typefaces for titles. Do you have a favorite font among these video game titles? If you do, how come you like a certain title over another? If you can answer that question, you may have gained some insight into your own personal aesthetics.













Some of the titles on the right are the same as in the 
image above, but I chose to use the image on the right, 
because the images were similar and that creates a 
sort of unity into the design of this particular blog post.
See, you just gained some insight into some of my
own personal aesthetics.





I'm going to leave you with one more typeface that I thought was interesting and reminded me of video game type as well. There is one thing about the font that bothers me, and that is that it's sort of hard to read, and the number one rule in typography is readability. You have to be able to easily read something for it to become an effective type that will be used by other people. You can get away with barely legible type if using a font as display type, or a headline sometimes, but you wouldn't be able to print a book with some new, hip font that every is drooling over at the time, but can barely be read. That's why I use Helvetica nowadays when typing out this blog. I think it's really easy to read, and I'm tired of serifs.

FIN

Art Nouveau Adam Hughes

This man here is probably my favorite artist of all time. His name is Adam Hughes and he draws mostly for the comic book medium. Mr. Hughes is most noted for his drawings of women and his ability to make his images photo-realistic. Adam is also a licensed illustrator for Lucas Arts and that's why he's able to draw characters from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universe and not get slapped with a lawsuit. 

During my studies for my graphic design history class I ran across work from a French artist named Alphonse Mucha. I was really surprised at how similar Hughes' work was to Muchas'. So now I'm a big fan of Alphonse Mucha as well as Adam Hughes, and I'm sure Hughes is also a big fan of Mucha. I hope Hughes had to study Mucha when he was in college, much like I have to study his work now.

This is a piece from Alphonse Mucha. His illustration skill is apparent, he's a master. 


















The image to the right is also work from Mucha. The borders he puts around his subjects are very detailed, and the flowing lines in the entire piece is French art nouveau at its finest.



Hughes uses a lot of the techniques that were first created during the art nouveau movement (c. 1890 - 1910), and he refines them to the pinnacle of the style. The surrounding images show an homage to Mucha, and a technique first pioneered by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.






I wonder now, if I hadn't known of Adam Hughes, would I have not noticed the work of Alphonse Mucha? Also, vice versa, would I have appreciated Mucha's work if I hadn't already respected and admired Adam Hughes' art? Either way, I'm glad I have discovered both in my lifetime and hope to use their work as inspiration for my own illustration.

Some more of Adam Hughes stuff. I could post pictures of his work all day, but instead, I will give you a link to his website. I hope that one day I will be able to afford a commission by Hughes.











Finally, I leave you with Mucha's poster for Job cigarette papers, 1898. Simply amazing.

FIN

Field Trip: Rare Book Library University of Illinois

Last Friday my Graphic Design History class went on another field trip. We went to the Rare Book Library in the main library at the University of Illinois. I thought the trip was going to very dull and boring, but I was actually interested. One of the curators, a Mr. Marten Stromberg delivered an amazing presentation of some works collected there and kept the trip very entertaining. The above picture is from Gutenberg's Bible, probably one of the earliest prints of all time. It is an example from the year ca. 1450 and shows us a Gothic/German influence on the typeface brought to us by the man who brought printing to the western world.

The above image is a French children's pocket book. They type was so small that it was nearly impossible to read with my own eyes and the curves of the font didn't help either. The entire book could have fit in the palm of my hand. Tiny!

Starting to see a Roman influence in these early works, but the reason I took this picture is because of the beautiful drop cap and gorgeous borders that were printed from wood engravings. I have to admit that I'm not that interested in the printing side of graphic design, I have a concentration in the illustration side of my major, so I'm much more impressed by images and pictures. Early print still piques my interest somewhat, but those borders really catch my eye, especially that top border, it almost pops off the page for me.

Another example of early woodgraving. I apologize for not knowing the name of this work, or others in this blog. I was given a sheet that has all the names of the pieces we saw on the field trip, but I can't read Latin and even the English titles don't ring any bells when I read them. This piece is different because it sort of mixes a German style with a Roman influence.

This piece on the right is an example of some the best looking borders I've ever seen in early works. It's hard to believe that it was a wood engraving that was pressed onto paper to make the border. I couldn't imagine creating the engraving used to create these images. I think it would take me years to make just one of them and shudder at the thought of spending that much time.

An example from 1786 from William Caslon, the designer of the font that was used in the Declaration of Independence. Stromberg told us a funny story about how Benjamin Franklin took this work and ripped the top off, to conceal that it belonged to Caslon, and then took the type around to his friends, proclaiming this was an example of Baskerville's work. Baskerville was a contemporary of Caslon. Franklin asked his friends what the faults in the type were, then took his findings back to Caslon and informed him what he had learned.

Finally, a sans serif typeface! From 1945, by Kenneth Patchen, an architect. Designers of this period were tired of serifs and hailed futurism, their work showing great strides in font design. I can't believe how great this page looks and that it was created around the end of World War II. I have seen works created today that look very similar to this, because we are still using these fonts. Simply beautiful! It's hard to believe this was not printed digitally. Stunning! This is the kind of type I can really get behind.

Sign Painters

My graphic design history instructor suggested we watch a film that was recently playing at the art theater in town here. The movie was 'Sign Painters', and after watching the trailer for it on YouTube, I wish I had seen it. 

Sign Painters Trailer (Official)

How can you not want to make some sort of sign after watching that? If I had some wood and the paint I would like to make a little sign that I could hang on the outside of my door. 

The trailer mentioned how the advent of vinyl graphics and letters made sign painting a lost art form and then showed a few decrepit signs on random buildings. I can't recall the last time I've seen a sign in bad condition, but I can say I would like to see more hand painted signs wherever I go. The recent trip to The Living Letter Press in Champaign made me appreciate an older way of printing, and the trailer for Sign Painters makes me feel the same for signage. 

This sign really sticks out, with the contrasting colors between black, red, and blue. 

I wanted to show a few of the signs my friend has made for this little eatery he worked for, but it took too long to search for them on his facebook, so here's a sign with a dog on it.