Blog Essay (Typographic Project)

For this first Typographical project, I chose the the font Times New Roman which is what a stuck with from the initial concept to the final design. I chose this font because of the complexity of the positive and negative space for the letters which is what attracted me to those letters. Having the serifs for each letter gave an interesting design motif and provided a nice flow for the final design. The characteristic I see for these letters are definitely minimalist in comparison to most other designs, but they have a unique complexity that gives them a depth and form that lead the eye throughout the whole of the design. I could take just the three letters I've used in this project (i,o,P) and make other designs almost without end.

The different shapes within the letters were mostly oblong rectangles and circles, which I broke up using the forms and counter forms that I got when I broke up the letters to use in my design. It was an interesting task to try and break up the forms and counter forms to see what design I could come up, and I feel that the overall end product was quite successful. Each element was unique and I found the elements of the forms and counter forms created an attractive positive space while also creating negative space that added a new letter form to the final design.

I feel that I was successful in implementing the "Rule of Thirds" in that there is an element in each section that helps your eyes move throughout the whole design without capturing them within one particular element. I also feel that I kept the focal point from being dead center and instead placed it in the top 1/3 of the design.

When it came to the elements of design - emphasis, contrast, balance, flow and repetition - I believe I was successful in accomplishing each one.

As I mentioned above, I feel that my emphasis is in the top 1/3 of the design - the enlarged "P". Although it is the focal point for this design I believe it doesn't trap the viewers eye because of the muted grays that I used instead of the stark white of the negative space. The uniqueness of the focal point also comes from the half moon circle which is contrasted to the gray and black of the letter itself. As for contrast, it plays a big part in my design. There is a definite contrast in the size of the letters, but there is also a contrast in the shade of grays used which creates the illusion that through the use of the positive space, there is a unique design created in the negative space. Although my project is asymmetrical in balance, I feel that I kept it simple and was able to achieve a successful design. The enlarged "P" on the left is the focal point, but I have added more objects - circles and rectangular shapes - to the right which I feel balances the whole project out. I also feel the the negative space on the right becomes a whole new character which equals the bold looking "P" in volume. For flow and repetition, I believe I was successful in using the repetition of the "O" throughout the design in order create a flow that guides your eyes from one element - or section of the project - to another. Without repetition there wouldn't have been as nice a flow - especially if I just tried to fill each and every space with more objects.

Overall I'm pleased with my design. I've noticed that throughout the design process I stuck with a minimalist style, but I liked to create a sense of depth and give a 2 dimensional surface a 3 dimensional feel to it.