20th Century Typography

This is an appropriate poster for my 50th typography blog because this is honestly one of my favorite designs that I have found that focuses on typography. There are two main sections of the design, both of which mirror the similar pointed shape. There is also a repeated banner that is found at the top, middle, and bottom of the design. First of all the hierarchy is great. The title lines are in large type and even have different fonts. This also shows hierarchy within the title itself. Under the title is the guest's line of type which is in a blocky font that doesn't differ too much from the main title font. Below is the location which is surrounded by smaller secondary type that is basically more info about the location. In the bottom section is the date and time, tickets, and an additional tagline. These lines of type are aligned very well and create implied shapes that help form order. There is also a difference of the pattern in how the type is aligned, which helps to create variation and interest. After these type boxes is an additional line of type that includes some social media advertising in bold and regular forms for more variation. I only see three different fonts used for this design which follows the first rule of typography. Different variations of the fonts are used to help the hierarchy, but still follow the rule of fonts. I think that the monotone color scheme works very well and I like the over all look of this design. This layout has all of the features of a well designed event poster. I can see that this poster was well thought out and that alignment was important to the designer. I think that the poster grabs immediate attention from far away and even at a closer glance. This is truly a great event poster and I think this would gather the attention and interest of the audience while also being very easy to read, which is what typography is all about.

Why Design Now?

This typographic event poster has a very cool design idea, but there are some pros and cons about the overall typography. The top of the poster is nicely done and the green color scheme is very appealing on the yellowish-brown background. Unfortunitely the type underneath green type is lost due to the lack of color variation. It looks like this design is going for cut out look at the top, but there is not enough definition on the bottom of the type to show which letters are which. It honestly took me some time to see that "now?" was at the top and it looked as if the recycling logo was randomly placed on the page. I like the way that they mirrored the first and second halves of the tagline in the middle. This is a really cool idea but I personally would have moved "for" over a little to the left and aligned the "f" with the "r", that way the "o's" would match up and the "r" would match the same half-arch shape found in the beginning of the "m". This would require some additional spacing adjustments, but would help the design feel a little more authentic. The address, time, date, and contact info are all separated by the line coming from the "f". The time & date, as well as the contact info, are all left justified on the right side. The address is right aligned on the left side. This is inconsistent and does break the readability. The actual synopsis of the event is sideways and runs next to the almost-centered bar. This is also very hard to read and very unnecessary. There is so much empty space in this piece left over and this really makes me ask, "why didn't they at least make the type large enough to read?". I think that they could have used the synopsis to take up most of the empty space on the right and if they made the type larger it would be easier to read and it wouldn't look as unfinished as it does now. I think that this was poorly designed typographically. I think that there could be a lot more elements of design and typography in this poster, but unfortunately they were not added.

Jackson's

Jackson's Restaurant Bar & Grill has a two sided menu layout. The menu has a very interesting layout in the way that the menu section is split into four sections. The logo is at the top and therefore has hierarchy over the menu items showing that they are all to be associated with the logo. Each group of menu items is given a large title that features a very interesting font with an underline. Beneath the title is the list of menu items for that sections. All sections are center justified and are in a brighter color so that there is a variation in the fonts and so that it stands out more. Each menu item has the price next to it but it is separated by a vertical bar. This is a nice touch and at first I thought this could make some items look like they had a 1 in front of them, but once I realized that the price tag is in between the price and the bar. At the bottom of the top half of the menu features some additional details about what comes with the meals. I like the idea of using additional information in a bold font as a dividing line that separates the page. I really like this design and the layout. It features great organization and it shows really good consistency.

Menu Typography 2

This menu design uses an illustration for the background that has a low opacity but uses two colors that work very well for a low opacity design. I like this design because the design is very simple, doesn't stand out too much, and blends nicely behind the type. I also really appreciate that the design continues on both pages. Having the image on both pages helps guide the customer's eyes across the menu. As far as the type goes, the I think that they are very consistent with their layout. The title fonts are larger and in a center justified alignment, while the menu items are a little smaller in a black font to create variation. Underneath the item is the description. An interesting feature is that the left side items of each page have right justification, while the right side items have left justification. This means that there is a distinctive center line in the middle of each page. I am not sure whether or not I like this design feature or not, but it does stand out as being different. I think that the menu uses very unique ideas as far as the layout goes, but I would like a little bit more variation in the title font and maybe a little more leading before each title. There are some space issues that make some areas look a little bunched together.

Menu Typography

This menu uses a lot of very common elements as far as the typography, but the other small design elements that they use are very nice. I like that in the background is an illustration with the opacity turned down low to add an additional interest to the type while maintaining good use of real estate. As far as the typography goes, I think that the type is very well done. The type is center justified but because of the layout and how they are placed within the menu it still creates an implied sense of organization and shows order. The title for each category is in a much larger font than the menu items themselfs which helps finding items much easier. I also like that there is a thin line running underneath each title. This helps to create the order in the menu. Underneath the title is the menu item and the price. I like the font that was chosen for the sub text because it provides don't variation, but doesn't go too far away from the look of the other fonts. The additional description is also well designed and has an appropriate amount of leading so that the spacing between descriptions is close enough to see where it falls but far enough for easy readability. Over all I think this is a great menu and the layout and type play off of the subtle illustrations very well.

Hard Rock Cafe

This is a menu cover for the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit, MI. The front cover has a tagline at the top above the graphic which is a great idea to get the attention of the customer and kinda give them a sample of what the restaurant experience will be like. After the graphic comes the logo. The logo sits right in the center and is in the same color as the rest of the type on the front. Underneath the logo is the address and the phone number, fax number, and website. I think the front is very well done and the information given is done appropriately for the cover. The back side of the menu has the salad options, dessert options, and additional information. The address and restaurant name are also repeated on the back of the menu. The typography for the menu items is very well done. They used a larger font in a centered alignment to create a headline for the category. Underneath that is the actual list of menu items. These menu items are all left justified and include the price after title of the menu item. There is also an appropriate amount of space given for the price after the menu item. A font variation is used for the special/featured menu items. They are in red as oppose to the other black fonts. Under the name of the menu item is the description of the menu item. This is in a smaller font to create hierarchy and helps show that this information falls underneath the headline of the item menu. The additional information on the back of the page features a basic white font that resembles the font, Impact. I think that having a font like this and making all of the type in one line of text is a little too intense for a menu; all of the type underneath this looks very small and unimportant. Overall I really like the design of this menu and I think that this is a great example of typographical hierarchy and an appropriate use of font variation.

Tea Room

Unlike most menus, this menu uses many different alignments and variations for the typography. The logo type is directly in the center of the menu at the top and takes a large section of the menu's real-estate. On the top left is the location of the tea room, while the right side has a date stamp. The different menu categories are found on both the left and right sides of the menu and also the bottom underneath the Saladier section. These categories use hierarchy to show importance in the menu categories over the importance of the menu item. The items themselves are listed in a center aligned format and have the price listed right after the item description. The categories are separated by the use of tiny star illustrations to add a small design element and help create and organized look to the menu. The middle of the menu has a section of salad choices. The title for this category is much larger then the others, is in the direct center of the menu, and uses a different font to show that that is the highlight of the menu. The type for this section is aligned very well to create a boxed shape and to maintain a very nice, organized look. The choice numbers are very large and stand out a tad too much. Under the categories are the quickie meals, children's lunch, and the featured lunch special. I like this menu, but I think that there are too many different fonts and that they are not similar enough. The bottom fonts look more sophisticated then the category type that looks to be more military inspired, while the logo looks to be very very script heavy and looks to be something found in a calligraphy book. The different alignments are very inconsistent and the "salad symphony" section looks squished underneath the other choices and can be overlooked. I think that this could use more consistency throughout the menu and less focus on creating a border around their salads.

Teddy's

One of the under appreciated parts of a dinner menu is the cover and back. Most of the important content is in the pages of the menu so the cover and back are sometimes overlooked. On the menu cover for Teddy's Restaurant in NYC, there is a very simple design element in the center to draw the attention of the customer to the menu. The type at the top includes the name of the restaurant in a large font. I like that there is even font variation in the logo type on the cover. Since the name "teddy's" is more important than the already known fact that the menu is for a restaurant, the type for teddy's is larger and even has a different font than the rest of the entire menu. The title is all in lower case and has a very nice look to it. The back has another small illustration and the address of the restaurant. I think that this is a very nice menu cover design and it shows a lot of appeal even though there isn't much going on. I like the color scheme and I think that the two tone color scheme makes things simple and actually makes it look of elegance.

Koyo

This design for Koyo Authentic Japanese Cuisine uses typographical hierarchy to show importance and categorization. There are very few illustrations to this design so the hierarchy of the text is the most important part of the design and layout. The menu is categorized by meal type in a large type that is given a very handwritten looking font. Underneath the menu category is a smaller line of type beneath it with additional descriptions of that specific category. Then the menu items for that group are left justified in a normal looking font size and are given a font that is close to a Times New Romans look. The menu item is then followed by either a smaller font type with a description of the meal, or a series of periods to create a line for the customer to follow to the price. The amount of periods depends on the length of the menu item's name and the amount of additional description. After the periods is the item's price, which is right justified and matches the font and size of the menu item. This process of alignment helps the customer to see an organization to the menu. The side box has additional info about the restaurant itself and has the logo at the top, followed by the specials, address and phone numbers, hours of business, and additional payment info. I think that the side box of this menu could be put on the front of a menu if the payment info was moved to the back of the menu with a few extra details. Overall I think the design is well done and doesn't use too many design elements outside of typography.

Rolo

Rolo has been designed using contrasting colors to stand out and help the customer see this candy bar over others. The color scheme works very well together and the red blends well with the brown and gold. The red stands out well on the white stroke and is seen easily by consumers. Since the logo type is duplicated on each side of the wrapper its also very good for brand recognition. The wrapper also leaves a large amount of room on the one side for attaching the two sides together. I think that the design is eye catching, but has too much information on the package for a point of purchase decision. I think that this wrapper style has a very specific market that it is targeting. I really like the way the layout is designed and I like that they found enough room to duplicate the logo on a majority of the sides, but I think that they have over done the information and taken up a lot of space with info about a simple candy bar.

Snickers Satisfies

When I think of a good case describing point of purchase, I think of Snickers. This design is very simple but great for a quick sale. The front of the wrapper has the name of the bar in a large type that takes up the entire front. This is great for brand recognition and helps the consumer see this brand before all the others. The bright red border, blue type, and white background helps make the type stand out on the dark brown wrapper. If someone is in a hurry and sees a rack of candy bars, this one would stand out first and would probably grab the consumers attention before all of the others. Under the logo is the link to their website which is called, "SnickersSatisfies.com". They use the name of their website as another way to reach the customer. The large boxed font stands out and is very noticeable, and also acts as a form of advertisement for the candy bar itself. At first glance it looks like they are just saying that Snickers satisfies. This is another great way to reach the interest of the customer. On the opposite side of the main logo is a very similar logo that plays off of their brand, but instead of Snickers, this says "Satisfies". If this candy bar was on a rack and turned upside-down, then someone would see a candy bar that says "satisfies". This is also another way to reach the customer. By using a familiar looking logo, but replacing the content with a desirable message, this creates an immediate brand recognition while also sending a message to the targeted market. I really like this design layout and I personally think that this is a great example of how to sell something based off of "point of purchase".

Franck Trebillac

Franck Trebillac is a designer in London who has done work for Norton, Hyundai, and even Harley Davidson. He works in print, motion graphics, advertising, art direction, and general illustration. This piece by Trebillac is an illustration of Edger Allen Poe with typography to create his hair and other features. The type is made up of quotes from Poe's works and uses an older curlier font to bring the nostalgic look and feel to the design. There is typographical hierarchy throughout the piece to show important quotes and to make Poe's name stand out. I think that the words "a dream" are out of place being the same size as "Poe" and makes it look like the piece says "A Dream Poe". I think that if the area that had "a dream" was full of other quotes it could add to the interest of the design, while also taking away the confusion of the type. There is a problem with the spacing of the type within the eyes. The eyes does become covered by some of the actual image and is harder to read. This could easily be fixed by just playing around with the sizing and positioning of the type, but unfortunately it was not fixed. As the type comes closer to the neck there is some more covering of the type which again could be fixed. I think this is a very cool concept and I like the font choice, but I think this could use a little more work. 

Glenn Wolk

Glenn Wolk has designed for Tommy Hilfiger, Led Zeppelin, The Rollings and many other clients. In this design, Wolk has created an advertisement for Sperry's Shoes. This design has to rely a lot on the typographical elements to help sell this brand of shoe over other brands since this is a very common shoe type and style. First of all the type uses hierarchy to create importance in the terms "World's first boat shoe since 1935" and "The Authentic Original". These are both very important selling points and  using larger fonts and even displaying the type on the white of the shoe are great ways to show the importance of those two key phrases. The type is a tad off in the alignment. Some words like "grip" stick out farther than "decks" and the same for "ready" and "no". The typography does use too many fonts and does become a little inconsistent as the script font is added at the bottom next to all of the sans serif and serif fonts. The middle line that reads "grip and traction for slippery decks" seems smaller than the line above and below and looks a tad cramped. Also I think that the logo at the bottom left of the type should be made smaller and moved to either the bottom left corner of the design or placed in the center under the type. In the place of the logo could be four more stars which would help with the continuity of the piece and help make the weight of the design more even. I like the design and don't think its bad, but from a typographical viewpoint I am not a huge fan. I think it sells the two key phrases well by using hierarchy, but unfortunately I think that the alignment is a tad off and the logo is oddly placed.

Am I Collective

This is one of many typographical illustrations that design team Am I Collective has created for Dockers Pants. This design creates the silhouette of a man wearing their brand of pants. The entire type is created out of things that manly men hold in their pockets to show that these pants are for any kind of man. The illustration has different fonts throughout the piece to create font variation and to create implied texture. The tagline is located directly in the middle of the illustration and  says, "Pockets for hiding your various man things". This line is in a larger font which creates typographical hierarchy. Am I Collective is a design and animation firm that has created designs for companies such as Adobe, Apple, BBC, HP, Red Bull, Converse, NBA, Nike, The XGames, and many more. I like this piece a lot in the way that it creates a living illustration from type and that when you first see this design you don't see a bunch of words, but rather a man wearing his Docker cargo pants. Am I Collective clearly knows what they are doing when it comes to illustration and marketing and they truly know how to connect their product to their targeted market.

Teagan White

Teagan White is a designer and illustrator who works on very detailed and anatomically correct illustrations and using those illustrations to replace some of the type in her designs. The entire design uses elements of the body to spell out the phrase, while also showing very interesting detail to body parts. The line that reads "person" is made of body parts; the line "you love" has a heart; the line "is 72.8%" is sketched out and looks very scientific; and the line "water" has an almost water like look to it. The typography itself is center aligned and is a tad off. None of the lines match up on the edges and since the word "water" is in a lighter, less detailed design it does have a small weight issue. The color choice for the line "you love" is great and shows the blue veins turning red as they approach the heart. Also the word "the" is very small and could be lost in the design. Although the "the" could be small so the illustration is the main focus, there is no way that the quote could be missed or under appreciated. White has a long list of clients who appreciate her hipster style of design. She has worked for such clients as Coke, Sprite, Target, Wired Magazine, The NFL, and Nike. The designs White puts together has a very unique feel and I really like her typographical realism.

Nothing Can Stop A Good Idea by Mauro Hernandez

Nothing Can Stop A Good Idea is a design created by Mauro Hernandez. This design shows clear and easy to read type while also showing a message of motion. The lines that connect at the top of the "N"s, and the line that comes from the "I" create an implied motion through the illustration. I lines also show that the motion is never stopping and that adds to the actual meaning of the type. This is a great example of how to bring an illustration idea into the actual type to create an appealing design element, while also giving the type more meaning. This design uses a very gradual gradient and helps to make the words look separate, while also looking uniform. On thing that is nice is that this piece does is in the center, but is not confined to center justification. Hernandez works as a freelance designer who has made designs for Nike, Grooveshark, and The Vega Surf Festival. I really like the design and the use of a very subtle texture in the type. There is a lot of negative space and the additional type is all stuck in the bottom right hand side. This does make the bottom look a little heavier than the rest of the image around the illustration.

Typography

Typography is a design created by Sam Morris, a web designer for the news website, The Guardian". This design creates the letter "T" out of different key phrases that are related to typography. This is a very simple and creative design that has a lot to show about typography. There is type variation to create interest and difference of appearance. There are some issues of consistency within the spacing of the type, but the type itself is clean. I also like the variation in color to create form and directs the audiences eye around the image. Since it follows the shape of the letter, there is a lot of implied lines and direction. I also like that the design is slanted because it provides visual appeal rather than just a centered design. This slant also creates an implied motion and helps to make the design look more alive. The fact that "ypography" is significantly smaller than the "T" does make this a little bit harder to read, but I think this is a really cool design and shows that typography is more of a science than just a technique or element.

Thomas Price

Thomas Price is a graphic designer who believes that design is a part of life that is engrained into and its something you can't ever turn off. Just like one's artistic talent is a part of who someone is, so is their religious beliefs. In this typographical illustration Price shows an entire verse of the Bible and explains an entire thought in one illustration. The great thing about using a Bible verse is that it shows more than just a sentence or saying, but also an entire message, view of faith, and witness. This design is great and shows hierarchy by using larger type to show God's importance and that the word "Live" is a very important part of this message. The use of hierarchy in this illustration shows the message made in the words, but also uses visual cues like hierarchy and font type to create additional understanding of the importance of the words. The different uses of fonts for this design is really nice and adds additional definition to each word. Using a bolder and more attractive font for the words "I AM" shows God's majesty and strength and that He should be the focus of our life. The only thing I think is distracting about this design is that the line between "and the life" and "whoever believes" looks like it could be an "I". I would fix that by using an illustration of something relating to the design to break up those two sections of type without making them look as if they're actually one block. I think over all this flows well and gives a very relaxing look to a joyful verse. I think that typographical designs like this that give that hand-drawn feel could be used well as decoration in homes or as posters.

Zombies

This typographical illustration is by designer, Sion Lee. She is a mostly a website designer with such websites as, The Awesomer, Not Always Right, and Ubiki. This design is the image of a human hand turned zombie and is recreating the very well known scene of a zombie hand reaching up. This hand is made entirely out of text and features references to 978 different zombie games, movies, and books. There is a lot to say about the uniqueness of this piece, but the design is fantastic. The shading and use of different colors and shades creates depth and implied textures. The green helps show decay and show that this is a zombie hand and not a regular human hand, the white shows where the bones are, and the red shows the muscles and where the skin could even possibly be torn off. The direction of the type creates motion and helps guide the eyes of the audience very well and brings their eyes through the entire piece. Using font variation helps bring interest in and makes people look closer and study the piece for a longer time. This is an awesome design!

Great Value

The Campbell's soup can is well known and is very nicely designed. This is a very professional and stylish design that creates the idea in the consumer's mind that this is the best quality soup available and that they should buy this over any other brand. The Great Value soup can goes the other way. The design is very simple and pushes the idea that this is soup, but not an expensive soup. The font style is bold and plain. The name is even suggesting that price is more important than quality. The Campbell's can also contains added content and features info about the soup's contents, the other can just features the name, flavor, and an image of mushrooms. The Great Value can shows the consumer that this product is about affordability and not just about taste. This is a great design even though it is simplistic. It shows the main info about the product, without overcomplicating the design or making the design make the product seem more important than it actually is. This is a layout for providing this type of imagery and for this product's targeted group of consumers.

Poland Spring Water

The Poland Spring water bottle label is a very complex example of display typography. There is so much going on in this design that it is hard to keep the eye focused on the brand. The majority of the design is green leaves with dark details. The middle of the illustration is a river of rushing water that creates motion and eventually shows the horizon line differentiating the focus from the background. Once the consumer looks closer at the design they notice that there is a mountain in the very background under the brand name and the river and in-between the dark green trees. There is also a curved bar that is in the middle of the image. The illustration alone is hard enough to look at, but then there is the typography. The brand type stands out in white and contains the same green as the trees in its stroke to create consistency; that being said, the type has many issues. The upper-case letters in the type are oddly shaped and even appear pointy and hard to associate with water. The only way I would describe this upper-case type while talking to another designer is that it is a serif font that has serifs on its serifs. Another thing is that the lower-case "g" looks like someone cut off the ascender from a letter "d" and added a curly tail to the bottom. In the side box is a red on yellow paragraph of left justified type. First of all they red on yellow type does stand out, but it vibrates too much and hurts to really look at. The headline for the side box is center justified, while the body copy is left justified. This justification issue throws off the consistency for this area of the design. Lastly the distribution facts are bunched in a slim box that looks like it was thrown in at the last minute. While this design might have a eye-catching white title, which is a plus for display typography, it lacks many common typographical elements that could make this much more appealing to the consumer.

Dr. Pepper

Dr. Pepper has a very consist ant bottle wrapper design. They usually tend to stay with the same color scheme; even for different flavors of soda. They mostly use different shades of red to create depth while maintaining a monochromatic appeal. I think that using brighter reds for the logo works to bring the logo closer to the consumer; while the white type provides contrast and definition. In their layout they put the main logo in the middle of the design, the side box material on the left, and the nutrition facts on the right side with the barcode. I think that this is a very well thought-out layout. This allows enough room for the design elements, while still maintaining enough room for nutritional facts and barcode. I think that even if this is not exactly how my work would be printed, I think it is a great way to at least layout the thumbnails so that all of the detailed info gets enough room and acknowledgment.

Coke

Coca-Cola is possibly the best known soda in the world and has been part of some of the best marketing campaigns around. The very simple script font is known as their logo and provides immediate recognition to what brand of soda it is. They use a contrasting color combination that provides recognition and is easy to notice even from a distance. even the small type looks readable in white and stands out well. Having the nutrition facts in white helps keep consistency throughout the piece and helps provide continuity. In the recycling details they made key words and logos green to stand out and show that they are eco friendly and support "going green" and support recycling efforts. I think that Coke is always a great example when it comes to designs and marketing.

Fanta

Fanta has a very noticeable bottle label due to the bright colors and interesting design. The main thing that I think Fanta does right with their designs is that they have their main color that represents the flavor of the drink, but they use another very different color that creates contrast and provides attraction to their audience. The label above uses different shades of orange to show the consumer right away that it is an orange flavored soda, but then they used blue for the logo to create contrast and make the logo "pop". This gives the first impression that it is an orange flavored drink, while a split second later giving the detail to what brand it is. If this had just been a black logo on an orange background it would have seemed boring and would take longer for the consumer to realize what brand it was. The nutrition facts remains black but this is secondary on the typographical hierarchy and is easy to see and has a high readability level. I think this is a very well done design and the orange Fanta label stands out to me when I go looking for a drink

Dasani

Dasani's water bottle wrapper has a simple two-toned design. While this does like nice for a general product design, this is not very eye-catching from a distance. To be honest I would know from a distance that this is a water bottle label because it is a very generic look and is very similar to what we see on a usual basis when thinking about water, but from a distance there is no way of knowing what brand of water this is. At that point i'm going to go up to it because I know it's water, not because it's Dasani. I think that the colors work well together but don't have a high enough contrast to really stand out or create any appeal. Also the lighter blue doesn't look very good as a stroke on the type. This actually makes the white type harder to read and makes the smaller type look too cluttered. Also once the text heavy side is seen without the logo, it can become very crowded and seem like a big splotch of white and light blue. I think that if there was possibly a lighter background and darker type then it wouldn't need a stroke for contrast and the darker logo and text would stand out more.

Capture The Flag: The Stars and Stripes in American History

Capture The Flag: The Stars and Stripes in American History by Arnaldo Testi has a very interesting design. The title creates the American flag by using left justified type. The designer separated the main title by placing it within the blue square of the flag. This looks good but I think I would have made the word "Flag" bigger than the word "The". This would add emphasis to the flag and would make the subject matter even more defined. I also think that one problem about this typographical image is that the font is left justified and the lines of text don't align at all. This is understandable since there are not many words in the title, but it does look sorta like a torn flag. This is a very simple design that still makes a point. There are really cool design ideas that are simple but still make a intricate design that makes people think. This shows that simplicity is still a great element of design and that it should not be overlooked. Over all this is a great design and it makes the cover feel professional and uniformed while maintaining simplicity and clean colors.

Steve Jobs Typography by Dylan Roscover

Steve Jobs by Dylan Roscover is a typographical portrait of Steve Jobs himself. This is a very cool illustration and using typography to create a portrait of someone is awesome. Portraits sometimes show meaning within the person and what they stand for and are thinking. Using type to create a person's face allows emotion to be seen in the subject's natural expressions, and it allows the language of the type to express thoughts or ideas in a clear and concise manner. One thing thats different about making a portrait is that the type needs to be in different shades to create depth and texture. After zooming in really close I found that his facial hair is actually made out of parentheses and 1's. This is a really nice touch and it looks really good. The design is not 100% text, but the majority of the portrait is made from type and shows great typography skills. This looks like it takes a lot of time to create, but the devotion that it also takes makes the results worth the time and effort. This piece also has a lot of hierarchy within it by making some of the type larger than others, even if it doesn't fit that part of the image. It works really well and it helps to show which quotes and thoughts are most important or had more meaningful.

May The Force Of Typography Be With You

May The Force Of Typography Be With You is a great line of posters that shows how to create images out of the outlines of text. Each shape used to create Darth Vader's face is actually a different character. Another great part of this piece is that it uses multiple fonts to create the perfect shape. At the bottom of the page is a list of which characters were used, how many, and what font. This design, and the two other Star Wars designs, were made by a design company in Italy called H-57. This piece is very simple and doesn't have too much complexity, but it reminds me that creating an image out of text doesn't mean you're restricted to using just one font. The rule of fonts is that there should be no more than 3 different fonts in one image, but this seems to be the exception to the rule. This is a great design and changes the way I see shapes and objects. Now I can look at something and start to image what fonts and font variations can I use as building blocks to create new designs and objects. I think that typography is suppose to express a meaning through language, but this shows that it can also be used as an art.

TitanVex

TitanVex is a very small design company who works in illustrations, websites, prints, videos, and fonts. They do not show too many of their clients on their website, but they do show a lot of their design work. They are not just designers, but also nerds, and that reflects well in their gaming illustrations. TitanVex has an entire section on their website that shows off their different gaming inspired typographical posters. This poster has quotes from the popular Assassin's Creed games. I really like this poster and the idea of using quotes to create familiar logos and shapes. One thing that stands out to me about this piece is that there are many different font sizes throughout this one image to show which words are more important. Just by making some words larger, they have created emphasis and it makes it easier for a person to read. Making the key words of emphasis larger also helps to bring interest to the piece. As people see the bigger, more intense words, they begin to look at the smaller words, and eventually they read the entire work. I think that this is a very cool design and I like the use of color and font sizes. The legibility of this piece does make this a harder piece to understand, but I really like the use of hierarchy to create emphasis and draw attention. I like this work and I think it is a great reminder of how to make typographical illustrations not just lines of text, but also a story inside of imagery.

A Study In Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet has a cover that is interesting on both the front cover, and the back. The front cover has a very cool typographical image that portrays a fingerprint. This image is not made from one line of text or just one word, but it actually contains many different words and is split apart to create a better shape. The different words have to do with the story and of Sherlock Holmes. Within the fingerprint are a few key words like the title and the author's name. These key words are found in bright orange and help to distinguish which words are important or not. This is a really simple and eye pleasing use of typographical hierarchy. On the back of the book is a small synopsis in grey and a slightly larger quote about the book in the same orange as the cover. I really like this idea of having the quote in the same color as the title and author's name because it shows that the quote is also very important to the book. The back also has a fingerprint in the design, but this is just an illustration, not typographical. On the spine of the book is the title, author name, and publisher's logo. I like the way the spine is aligned because when the book stands up you see the title first, but when the book is laying down you read the author's name first. This means that both the title and author get their recognition while the logo is still really recognizable. I think this is a very well done cover and I very much like the idea of making a design out of grey text, but making key words stand out with a brighter color. I already own a copy of this book, but I would possibly buy this copy just for the look and design.

Hemlock Grove

Hemlock Grove is one of those book covers that has the majority of the type running vertically but actually makes it work well with the illustration. The cover creates has two main objects, one illustration and one typographical object. The illustration is an arm coming down from the top of the cover and reaching into the lower half of the page. The typographical object is a large "H" that contains the title and author's name. There is a great use of negative space. The "H" is also cut from a semi-opaque red box that makes the "H" shape the natural color of the sketch. This is a great use of type to create focus. I think that when you first look at this cover you notice the "H" shape and begin to focus on the name of the book, but after you have done that your eyes move onto the image of the arm coming down from the top of the page. I really like the idea of using this semi-opaque shape to merge the type with the image without changing the image itself. I think this concept could be used in many different outlets. This typographical technique could be used in flyers, websites, advertisements, and of course books. I really like the look of this cover. The only change I might make is that I would try using a more classic font, possibly a serif font. Even without a change to the font I think that this is a really cool cover and I want to try the use of negative space to create objects in my own work.

Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life Of David Foster Wallace

Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life Of David Foster Wallace has a very interesting book cover. The cover features the name of David Foster Wallace, but has diagonal cuts within it to provide space for the beginning of the title. This is a cool idea, but I don't know if it really works for this book. First of all, when I see a large block of text that happens to be a name of someone, I assume that they are the author. It wasn't until I looked a second time that I found the author's name at the bottom. After that I found that the text within the name was actually the beginning of the title. I could understand if that was the tagline after the name David Foster Wallace, but it actually comes before that. Another problem with the way this was done is that the spaces cut out are uneven. This makes the spacing appear off. The first two names has three cut outs for additional text, while the name Wallace has only one. This throws off the balance and makes the "W", "A", "C", and "E" look more important than the other letters. At the bottom is the author's name. The author's name is much smaller and creates a top-heavey cover. This is a very interesting cover, but I think that it is too hard to read the first time. Even though I personally don't like it, I have to honestly admit that It will attract the eye of someone who notices the difference to this font and that person is more than likely to take the time to investigate the book more.

A Year from Monday

A Year from Monday is a book of lectures and writings from John Cage. The first thing that comes to mind when I look at this cover is boring, but it might not be as boring as the grey and black color scheme makes it first appear. To start, the book illustration does cover both the front and the back while connecting at the spine. The illustration is simply John Cage's initials sized to fit the cover. The "J" and the "C" are both in different shades of grey and tilted to create balance in their bottom curves. The title is very interesting and stands out well. There is hierarchy found in this title by putting the word "year" inside of the illustration and not just making it a lighter shade of grey, but going all the way in the other direction and making it a bright clean white. This makes the word "year" stand out as an important part of the title. The next type to follow are the words "From Monday" and the author's credit. Both the last half of the title and the author's name are in a thin sans serif font that keeps flow by staying in the sans serif family, while showing division by staying thinner in weight. There is also balance and proper alignment by aligning the barcode on the back with the title on the front. The only things that I dislike about this are that there is no text on the spine for recognition and that the colors are very boring. Even though I think the colors are kinda boring, after looking at this cover more I am starting to see that it is going for a more simplistic, sophisticated look that black, grey, and white can give. I think this cover works well.

Making Ideas Happen

I really the cover of Scott Belsky's book, Making Ideas Happen. The illustration is a puzzle piece design that incorporates the idea of putting things together to make ideas work. All of the main title is in a large sans serif font that is left side aligned and takes up over half of the cover. The left align style for a book cover can create empty space, but in this cover they added a tagline in three black lines. The tagline is also in a left alignment, but since it is a smaller font it fits directly into the empty space of the title and looks great. Below the title is the author credit. To bring the black background fully throughout the piece, the black line and white font is underneath the author's name and displays the author's title. This creates balance in the color. Also there is balance between the title and tagline, and also the author's name and personal title. The bigger white letters and smaller black boxes makes the top feel balanced on its own, and the bottom balanced on its own. There are also missing puzzle pieces near the text that says "overcoming the obstacles between vision and reality". This could just be to create difference in pattern, or it could be another way to attach the meaning of those obstacles and the missing pieces required to complete them. I really like this cover and I like when the title can be large simple text, and the cover is still exciting and appealing. 

Biodiversity

This book cover for Biodiversity: The Era of Extinction is mostly typographical and brings some interesting elements to a book cover, but not all of them are positives. The hourglass shape and using different animal species as the sand helps to create the imagery that living and thriving species of animals, after time and pressure, are going to slip through the cracks and become extinct. I also like that the falling type is transformed into different waves to create motion and that it also makes a pile of sand at the bottom. While this illustration and use of altered text helps to create a story, the cover has some flaws. There are more than three different fonts within the hourglass itself, while there are still two more fonts outside of the hourglass. Also the font used for the "biodiversity" looks fine, but the "the era of extinction" is hard to see and looks like its being destroyed. This look could be what the designer was going for when he or she created it, but does not fit with the rest of the piece or the other fonts. I think that if the tag line had a better looking font that maybe had some grunge element to it, the piece would fit together a little better. Another thing that I don't like about this book cover is that there is no mention of the author. One of the biggest selling points for a book is who wrote it. With some different fonts and the author's credit, this could be a very good cover that would show the reader exactly what they are reading about before they even turn to the first page.

Industry

This book design is possibly my favorite design I could find. The design on the cover shows an example of industry in our world, while creating movement in the title by moving the "I" with the crane. The back of the book has a very neatly typed synopsis of the book with the title and author repeated. Hierarchy is found again in the title and author on both the back and front of the book cover by having a large bold sans serif text for the title and a smaller white sans serif text for the author. The only problem with the cover is that the large back text seems a lot heavier than the smaller white text. There isn't as much of a weight problem on the back because the black text isn't out numbered by the white text. The spine of the book is very simple. It is a white spine with the title and author in black font. This is a simple design for the spine, but it works very well on this cover. All in all this is a great design for a book and the techniques can be transferred to other genres and designs.

The Wave

The Wave by Julie Myerson has  a really simple and well done book cover. This cover has a very nice style throughout the entire piece. The texture style of both fonts and the wave lines all give a hand-drawn chalk-like design. This creates a simple and easy to understand design on the cover that grabs the interest of the audience, while keeping the title the main focus of the design. The title is given importance by using a larger bulkier font, while the author's name is in a thin sans serif font to create hierarchy. All of the waves create motion and connection to the back of the book and even the spine of the book. The back has a quick synopsis of the book, while the spine has nothing but connecting illustrations. I think this is a great design and it is a great example of how to create a great design, while keeping simplicity. This is a technique I want to use in the future with book cover designs.

The Psychopath Test

The Psychopath Test written by Jon Ronson has a very interesting book cover. First of all, the colors on the right side are very very noticeable from first sight. The split in this cover is a great idea. It shows both sides of the human mind; both normal, and psychotic. The rabbit also gives an element of calm design, while the cheetah makes things chaotic and creates motion. The font on the right is a little distracting, but for the design I think it works. The font rule is followed here by having three different fonts, but different font styles are used to create difference in appearance and hierarchy. I think the colors on the left make the book look like a school textbook, while the right side looks like an 80's comic book. The title and author also show that they are of higher importance to the reader by either being typed in a different font size or by using a different font style. Hierarchy is used well in this cover. I want to use this kind of hierarchy in my work.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

This book cover for the book "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is made using a very simple illustration. The cover is a hand that has all of the typography in the handprint. Personally I like the color choice, but thats about it. The title is hard to read since it is rotated 90degrees clockwise and are on the fingers of the hand. After the title is the authors tagline, then in HUGE type is the author's name. At first glance the only thing I really read is the author's name. I think that maybe a better illustration for this could have been a silhouette of New York City; or the skyline made out of text. I think that this is a good idea, but it gives off a narcisitic vibe by making the authors name the size of half of the cover and by making it two times more noticeable than the title. I think that this could be reorganized without destroying the choice of illustration. Some may disagree with me, but I personally do not think that this illustration was a good choice.

Red Dog

I really like the cover of the book "Red Dog". It has a very simple color scheme and uses very formal font type. The title is sized well so that it almost aligns with the authors name. A thin line and a small illustration are located in between the title and author to provide division while still providing organization. The additional comment at the bottom of the book cover is in the same color as the background of the cover. A dog is running on the illustration and is the same color as the title and author text. The title, author, and tag are all in different sized fonts creating hierarchy by keeping the more important info larger. I think that the uses of these three colors repeatedly makes sure that the cover doesn't get too complicated or distracting. The text is  balanced well and the cover looks great while not overcomplicating the design elements.

P. Eggleston

P. Eggleston is a designer who creates illustrations and works on branding, promotions, and advertisements for Target. The illustration below shows an add for Target's pharmacy and its vaccination program. This illustration works well for a few different reasons. The first being that the bandaid is the only illustration within the piece and gives the audience something to associate the ad with. The second good thing about this ad is that the words are very balanced on both sides of the bandaid. Once you begin to look at the word "vaccination", you begin to realize that the add also splits the word and shows the "nation" in red. This matches the bandaid and creates a uniformed look, but also expresses that the program is available nation-wide. There is great hierarchy within the ad and it is very clean, clear, and concise while also displaying a well done minimalistic illustration.

Dave Foster

Dave Foster creates not just illustrations, but also the type that goes into it. He is an independent designer in Sydney, Australia. The picture above is of one Foster's typographical fonts. This is not just an impressive design or idea, but is very well carried out. This requires a lot of font manipulation, planning, sketching, and clicking of the mouse. In this map there are more than 380 tribes in their respective places. This is one of the most eye-catching pieces I've seen and provides the audience with plenty of content to appreciate. Foster has created his own set of type called FosterType which is a package of 8 styles of serif fonts in 4 different weights.

Jeff Rogers

Jeff Rogers creates some great typographical posters for different types of events. His Dylan Sneed poster uses different font sizes and color to create one uniformed block of text. This is a really clean looking design that balances well. The "Dylan Sneed" title is inside of an off-white square that aligns perfectly with the block of text at the bottom of the page. This works well to balance out the weight of both text areas while leaving room in the middle for the illustration.

Another poster by Rogers is for "The Best Night on Earth". He uses different sized fonts for typographical hierarchy within the title, while using different fonts for the address, times, and date. At first glance I thought that Rogers broke the font law by using more then 3 different fonts on the right side, but then realized that they were probably the band's logos.

Rogers' work is simple, yet well thought out. He uses balance and typographical hierarchy well and blends typography into real life pictures and art.

There Is

Immediately after seeing THIS IS' website my first thoughts were "I WANT TO WORK WITH THEM!". THIS IS is an East London based and lead by Art Director, Sean Freeman. THIS IS has been the recipient of numerous awards and provides illustrations for companies like NIke, Maxim, Sony, Penguin Books, and many more. Freeman has focused the studio on creating great looking illustrations that use typography to tell a complete story within a matter of seconds. The illustration places the audience in the world of the story or advertisement, while the typography is fused into the actual elements of the design to tell even more about the story. 

In this illustration for The NewYork Times Magazine, the scene of destruction is shown and understood immediately, but it is not truly felt or appreciated by the senses until it is seen written out in the burning ashes of that same destruction.

THIS IS is recognized on their website but 20 publications, 45 clients, have offered 6 exhibitions, and have won 13 awards. I really enjoy the work they do typographically and I think that THIS IS is a great design studio who truly looks to create a story by the visual effects of the word, not just their definitions.

New Life to Helvetica

Oded Ezer designed Helvetica Live. When a designer looks at helvetica they see the most simple sans sariff font out there. Taking advantage of this simplicity, Ezer has looked outside of the box and created a Frankenstein-esk version of the font. I love the use of font manipulation, while also maintaining the simplicity of this sans sariff font. With this manipulation the font has also become the illustration. This is an easy way to create an illustration and send a clear message to the audience.

Marcelo Schultz

Marcelo Schultz is a freelance Graphic Designer and Illustrator who creates different Typographical art for t-shirts, notepads, and poster. My favorite of his designs is the Lost Empire Illustration he created using Illustrator and Photoshop. This has a Great Gatsby feel to the design, while it brings in elements of the old Roman Empire. The "Lost" creates motion and takes up most of the empty space of the poster, while the "Empire" has a stronger feel and creates balance to the illustration. The only problems I can see with this illustration is that the circles and implied motion in can get a bit distracting and the type blends in with the actual illustration due to the color choice. Other than that I think this is a great example of typographical art. Marcelo Schultz's work can be found at his website (http://www.marceloschultz.com/20928/work). Schultz doesn't share much about himself as a designer other than the fact that he has customers from the US, Australia, Dubai, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, England, France, Brazil, Honduras, Argentina, and Germany.

Typography in Motion

Although typography is appreciated mostly within printed illustrations or articles, typography can be seen and expressed artistically in motion. After googling "typography" many images of type can be found at first glance; and while images is where you can find some of typography's greatest milestones, youtube has been collecting a museum of typographical motion. I searched on youtube for examples of typography about which I could write, and found the user, Kinetic Typography 101. The videos I found on this channel drew me in immediately. The videos contained on this channel used typography to explain different topics such as Procrastination, America's excessive use of Corn, and much more. After I saw the chains of connection that were used between different fonts, different style types, different colors, and even different motions and directions, I found that this motion is creating LIVE typography. Using typography in motion does constrict the designer to creating videos, but I believe that this concept of motion can be translated back into static, non-motion illustrations. Using the basic elements of art such as implied lines, angles, and shape can help create the idea of motion in printed illustrations. I found later that the user's true name is C.J. Yeh, a painter, author, web designer, teacher, and virtual artist. According to C.J.'s website, he currently teaches interactive media at the FIT and Pratt Institute in New York. C.J. has also published five books about design and art, and continues write about art and display art in local museums.

Twentyone Creative

Twentyone Creative is a design studio that creates some very interesting retro styled typographical posters. Twentyone Creative is the name of graphic designer, Fabio Perez's design studio. One of them that I really like is one that shows how cool retro styled robots are today. Perez's works include many different topics and tend to feature very diverse font types and styles. He tends to angle his fonts to create implied motion throughout the posters, which help guide the audience's eyes. Perez has also designed logos for Lynd Fruit Farms, The Cutting Desk, and more. He uses very simple illustrations alongside attractive typography to create brilliant looking designs.

Mary Kate McDevitt

Mary Kate McDevitt works mostly with typographical works to create great works of design. One of McDevitt's works that I truly appreciate is her November Desktop (http://marykatemcdevitt.com/#/november-desktop/). This November Desktop uses illustrations of broken leaves to create the word "November" using negative space. I love the idea of making the main title of the illustration using the negative space of other related objects. Using this technique helps the objects to create depth within the content, while also allowing the actual text to stand out to the audience. More of McDevitt's work can be found at her website, http://marykatemcdevitt.com.