Experimental Typography
CLASSWORK
FALL 2020
I took an elective in my senior year where we explored non-traditional and creative ways to convey concepts through type.
I created a range of work from posters to newspaper articles to book covers.
Word Concept
The aim was to pick three words– I picked the words “summer”, “nothing” and “god”– and convey our interpretations of those words through type only and no imagery.
Summer 2020 was chaotic and constricting for many families in quarantine. An attempt to convey the feeling of being squeezed together while trying not to intrude on each other's personal space.
Click to zoom– A blank (but not so blank) png file- what "nothing" looks like in the digital space.
I imagine god as a concept where polarity ends– between good and evil, male and female, left and right ideology etc. This piece attempts to evoke the joining of opposite forces to birth oneness.
New York Times Op-Ed Piece
Hypothetical design for a real newspaper article titled “The Towering Lies of President Trump” about Trump’s ignorant approach to the pandemic.
Theater Poster Conceptual Redesign
The challenge was to design a purely typographical poster for a well-known play or performance piece. I chose “Cut Piece” by Yoko Ono, in which she sat motionless and instructed the audience to approach her and cut off a small piece of her clothing, which was theirs to keep. It was an exploration in morality and boundaries.
Final: Book Cover Redesign
Original Cover
I chose a book close to my heart, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. The events in the novel are conveyed through the perspective of the two protagonist children, Rahel and Estha, hence the warped perspective of the imagery. The house in which they grow up plays a very important role in the film and I wanted to situate the viewer inside the house instantly. The motif of the moth is also significant in the film, but the most important typographic choice for me was splitting the title words up into smaller syllables that don’t mean anything in particular. Rahel and Estha do this often while reading complicated words and phrases. It symbolizes their innocence and foreshadows them not operating according to the laws of the world.
Process Iteration