Research:
House of Leaves:
Notes from Simon:
- Note that it has a formal contents page (and yet it is still a novel).
- The parts in courier are narrated by Johnny Truant who is the protagonist.
- The other parts like the Navidson Record are like scientific documents/papers about the house.
- There are appendices too which are an array of extra things. If you can see the appendices in the Google preview those are the most varied in typographic terms.
- 'Some pages contain only a few words or lines of text, arranged in strange ways to mirror the events in the story, often creating both an agoraphobic and a claustrophobic effect.' - Wikipedia
- Using the letterforms the content is held in to design an environment for this novel to exist.
- Seeing 'through' the letters not just 'at' them to enhance the experience for the reader. - 'At points, the book must be rotated to be read.' - Wikipedia
- Again, here using the features of text to develop a visual narrative, and an interactive experience for the reader, making them more engaged in the book. - 'In the book, there are four fonts used by the four narrators. These are: Times New Roman (Zampanò), Courier (Johnny), Bookman (The Editors), and Dante (Johnny's mother).' - Wikipedia
- A practical feature to differentiate between speakers, help the audience understand what is being said when.
- Could think about this with 'When Love Arrives' poem as it has 2 narrators.
Conversation Analysis:
'Conversation Analysis (CA) is an approach to the study of social interaction, embracing both verbal and non-verbal conduct, in situations of everyday life.'
'CA began with a focus on casual conversation, but its methods were subsequently adapted to embrace more task- and institution-centered interactions, such as those occurring in doctors' offices, courts, law enforcement, helplines, educational settings, and the mass media.'
Jefferson Transcription System:
“Jeffersonian Transcription” or the “Jefferson Transcription System” is a conversational analysis code used by academics looking at speech patterns.
https://www.universitytranscriptions.co.uk/jefferson-transcription-system-a-guide-to-the-symbols/
https://www.universitytranscriptions.co.uk/jefferson-transcription-system-a-guide-to-the-symbols/
| ↑word ↓word | Marked shift in pitch, up (↑) or down (↓). Double arrows can be used with extreme pitch shifts |
 |
| Jefferson Transcription in use |
- Really interesting way of noting other elements/actions of speech.
- Feel as though this could apply to 'When Love Arrives' to add detail to different sections. - I designed a version of this for 'A Thing About Arms', that used more graphic shapes that became part of the design.
- Feel these work well to present the same idea/theme but are less contained, they become part of the design. - Should experiment incorporating these ideas into 'When Love Arrives'.
Page 1: Great Expectations:
Page 1 is an unusual typographic experiment designed to explore the relationship between graphic design, typography and the reading of a page. It collects the responses of 70 international graphic designers to the same brief – to lay out the first page of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a text that directly references lettering as Pip searches for clues about his family from the letterforms inscribed on their tombstone.
- It is interesting to see the different directions the pages went in, they're all so different and interesting to look at.
- This demonstrates the breadth of possibilities there are when working with type and how different arrangements can highlight a variety of feelings, tone and messages.
- Showcases the power of design principles and typography very well. - Each studio/practitioner has picked up on a theme to accentuate on the page.
- This highlights how text can be seen differently to different people, what one person notices another may ignore. - It's really fascinating as you feel as though you have more of a connection to the studio/practitioner by viewing experimental work such as this.
What to do?
- Work on 'When Love Arrives'
- Think about conversation analysis elements
- White space, size of type, does it match the tone? - Adapt 'Dear Apocalypse' to incorporate gridded river text layout
- Think if there's a way to emphasis the drama?
Revisiting Work:
When Love Arrives
- Adding in alterations related to conversation analysis
Using the square brackets to demonstrate people talking over each other.
-It demonstrates that there are two speakers really well, by simply doubling the text the way the piece is performed is communicated more successfully.
- Does it make the individuals seem separate though? Not sure.
Square brackets on the one set of text.
- Trying to see if this demonstrates the two talking together as one more clearly but I don't think it does.
- Looking at Jefferson Transcribed text it's very much about the two speakers, and the previous test demonstrates this idea better than here.
Unsure on what to do for this animated section that's spoken together.
- Thinking a double bracket and each line could be a different grey?
- The animations on it are really effective in communicating the clunky speech so want to keep this if possible.
Relistened to the poem and added in more alterations relating to how the poem is spoken.
Instead of having up and down arrows for change in pitch the letters themselves move up and down when the mouse scrolls over them.
- wanted to keep the animations in as it adds to the performance aspect of the poem.
- wanted to keep the animations in as it adds to the performance aspect of the poem.
Underlines were added to demonstrate emphasis.
Elements like like closeness were reconsidered and more space was given around the different sections to help with pace.
Size of type was made smaller to have a more delicate feel.
- The large text appeared rather overbearing on the page and smaller text conveys the tone of the poem better.
Elements like like closeness were reconsidered and more space was given around the different sections to help with pace.
Size of type was made smaller to have a more delicate feel.
- The large text appeared rather overbearing on the page and smaller text conveys the tone of the poem better.
Dear Apocalypse
The large scroll of text is more overbearing, has an intense tone, but isn't a visual experience as much.
- Will go with river text, could look into typeface and see if anything else could be changed?
- Should edit the end of the poem so it isn't as clunky with the animations.
- Will go with river text, could look into typeface and see if anything else could be changed?
- Should edit the end of the poem so it isn't as clunky with the animations.
Rethink:
Tested with and without blur at the edge
- Felt like the blur softened the tone too much, it made for a less dramatic impact on the audience.
- Feel the stark contrast works well.
Edited the type saying 'You need to do something to make these people respect you.' to be a long column, taking up the whole page and justified to match the river text.
A Thing About Arms
Felt like the design of this poem matched the tone well, more of a quirky fun typeface design with symbols to add an extra visual element that represents different ways of speaking.
Altered the space surrounding the text, gave more white space allowing it to breath and helped with the pacing when scrolling.
Type on Homepage:
Rethinking the type on the homepage, Simon mentioned how Helvetica has a very modernist aesthetic and isn't very neutral anymore.
- Agree and I didn't have a strong reason for using Helvetica.
- Wanting to have the homepage be a 'neutral' typeface, don't want it to be the focal point of the site. And since poems are in different typefaces it would be nice to have a "brand" that isn't too loud.
- Agree and I didn't have a strong reason for using Helvetica.
- Wanting to have the homepage be a 'neutral' typeface, don't want it to be the focal point of the site. And since poems are in different typefaces it would be nice to have a "brand" that isn't too loud.
 |
| Helvetica Now Display (Black) |
This font of helvetica was the only free option, all cost £39.
- Don't like the look of this typeface, feel as though it's too aggressive. If I had access at a lighter weight this might be more effective.
 |
| Aktiv Grotesk |
- Feel like this typeface is really effective, it's neutral, similar to Helvetica but isn't as weighted with history.
- This typeface is a variable typeface, this could be an interesting to use for the branding as it could take on many forms and alter, relating to the content of the website.
- This is strongest.  |
| Times |
 |
| Raleway |
- More of a youthful typeface, rounded anatomy with unique crossovers on the W.
- The tone of the typeface is much more lighthearted, not sure it communicates the right impression to the audience.
 |
| Nimbus Sans (Bold only) |
- This typeface is also strong, similar to Aktiv Grotesk but the anatomy is more rounded has a much more friendly tone.
- It's only available in Bold which means the drop down sections would have to be in the same weight which wouldn't work well for the hierarchy of the page.
 |
| Le Monde Journal Std |
- A more obscure serif typeface makes it look like a choice rather than a default so shows a more professional appearance than Times.
- Serifs have a stronger link to poetry as it's traditionally published in books, however, as I'm working on a new digital platform for exploring and experiencing poetry a sans serif typeface may be more effective and relates stronger to this idea of modern tech.
 |
| Galviji |
- Here again a rounder sans serif type.
- Has an angular element to it, relating more to digital work.
- Feels traditional to a sans serif font, nothing exciting stands out about it.
I think Aktiv Grotesk is the best one to go with, could have interesting applications since it's a variable typeface, could be fun to play with for any advertisements as well as smaller sections of the website to give a wider range of visuals with one foundation (keeps in tune with the way the different poems are designed).
Like mentioned earlier the idea of a variable typeface relates to the content of the website, adapting and changing type to not only be something to look at but also through.
Like mentioned earlier the idea of a variable typeface relates to the content of the website, adapting and changing type to not only be something to look at but also through.
What to do?
- Update animations for home page with Aktiv Grotesk
- Re film and upload blog of updated final outcomes (do over weekend)
No comments:
Post a Comment