Digital Letterpress - Initial ideas & COP Expansion
Initial Ideas
Hand drawn repurposing of digital type, using traditional mark making techniques and tools like magnifying glass, french curves, pencils, grid papers etc as a form of repurposing digital typography in a traditional outcome.
The purpose of letterpress is to design as you go, an organic process. Use this idea of an organic process within traditional print to justify abstract random designs as a form of visualizing contemporary technologies.
Lasercut letterpress blocks as a form of repurposing the most iconic type distribution print method using contemporary technologies.
Use wood to reference the starting point of letterpress or Acrylic to give a more contemporary context.
Re-appropriate old communicative documents ie newspapers and letters into digital outcomes that reference there electronic versions like email and news apps as a form of showing how cyberspace technologies have helped develop a further mass distribution of information.
Emojis are a contemporary development of hieroglyphics, recycle them back to there intended hieroglyphic purpose using digital techniques and traditional production methods.
Design a whole typeface to use throughout the printing, this could reference every contextual touch point of the essay within a typographic family. Support this by an iconography system that further supports
the visualization of the context of the essay content.
Use a variety of print methods to show the transition of distribution techniques and outline there limitations and advantages in some way. ie Xerox, Photocopier, Fax, Scanner, Laserprint, Inkjet, Screen print, Letterpress, hand rendering.
Print overtop of actual old style documents like newspapers and letters to show a transition of the old and the new and a way of physically repurposing something but maintaining aura from 2 very iconic periods.
Repurpose touch points of essay and expand on them for example
Hieroglyphics > Emojis
Mail > Email
Dictionary > Wikipedia
Physical storage > Cloud
Type tray/Physical storage > Digital library
Carved letters > Moving type
Newspaper > News app
Spoken word > visual language system/iconography/typography system
Or show the potential of digital design and print using traditional process's. Rip the constraints of letterpress apart, completley deconstruct typical layout principles.
Each format of the outcome will reference my dissertation in some way.
COP Expansion
Carry through the 4 chapters and emulate everything about them within 4 separate bodies of work in a relevant format. Each body of work should emulate each important discussion within the chapters.
Cover:
The introduction of mass communication methods and there distribution of information from before, during and after the Guttenberg period. Try reference every important period with a production method, visual concept and context application using technology as a mode of emulating past traditions or future potential distributions.
Mass communication theory as itself, this could provide a strong body of textual content in which asthetic concepts can be applied to reference the key strategies developed to communicate information, particularly focusing on type and image as the outcome is going to be physical to reference print and the limitations of traditional process's and potential of technology within these process's.
Focus on branding and the use of typography within branding and how strategies and thinking is applied based on the research gathered on how information is communicated as technology progress's.
Visualize what brands like to apply subliminally in more literal ways, like personality, heritage, tradition, contemporary etc. Expand on this buy picking a brand to provide as a case study for this example maybe?
Theres points made that branding is manipulative, upon further analysis of my research I think there could be a clear link that could be visualized between this idea of manipulation in branding to how the introduction of technology is quite manipulative. For example the introduction of ebooks making people who enjoy reading feel like traditional books are obsolete through strong marketing campaigns on promoting these sort of products which are very much brand lead.
Look into how the application of brand touch points like logo marks can be applied digitally but repurposed within a print output to create a clear link between the mechanical and the digital.
Or repurpose things like hand written signage into things like vinyl lettering, this could provide a very nice emulating of progression of techniques and process's.
Brand Mantra was something that could be visualized quite well that could link to pre typographic information distribution. Soley relying on non typogographic communication, using aura, tone of voice and context of how words are spoken or digested rather than how they are read and digested.
The design and production of typography before, during and after the introduction of typography.
For example the storage of type in trays, having a physical ownership and appreciation of craft to library of thousands of cheap and accessible mediocre fonts.
Type used in differing ways, clarity, legibility and organized systems to aid the ease digestion of information in quite theoretical context's all the way to very experimental type that holds a concept in the aesthetic delivery not just limited to the design of each glyph but to the layout, the manipulation, the use of color, the interaction with image. All these can add further context and meaning to letters on a page.
This idea could be expanded looking into mass communication theories to do with things like hot and cold media, how information is processed depending on the delivery method. Emulating things like slow media or fast media digestion in a print outcome could be an interesting interpretation of something that is quite complex when talking about how sensory interactions with things like TV and radio differ in how information is taken in.
From hand drawn to moving image. How can all this be placed in a fixed physical context. Or maybe even include some moving type/image?
Work from quotes that could cue strong visual presence that sums the journey from the spoken word to cyberspace technology like "distributed and consumed through the transition of the “mechanical age into an electronic age"
Use quotes from my dissertation as content, visualizing each quote in a way in which it references the content both aesthetic but with production methods too.
Overall investigation ranging from "introduction of effective language communications that predate typography as a visual communicative system to the introduction of future oriented cyberspace technologies that merge together multiple sensory interactions like verbal and visual mediums"
Investigate disciplines, principles, technologies/productions & strategies within typography and image communication.
Show the advantages of technology but also the disadvantages and changes its made to society, ie making us lazy and illiterate through things like predictive text. A resurgence of an educational divide that was apparent before books never mind technology.
Visualize the invisible, ie the internet, cloud storage, servers etc.
Think about the use if accessible distribution tools within some of the designs made, home computing introduced ease of access of information and desktop publishing this is important to emulate and evidence the progressing of technology and the effect its had on distributing information.
Emulate the limitations of print typography design and screen design.... both have there advantages and disadvantages. Try emulate both within a print format.
As a form of repurposing digital, think how certain screen based typographic touch points can be interpreted in print formats that reference traditional process's and technological developments. i,e letter pressing a laser cut screen collaboration mark.
Discuss and emulate visually and contextually the political agendas of typographic distributions, newspapers, punk zines, protest banners and such. They all share different production, distribution, aesthetic and conceptual values but all communicate something using the power of typography be it a carved slab used to contain important information to mass produced screen printed zines to hand painted protest signs. They all carry a message strengthened by McLuhans Medium is Message theories.
Some typefaces where made for a specific purpose using a specific production method, think about emulating this by designing a set of glyphs for applying context to the visualization of quotes and there meaning. For example Times was made specifically for Newspaper use originally but now denotes strong British values through these historic connections.
Show the restrictions of past distributions and how technologies open up these and bi-pass restrictions and how this can be good but also bad, for example the ease of access to information online introduces hackers and people invading peoples private information.
From carving to 3D printing could provide strong aesthetics that carry a strong context and theory explaining the developments of technology and typographic production.
As a finishing point visualize the conclusion chapter of the essay in a separate section of the publication, sort of a visual response and round up of all the visualizations of the essays context's, my expanded research and an overarching round up of all technologies and there effects. A strong concept will come from further reading and analysis of the essay conclusion this is just a starting point.
The use of colour will be very important when visualizing and contextualizing elements of my essay, blue has a very digital feel so printed with a traditional method theres a nice link established.
This idea influences and expands on my ideas of repurposing a typeface that is associated with the birth of letterpress and editing it with visual cues that reference the development of cyberspace technologies. Be it there advantages or there limitations.
This idea could be extended to the repurposing of emojis, turning something focused on phones back to something that was preserved, like how hieroglyphics where presented on walls.
THIS IS JUST A SMALL PORTION OF EXPANSION POINTS. ONCE QUOTES START BEEN GATHERED FROM THE ESSAY FOR THE VISUAL DESIGNS AND RESEARCH EXPANDED BASED ON THESE POINTS I CAN BEGIN CREATING A STRONGER MESSAGE THAT EXPLAINS THE TRANSITION OF TECHNOLOGY, TYPE AND DISTRIBUTIONS. MAKE SURE YOU DOCUMENT THESE.
Main focus influence
83M80 by Gonzalo Hergueta and MRKA is the main starting point to contextualize my essay and begin refining my ideas into a concise delivery/outcome. The project uses Bembo an old style serif typeface as a starting point, the idea references cyberspace technologies something I have investigated throughout the year in my dissertation and other projects and how they can introduced problems like glitching, low resolution problems, corruption, virus's etc By repurposing the glyphs to reference these points the imperfections of technology are shown within a print method that itself has limitations. Showing the limitations of both the old and the new.
Showing there are limitations and advantages to the old and the new, visualizing the limitation and potential of all technologies discussed within my essay would be a good way to show the potentials and drawbacks of progressing technology.
By using typography as a focus with the inclusion of technology a link can be made between something that encompassed hundreds of years of craftsmanship and print specialisms to something that can be produced, used and distributed with minimal skill sets.
83M80 by Gonzalo Hergueta and MRKA is the main starting point to contextualize my essay and begin refining my ideas into a concise delivery/outcome. The project uses Bembo an old style serif typeface as a starting point, the idea references cyberspace technologies something I have investigated throughout the year in my dissertation and other projects and how they can introduced problems like glitching, low resolution problems, corruption, virus's etc By repurposing the glyphs to reference these points the imperfections of technology are shown within a print method that itself has limitations. Showing the limitations of both the old and the new.
Showing there are limitations and advantages to the old and the new, visualizing the limitation and potential of all technologies discussed within my essay would be a good way to show the potentials and drawbacks of progressing technology.
By using typography as a focus with the inclusion of technology a link can be made between something that encompassed hundreds of years of craftsmanship and print specialisms to something that can be produced, used and distributed with minimal skill sets.
The use of colour will be very important when visualizing and contextualizing elements of my essay, blue has a very digital feel so printed with a traditional method theres a nice link established.
This idea influences and expands on my ideas of repurposing a typeface that is associated with the birth of letterpress and editing it with visual cues that reference the development of cyberspace technologies. Be it there advantages or there limitations.
This idea could be extended to the repurposing of emojis, turning something focused on phones back to something that was preserved, like how hieroglyphics where presented on walls.
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