Kenose gets friendly.

So as I move along on my little typeface here, I am noticing that apart from the dark and theological beginning (jokes). That this face is looking a lot happier and friendly than originally intended. This is ok with me. Lord knows there aren't enough cuddly san's serifs out there. At least ones that are just telling the worst jokes out there (comic sans...).

So in short, this guy is still moving toward a synthesis of gill sans (minus being goofy) and futura (minus being agressively geometric). It's coming along, but obviously still needs a lot of work, regarding proportions and character relation. Feel free to give any tips friends.

-P

Something about Nothing

Above is a second iteration for a poster I am making about the idea of nothing.
It contains 4 responses. One being from Georges Bataille, Joan Didion, and the band The National. The 4th response is the poster itself. I'm still tweaking it and will be getting it printed tommorow.

Enjoyed: Midlake-"The Courage of Others", Local Natives-"Gorilla Manor", Working on my typeface and drinking a lot of water.

Business Card 2

This one is a bit more classic/corporate...but I do like the big P.

Business card 1

One Idea for a business card. I looking to get these printed soon so feel free to critique to hell and back friends.


Music in ears: Broadcast, Cynic, Miserere Luminis, Local Natives, ZaZa

Neue Lucifer/Publication Sketches

Above is a collection of some spreads from my upcoming publication for my main studio class. The book is basically a collection of articles, interviews and essays on people who have rebelled against the conventions of their fields. Included in the book are written pieces on Harmony Korine, Jean-Luc Godard, Deathspell Omega, Joy Division, Karl Marx, Georges Bataille, Wolfgang Weingart, and Jan Tschichold. The title, "Neue Lucifer" was chosen based on the fact that all of these individuals rebelled against the structures of their structured disciplines in seemingly destructive and agressive ways. A notion that I see as linked to the characteristics of the character of Lucifer in the Bible, who removed himself for the perfection of God to pave his own way.

I can't stress enough, that this publication is in now way interested in satanism or the silly culture that is associated with it. I am more interested in using the metaphor of the character's actions.

The use of the circle, which at this point has taken an un-desired "friendly" vibe is to reference the idea of the "morning star" or venus (Lucifer in latin). I am in the process of refining all of these ideas and breaking down my own structure that I have created in these preliminary spreads.


Musack: Miserere Luminis-S/T, Thee Silver Mt. Zion-"Kollaps Tradixionales", Beach House-"Teen Dream", The National-"Boxer", Local Natives-"Early demos".

Kenose Progressions

We have begun the digital process of our typeface for my type design class, and the above photo is where I am at right now.

The "s" is proving tricky as balancing out the curves, spine and overall flow of the character involves a lot of detailing. Right now the weight is a little awkwardly placed. The "p" is also pretty wide...but that won't be to difficult to adjust.

The goal, once again, is to create a decent bold sans serif combining elements of geometic and humanistic faces in a way avoids the pitfalls of more "expressive" faces like gill sans and the aggressive geometry of Futura.

The important thing I feel is really paying a great deal of attention to the lowercase letters, as in faces like Futura and Gill Sans, that is where I think things get a little iffy. Gill Sans has some of the most peculiar lowercase forms I have ever seen, and the beauty of Futura's capitals get lost in translation to the lowercase letters as well, creating a somewhat static and unappealing character set.

In short I want to inject the more diverse qualities of Helvetica and Akzidenz Grotesk's lowercase characters in tandem the authoritative Uppercase Futura and Gills Sans letters.

Off we go.

a'listening to: Radiohead-"Hail to the Thief", Beach House-"Teen Dream", A Perfect Circle (for some reason?!)

Neue Lucifer, you guys.

Above is the first crack at a poster that is supposed to encompass our working methods and interests. As those of you that know me know, I am someone of acute visual preferences to a fault at times. I have decided that this semester is one of more experimentation and less overthinking. This poster is one of the first steps in that direction.

The visual interests I chose to synthesize were punk film (Harmony Korine, French New Wave etc), Black Metal, and Swiss Modernism. The type is obviously done with a modernist intent, and the image making is a combination of aspects of the other two. The goal of the poster and main theme of my "manifesto" is messing things up. Defiling, respectfully, the standards of purity and perfection. I chose this theme because for me, Swiss Modernism is the peak of graphic design...and for that matter communication. This poster attempts to dirty the conventions of that style up a bit. The lamb is used for it's symbolism of purity. The "X" and blood is my addition to this symbol and the modernist type to soil these icons of cleanliness and ideology. In other words...this is just me having a little fun with making fun of my own style and so forth.

Finally, The name "Neue Lucifer" is a nod to both the origins of modernism (germany) and the grand act Lucifer made when he turned away from Heaven. I am not interested in the character of Satan, but instead the concept of his character. Also, considering Black metal seems to have a love affair with character...well, that works right along with my visual interest.

The Typeface is Akzidenz Grotesk Bold.

More iterations to come!


Interests of the moment: Drastus, Blut Aus Nord, Beach House, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Working on my typeface "Kenose", enjoying the company of a lovely lady, coffee, and obviously waffles.

The Captivating World of Katja Gretzinger

There is something entrancing about Katja Gretzinger's work that has been with me for a while now. I first saw the "FAZ Wissen und Bedenken" poster/publication on aisleone many months ago and have since found myself at her website studying what exactly it is that I am obsessed with. Her masterful use of typography is fresh and well informed. I find the rather colorful posters the three people are holding (I think that is her on the left) extremely interesting. They manage to combine a strict grid with playful elements that recall the ill-advised typographic (in my opinion) experimentation the 90's brought us...but here we have a very refined and mature approach to modular grid use and humanistic flourishes.












An utterly fascinating talent in the field. Keep an eye out for her.


Record spinning: Department of Eagles-"In Ear Park", Beach House-"Teen Dream", Blut Aus Nord-"Dialogue with the Stars", Funeral Mist-"Maranatha", and Lindstrom and Christobelle-"Real life is No Cool"

Kenosis-The Beginnings

The beginnings of my typeface based on the synthesis of geometric and humanistic attributes in sans serif typefaces. The explanation of the name is expressed below:

"In Christian theology, Kenosis is the concept of the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God and his perfect will. It is used both as an explanation of the Incarnation, and an indication of the nature of God's activity and condescension."

The eventual goal is to combine both the geometric perfection of typefaces such as Futura with the more humanistic characteristics of Akzidenz Grotesk, Gotham, and Helvetica. Similar in theory to kenotic concept of the perfect entity of Christ becoming human to equate the necessary atonement for man's sins.

Wordy? yes. Lofty? Also yes. Influenced by a landmark Black Metal Band's 3-song EP? Definitely.

This is League

Oh, ok you guys...this firm's work is simply astounding. Obviously, they, like me, enjoy modernism. The interesting thing is though, is that they take a completely new spin on it, creating a unique style in itself. They are swiss designers...so let's add another tally to the chart for the Swiss, they just get it right.