Final Type Workshop

In this final Type Process and Production workshop I created a final version of the development I have been producing over the past few weeks. 

In the first type workshop I took particular interest in Wolfang Weingart's "The Swiss Poster" by which I was very inspired by the colouring, line, and shape used in the piece. The edgy and crafted lines and sharp edges helped me to produce 3 very different but interesting type versions also taking inspiration from the Helvetica font that is actually used on the poster. Then, in the second type workshop I got the chance to develop this idea further, creating 4 rough alphabet typefaces that led me to a type I was happy with. The type looked very similar to the gothic type that is already heavily used, just with more curves, lines and shapes relating back to Weingart's graphical composition. 

In this final workshop I then drafted out a more final version. I did this on grid paper to make sure the lines, baseline and kerning where fully precise. I also love working with grids, being precise and exact is very important to me when designing and rarely ever work without a grid. The rough copy was then pasted into illustrator for me to work from using the pen tool to create a more exact shape that would eventually be the shape of the letter. I did this for every letter, using the crop tool to deduct the counter from the letter. When finished I then went back through each letter, smoothening the lines and sharpening some edges to once again revert back to the original source of inspiration (The Swiss Poster). I am overall very pleased with the final outcome of this project and I am very pleased with the development, outcome and meaning behind it. 

The final type resembles that of a Gothic Font which is heavily used within Design, especially within a cultural trend at the moment. Kanye West's tour merchandise is full of this particular type of font by which the edgy and artistic nature matches the brand he is going for. This type has also been used in other fashion campaigns from Vetements by which it is distinctively posted across editorial piece 
s and even on some apparel. The bold and medievalesque style, sometimes that can also be referred to as Old English, has quickly risen to the go-to typeface choice for designers and labels alike this year – just look at Gucci’s SS16 menswear show, where it popped up on more apparel. 

This edgy but artistic style of using this font has been nothing new. Obsessed  initially by the goth subculture and the popular non-mainstream trends, the  magazine Propaganda in the USA in the late 80s and 90s, sprawled this particular font all over its magazine spreads. The use of street culture here is what some say inspired brands such as Vetements and Life of Pablo to use this font in such a way. 

Born x Raised is a Los Angeles streetwear label that has embraced a variant of blackletter since day one. The duo behind the brand, Spanto and 2tone, channeled the frustration and anger they felt from the gentrification overtaking their hometown into a debut collection with no shortage of the Old English font and its links to LA gang culture. “Those letters and that traditional layout are a part of my culture as a gang member,” Spanto explained in an interview with Dazed Magazine. (http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/32311/1/why-is-fashion-so-obsessed-with-gothic-fonts). 

"“Growing up in Venice in the 80s and 90s, I always saw gentlemen in my neighborhood wearing t-shirts and crewnecks with that font,” he added. “You were only allowed to wear something like that if you were affiliated, and if you weren't, you were getting jammed up.”

The blackletter fad is unique because it’s a marriage of various moments currently happening in fashion – the sudden resurgence of concert merch, a love of heavy metal, and an emphasis on streetwear that’s even being adopted by the most old school fashion houses. This is why this font is so interesting to me and I am pleased that I have come up with this concept from an artistic piece - I feel that it is full circle in the sense that most designers behind the fashion house's are using this concept too.