YES & NO

For this week's theme on expressive type I chose an artwork I recently stumbled upon. This typographical sculpture was created by sculptor and conceptual artist Markus Raetz. His art is usually described as being about issues of reality and illusion. In this particular piece, from one angle it reads "YES" while from another it reads "NO". This sort of plays on how the use of the word "no" from people can sometimes mean "yes" and vice-versa. I find it ingenious how he contorted these words and letters to the point that they were perfectly opposite. The type is used in such a clever way that is clear and literally expresses what it is meant to.

Amanda

Hihi =D

So expressive type makes me think of graffiti ~

Colour and the style it's written usually gives people an idea of what the person was thinking while making it ~

-side note : took forever for me to figure out... / guess what it's saying

other graffiti I usually can't identify the whole word ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDunA-bakXc&feature=related

When I heard that the blog topic was expressive type, I thought about all the kinetic poetry I'd seen on youtube.  Kinetic poetry is poetry in motion!  It's really cool.  Usually there is a voiceover of the poem while typography is used as animation to support the spoken word.  Sometimes it can be very moving, more so than just hearing the words alone.

There are some really inspiring videos of kinetic poetry out there, but I chose a video that I hope we can all relate to.  Please tell me you have seen the movie Zoolander?  If not, get on it.  Even if it is the definition of a stupid movie, it has some of the best quotes known to man.  Winston Churchill is probably jealous.

Anyway, enjoy the video. I really think the motion of the type, as well as the variation of fonts, sizes, and colour help to portray the essence of what Derek is trying to say in this clip of the movie.

Good luck with completing your book covers, everyone!

Leanna.

Expressive Type

The jacket design for Tana French's novel In the Woods fuses text and imagery to great effect. The haunting beauty of the bare branches captures the dark atmosphere of this psychological thriller.

One Word Poems

Hey everyone. This week for expressive type I found some one word poems (or that's what we called them at my old school). So basically the one word poem is a single word displayed in a way to express the meaning of that word. I enjoy these when they're done in a really intelligent way like this insomnia piece. I love how the "i" is laying on the 'nsomnia" as if it's a person lying on a bed. Really clever.

As for this one I like how the piece it about balancing even though the "A" being upside down gives me the sense of unbalanced, in this case the opposite of what the main word means. This is another creative way to emphasize the meaning of the word.

Lastly, this one is just a fun one since the "o's" are popping like popcorn. Lots of fun!

A lot of one word poems are really interesting to look at and get you thinking about the one word that they're talking about. I encourage others to look at some some time.

Thanks guys!

Julie :)

Liquid Type in Motion by Ruslan Khasanov

Maybe you guys have seen this already, but regardless, I'm pretttty sure this man is a genius. Or at least I think he's pretty fantastic. Ruslan Khasanov.

He put together animated gifs/stop motion animations of painted/liquid/evaporating letterforms to create "liquid type in motion" that is lively, eerie, intriguing, and so so dynamic. I know I could go on about its worth as good design/art and how all of those glorious things are achieved, but I'm just going to forget about that and tell you, basically, I'm just really impressed.

From what I've read, Khasanov was at first just creating letterforms using this technique (painting onto a sink and allowing it to run down the drain/emerge with water), and then later created animations of the letters, like this. More here !

Tah-dah.

Nina.

the truth is written all over your face

Hi all. I thought I'd share these two typography portraits since they truly stand out from the rest.

The Bob Marley poster was created by Jason Yan in memory of the artist. The whole image is created from type and features lyrics from the artists' songs. The colourization and the font creates constant movement and direction in the piece. Upon first glimpse of the text "redemption songs", I can hear the melody playing in my head. The composition is extremely effective in the choice of facial expression as well as the selection of words that are enlarged creating a soulful and motivating atmosphere.

The Yoda poster by Olivia Truong is equally as effective. Rather than using black text, the shading and colour is embedded into the type which completely fits the subject matter, and is created with philosophical meaning within Yoda.

Please check this blog out

http://johngall.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
if you need any inspiration or even process help please check this blog out its fabulous !!!

a little inspiration

I thought this was an interesting way to have a background in a collage while still leaving room for visible text, hope this helps someone (unfortunately it doesn't really work for my cover but I still think it's neat) if you want to look at more of this artist's covers check out http://www.dhaggar.com/

Ruff Collage

This is what I chose for Collage. I actually don't know who made this piece but it the choices of different  material is very interesting. I find that the choice in paper and material kind of builds the feel of the dog. In particularly the mouth area looks like what a dog whiskers and mouth feels like.  Plus the background  of the dog face seems to match what a the colourations suppose to be.




Tara.

Jeffy Hendrix

What I love about Jeff Henrickson's collage artwork is his ability to use a minimal number of materials to create the maximum effect for his audience.

At first glance of all his pieces you'll see one large and basic composition- fairly average- and looking as though they are edited old photographs. But after looking a bit deeper one can realize that the bicyclists are moving on top of a lake or a few german children out for lunch are actually giants.

Hendrickson sets himself apart from the chaos of the usual collage work you see out there. He plays with your head a bit and really makes you think with each minimalist piece.

This is something I would like to try for my book cover artwork- keep it simplistic and allow it to leave room for interoperation and thought.

bubble gum!!

i loveeee bubble gum art. i think this counts as a form of collage because it it made up of many different types of gum. I am looking into experimenting with this medium. I think it really adds "POP " side of these works of art.