Typeface initial ideas and development

Today we began to look at type design around our genres and started to develop a typeface that will eventually be used as part of the identity. I started with a trip to the library to take out two books on the genre: NO WAVE by Marc Masters and No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York 1976-1980 by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley. I found the former by far more visually interesting. The header typeface was a bold san serif that vaguely resembles an extra bold version of Helvetica that has been modified to have very tight kerning and each letter fitting perfectly to the next for the logotype. I think the extra bold sanserif forms give the typeface the desired post-punk aesthetic along with the red accent colour that I have also been using throughout so far. In terms of internal pages, again a simple san serif is used perhaps in reference to the avant-garde nature of the scene. One feature of the layout I really like is the mixture between regimentation of the type and then hand drawn lettering as if the book has been vandalised - a sentiment that sums of the post punk era well. This also fits with what I've been doing around destruction and obstruction, giving me an idea that I'm working on the right lines. Once again black and white photography with sparing use of accent colours are also popular in both books. 

The other book was far less visually interesting with more regimented sanserif type internally and far more conventional grids of pictures and large-scale black and white film images. However, for the type, it's worth noting that once again blocky bold sanserif is favoured - in this case, the logotype was printed grainy as if it had been screen printed on. I need to look into printing techniques that might give me the desired lo-fi aesthetic. This typeface is also far more geometric and rounded which I feel makes it look very much so of the era but possibly too much so of the popular culture within the era. My typeface should not be as conventional. 

   

Further inspiration came from my research into Basquiat and via the documentaries I have watched and the use of graffiti in Jan Jarmusch's film Permanent Vacation. The casual nature of simplistic graffiti lettering is something that I feel really embodies both the lo-fi and anticonformist nature of the movement. 

Lastly, some contextually unrelated research was supplied by the logotype for Japanese Anime film AKIRA. The logotype features the fusion of heavy serif roman alphabet with Japanese characters that are clearly designed to look painted on. This fusion of disparate styles is exactly what I am aiming to achieve within my typeface. This lead to experimentation seen bellow before progressing to a full typeface using original forms.  

All of this research accumulated in this typeface and some slight variations that look to combine the hard neo grotesque forms of the sanserif within the books with the freeform lines of graffiti. The idea behind it is that the black elements of design can easily be created via taping and then the drawn lines via a paint pen or a spray can - this fits with the lo-fi makeshift theme. The colours stay with the classic black and spot colour of red for now although I'm open to changing these in future. The forms are possibly too blocky and hard without the lines and maybe with them also so further experimentation is needed for sure. The rules behind the face are: only horizontal and vertical lines to be blocks and any diagonal or curved forms have to be done with the drawn line. One possible problem with this is that the differences between O and X, for example, are so vast. Also in theory O could be done all in pen also so it tricky to know how to apply the rules to each letter.