Metaplane/terra initial ideas

Over the past few days, I've been experimenting with dynamic italicised forms to try and work out the name for the project and therefore the theme/brief. The face started with the T and E of TERRA, featuring exaggerated serifs that were originally based on Bodoni. The word TERRA was chosen originally due to the relationship between the TER, these forms have some interesting serif's to work with allowing for highly decorative characters and lots of potential for variation. Originally the two names I was discussing with Reece were Terra Firma and Metaplane but following consultation on the sketches he had drafted for the garment, we decided Metaplane was more appropriate. Here is the message I sent to Reece:

Hello mate, so I’ve been going over a few bits and think I’ve come up with a choice of two titles to work off: 

METAPLANE - a higher realm of existence beyond our own physical plane

Or 

TERRA FIRMA - solid earth 

The serif's of the T and E point inwards to the inside edge of the upright, giving a continuation of form. E is a highly decorative form in a style that you do not commonly see with the central extender going beyond the upper and lower serif's allowing for a unique structure that slightly sacrifices legibility in favour of originality. Upon peer review, it was suggested it could be mistaken for a B but I think there is no chance of this happening especially in context. To do a highly customised face like this there must be some movement away from traditional rules of characters. The repeated key form of the left upright was perhaps too closely followed throughout the first experiment so letters such as the A were adapted in a second orientation to avoid over formulaic results and heighten legibility. This layout of the thick line on the right was based on the configuration of Bodoni. However, the face itself definitely has enough removal from the Bodoni base form. The T has a curved line ending making it unique from other forms, this felt logical due to it being a logotype and the first letter needing to be fairly decorative.  

The Metaplane adaptation had some tricky new forms to incorporate. The M and N required a lot of tweaking due to the interaction of a number of different angles. The L conforms to the same rule as the E and T with its oversized serif pointing upwards towards the angle of the spine. Overall there's a solid continuation to the logotype as the eye is drawn along from form to form effectively. It also befits the target audience and general tone we are going for well, in part due to its clear inspiration from a few key bits of research including Jonathon Castro and midnight studios.