Module evaluation

Evaluation:

Over the last 2 months I have been on an exploration of typography from logotypes to artificial intelligence. Researching for and writing this essay has been hugely informative and has given me the motivation to further explore generative typography. Having completed my first coded project ever I now feel more accomplished and prepared to take on further technical work. That could be in the form of more typography or possibly attempting to code a website over summer. In terms of typographic experimentation I have made a couple of fully working typefaces throughout the duration of the project but have started working on countless others for logotypes or quick experimentations. I hope to get around to finishing some of the most worthwhile faces and it would be a dream to have a go or at least look into the practicalities of making an online type foundry over the summer. With my fairly limited knowledge of html I’m not sure how possible or quick this will be but I could look for collaborations or research the process myself.

One other really positive aspect of the project has been the collaborations. I think for me it was perfect collaborating on three different projects with three different designers that I have a lot of respect for. This has opened up a multitude of new avenues, not just for follow up with Kitty, Reece or Jessica but also with other students at the university who have contacted me regarding my work. I am in talks to do typography based on the theme of wicca or witchcraft over Easter with a fashion communication student. This is a very exciting prospect as I feel I still have a lot to learn with type due it being a fairly recent focus for me. I need to see if I can get hold of a free or discounted student copy of the Glyphs software I used on Kitty’s typeface, as I love the way it works and have got to grips with the coding.

Going into detail on the topic of collaboration, it was maybe a shame that I didn’t explore generative type even further but it just wasn’t a requirement or was hard to work into most of the briefs due to them being very print based. However I did get to grips with contextual alternatives when working with Kitty and my work with Reece on Metaplane was inspired by the concept of generative type. That project pushed the definition well, making the argument for generation not having to be a technological thing, an important debate to be had. This also linked to a study within the essay, Karsten Schmidt’s 2008 Type & Form Sculpture from the book ‘Generative Design’ by Bohnacker et al. The sculpture in question visually simulated generative type in the physical realm, much like my project with Reece.

The one big shame is the collapse of my fourth project for the D&AD Montype brief, which is documented, on blogger. Unfortunately my collaborator Charlie had to pull out due to too many commitments with his own architecture course and it was too late to realistically find a replacement and start again before the deadline. This project would have linked in the pictogram and emoji segment of the essay far more, however it can be argued that the backbone inspired structure on the Metaplane project is an example of a very complex emoji as it uses keyboard inputs to create a pictogram. 

The area of artificial intelligence really interests me; my interest was sparked during my time in Rotterdam on a Digital Craft minor. This is a frontier to explore in the future if I can find the facilities and relevant information.