06.2020 exploring type based design

So this month I decided to explore more type based design and push myself out my comfort zone as a more illustrative designer. This was a fun little project.

There are some great artists out there challenging the norms of type based design, however the Italian poet Marinetti is the king of pushing the boundaries of type! A star of the futurism movement. As a poet he made the words come to life on the page. So hectic! Creating so much movement! An amazing source of inspiration when exploring type design!

As for up and coming, more recent artists you MUST look on bechance! I recently discovered this website and it is THE BEST! Loads of artists upload digital CV type profiles with portfolios of all their work! I highly recommend this website for anyone who enjoys exploring design.

I first came across Mika Gael Albornoz- a Venezuelan Graphic Designer based in the States. They have worked for clients such as “Project success”, “Stranger and co” (a home decor company), “1991” - pop up magazine and “Scheme Machine Studios” whom describe themselves as a “female and queer owned production company” based in LA. They specialise in creating interactive events. One of Albornoz’s more type based designs is a small zine called “ Composing forward - The Art of Steve Paxon.” I really like the colour scheme of this design, the neon stands out under the black text and photography well. I feel a limited colour scheme works well with type based design- ensuring type stays legible where intended to be. I also think the positioning of text creates a more successful design, different information is split up into different segments, making information more easy to read and more interactive- having to navigate the work. Another example of limited colour pallet designed by Albornoz is the ruby rose segment of Butch magazine - making the images the same colour as the text really ties the whole design together- simple, eye catching design. You can fine Mika Gael albornoz on bechance @bbpapi

Another artist (again found on bechance) is Max Gener Espasa, based in Barcelona Spain, who creates beautiful digital art. His work focuses on the manipulation of images, mainly using photoshop. He deigns cover art and posters. This piece in particular caught my eye due to the warm colour pallet- so inviting. This piece; named “Yo Perreo Sola has a vintage vibe, I love the textured background but also the custom type. I love that he has put the design on to the old VHS tape and considered all elements! The placement of text and use of overlapping and different colours a really good area to experiment and find inspiration! You can find Max Gener Espasso on Behance @MaxGenerEspasa.

I created a type based poster based of the Astroworld album released in 2018, I felt I needed a theme/ a topic of information to create a poster. I created two different posters with very different colour schemes. I have tried to create the idea that these posters were created on an old maybe 80s computer with my type choice (it had big gaps in between each letter which reminds me of type used when coding). I feel the darker design is more successful I have been braver when using type/ type placement- I like the fact that the type is pixelated again reiterating the computer idea.

Overall I have become more familiar with integrating type into my designs and will continue to experiment and research other designers who do this :)