Experimentation: Initial
My surveys have provided an abundance of inspiration for this project, I was beyond surprised that almost forty people responded! I'd expected like ten and only after pushing people to do them. These surveys are text based and so I feel its appropriate to experiment with typography as a means of communicating the responses visually.
A piece by Lauren Hom
I looked at Lauren Hom who is a typographer I found a while ago on instagram as @homsweethom. I particularly love her series called 'Daily Dishonesty' that presents little lies we tell ourselves in a type-based image, they're funny, sweet and relatable - exactly my kind of art. Her style is script that almost looks like calligraphy with the longer and looser serifs, although she frequently contrasts this with sans-serif lower case fonts. The juxtaposition of the two styles presents a quirkiness and sense of freedom that is prevalent in all her pieces. Hom has also shown me how typography can be commercialised to make a living as a lot of her work is commercial and some of her clientele includes big brand businesses.
Intial Sketches
With Hom as an inspiration, I started out hand drawing the types but quickly found this to be pretty pointless because I don't particularly have nice handwriting and I'm not so interested in handwritten types. Regardless, I persisted. I prefer to make typography out of things that already exist, my favourite being the type I made from bones, but I don't feel there is an appropriate medium to make a type out of as all the responses are both sensitive and varied.
I then gave up on handwritten font and decided to try a digital version.I chose the quote 'I wish my parents could at least stomach being in the same room together' because I could see the words (in my head) layered over a drawing of a stomach, playing on the phrase a little. I used two fonts from DaFont (I really couldn't salvage the types I'd drawn) and then edited the placement, alignment and kerning of the fonts. I added shape overlays to get patterns and layered different colours over to emphasise words. But that hardest part was drawing out the stomach because I'd misplaced the stylus that lets me drawn on my laptop I basically had to make it out of shapes on Photoshop. Initially I thought it would be a piece of cake, but I kid you not it too me hours to get the curves and shape right, I had to use so many references and layers, it was unreal.
Experiment #1
I think the piece works but not for this project. This project is personal and sensitive and the pieces I make should reflect this, this experiment doesn't do that, it's too clean, too removed and too clinical. I think by being digital, it loses the attachment and the sentiment behind the piece which is what I want to keep. The piece is also all there, there isn't any kind of revelation or interaction on the viewers' part which is something I want in my work, this project involves families everywhere and I want people to feel that. This experiment wasn't a waste of time though, as it's helped me shape my vision for this project and ruled out the kind of style I don't want and for that, it's valuable.
Experiment #2
I also tried writing on mirrored surfaces as one quote I found inspiring from the surveys was: 'I want to change the way they look at me, I want them to accept me'. I liked writing on the mirror not purely because of the ocular link, but because the statement is also a reflection of the person who submitted it and what they want. The implication is that the person either did something or changed in some way and for it their family judges and criticises them. Whatever has happened to this person, it seems to be something that's not wholly accepted as they crave that from their family, maybe they came out about their sexuality or gender, maybe they have odd views, maybe it's just their family. It's unclear. I also like that whoever looks at the piece sees their reflection looking back but with the words on. To be accepted is a common desire and I think it applies to many people so makes this quite effective.