LASDUN EXTENDED
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We were proposed to create a new typeface that was inspired by a group of buildings around London. Out of these, I choose to create a typeface inspired by the National Theatre. I choose this building because I feel like buildings with a Brutalist influence are a bit of a challenge when it comes to designing a typeface, since these types of buildings normally lack ornamental details that make it unique to that place. This is not to say that the National Theatre does not have its unique features.
Below are some of the exercises that we did during the workshops to prepare us for this project. During these workshops we learned how to design type from skeleton to more creative approaches on how to deal with type.
A document that really helped me throughout this project was the "Conservation Management Plan for the National Theatre" (Haworth Tompkins, 2008). This PDF details every aspect of the building from how it was constructed to the way it relates to the surrounding buildings. It was through this document that I got my main concept for my typeface: Expansion. I looked into typefaces that already exist and that showcase this idea. I also looked for typefaces that were created between the 60's-70's, so that they feel relevant to the building I was creating a typeface for.
I first went to the National Theatre and took some pictures of the exterior and interior. I then, printed some of the pictures I had taken and drew the letters that I could find on the picture. I ended up choosing the pictures/letters that better fitted the concept of expended the best.
As a continuation of our project "Type Design" we were asked to create a type specimen for the typeface that we created. At first I thought that maybe doing a digital specimen would be a good idea. I wanted to create a 3D animation with the letters. However, this didn't really fit the concepts I had previously used while designing the type. I also felt that doing this project digitally would show a lack of diversity from me in terms of the mediums I use, since my lookbook was already a digital creation. Since I discarded the idea of doing it digitally, I thought about doing a little booklet that showed the type and its details. However, I still didn't feel it was relevant to my concept or the building.
This was when I made a brainstorm of graphic object that I associate with the theatre. A poster was the idea I ended up selecting. I looked through examples of theatre bills from the 50's to the more recent ones. Just like my type, I wanted the poster to have more of an old/nostalgic feeling to it, rather than the more modern iterations of these.
For the poster I ended up using orange and blue, because orange is the current colour of the National Theatre, and I used blue because it was the complementary colour and also because all the examples I looked at for inspiration use blue as one of their colours. I printed this poster in different types of paper, like sugar paper and newsprint. But ended up liking the look of the poster on newsprint the best.
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