THE VISUAL WORD - Playing with Words

Using the following words create typographical representations that present both the word and a suggestion of its meaning.

Sad Safe Shattered Snowy Sardonic Shy Sodden Short Saucy Silly Soothing Squeeze Stiff Stodgy Stoned Scholarly Sinking Sordid Serious Skimpy Sophisticated Style Supine Shadow Sleek Speed Swagger Smart Squat Sweet

Start this exercise by working on A4 sheets of paper. Set the words in 48pt Helvetica Bold, print and cut out the words and then arrange them and stick them to a sheet of paper trying to capture the meaning of the word visually. Think about the composition, using the white space of the page to help you construct your meanings.

Then work digitally using any of the software you have available. Explore how you can set text at a slant, at different sizes, in different colours and fonts. Try using filters in your software for other effects. Make notes as you work explaining your choice of representations and which ones you feel that you were most successful with.

Analysis

The first part of the exercise is to print out words and arrange the letters to capture the meaning of the words using the white space on the paper for the composition.

The second part of the exercise is to use software and its effects to capture the meaning of the words.

Keywords

Size

Colours

Slant

Filters

Effects

Paper exercise

For the first part of this exercise I printed out the words on paper using 48pt Helvetica Bold. I then stuck them into my sketchbook after thinking about how I would arrange the words to create the meaning of the words. My attempts are below:

Sad - For this word I imagined a down–turned mouth and shaped the letters that way.

Shattered - I cut up the letters to make the word look like a shattered pane of glass.

Supine - I made some of the letters lie down i.e supine.

Shy - I put the letters on top of each other to make it look as if they are hiding away.

Speed - I cut the word in half horizontally to give the impression of a speed line.

Squeeze - The letters were put almost on top of each other, as if they were being squeezed together.

Shadow - I put the first half of the word as if it were in the shade of the second half of the word.

Silly - I turned the letter “I” upside-down and the “y” horizontally as a fun element i.e silly.

Sinking - I dropped the “ink” part of the word to look as if it had sunk.

Short - I cut the letter “t” to make it appear shorter than the rest of the word.

Stoned - I cut of the letters and arranged them in a way that makes them look “drunk”.

Snowy - I tried to give the impression of snow falling gently by arranging the letters as if they were falling.

Safe - I arranged the letters in a box shape to symbolise the safety of a safe.

Sardonic - I turned the letter “c’’ back to front as if it was mocking the rest of the word.

Squat - I wanted to give the impression of squatting by putting the “a” on top of the letter “u”

Soothing - I spread the letters out to give the impression of calmness.

Serious - I left the word as is because it looks serious.

Sweet - I tried to arrange the letters into a sweetheart shape.

Sodden - I arranged the letters “d” as if they were wet.

Skimpy - I cut a portion of the word out as if I were skimping on ink.

Scholarly - I arranged the letters of the word to look like a book.

Swagger - I tried to make the letters look like someone swaggering with pride.

Sleek - I arranged the letters as if I could stroke the word.

Stiff - I arranged the letters vertically and close together as if they were unbending.

Sophisticated - I arranged the letters “o, a and e” slightly above the rest of the word as if they were better than the other letters.

Smart - I arranged the letters in the shape of a tick, showing the American meaning of the word, i.e. clever.

Saucy - I positioned the letter “y” at an angle to “hug” the letter “c”.

Stodgy - I arranged some of the letters in stepped pattern to show heaviness.

Style - I found this word difficult to portray but eventually put the letter “l” at an angle with the letter “y” to show style.

Sordid - I cut through the word as if I wanted to get rid of it.

Reflection for the paper exercise

I found this part of the exercise challenging and interesting, but also creative. It was limiting in that I couldn’t change the shape, size, colour or font of the words which is why it was challenging but creative. I’m not sure if I was successful with some of the words as I was stuck on the first thing that came to mind. I’m looking forward to the second part of this exercise where I can play with the meaning of the words with computer software.

Brainstorming

I wrote down words that might give me other ideas of how to tackle the words digitally on the computer, so I brainstormed the words below.

Research

In part three "Visual Language" I researched the psychology of colour. This time I wanted to research the psychology behind typography. I found this video on YouTube, in this video typographer Sarah Hyndman explains how typography is used in branding, advertising and how selecting the correct typeface for your work will send a particular message.

(Wake up & smell the fonts - Sarah Hyndman, 2014)

While researching I learnt that type is not just about putting words onto a poster or in a book. Each typeface has a specific character and personality. Type can evoke a psychological emotion and it's important to select the right font for the design or message you're trying to convey.

Click on the image below for more information.

Digital exercise

Below are the digital versions of the words.

Sad - I used open sans font then reflected the word and applied the effect, warp then wave, to give the letters waves to represent water in the reflection. I used the colours grey, blue and green hues to represent sadness. I placed the word sad near the bottom so it was more hidden away.

Safe - I used capital letters in the font (Ariel Black) in a light grey colour with a drop shadow to give a strong presence. I broke the word into two lines and enlarged to fit the page. I then placed a yellow (caution) box around the letters for extra protection. The background is black to reinforce the sense of protection.

Shattered - I used the Ariel font with a drop shadow with the letters in light blue. I then converted the word into an outline and used the line tool to select where I would put my shattered pieces. I then used the pathfinder tool and used divide to separate the letters into shards. I used blue as most broken or shattered items are objects like mirrors or glass.

Snowy - I used a gradient background with cool blue colours to make it look like a cold wintery day. The font was Ariel and I tuned the letters into outlines and used radial blur effect to make the edges fluffy and snow-like.

Sardonic - When researching what sardonic meant during my brainstorming, I came across words like mocking and sneering. I decided to make the letter "S" and letter "C" backwards and repeat the word in a mocking tone, so it repeats and gets smaller. I choose pink because it's negative connotations are emotional and immature.

Shy - I used the open sans font, then I overlapped the letters using the opacity settings to make it look as if they are hiding behind each other. I choose a green/teal colour to represent private and uneasy feeling.

Sodden – I used open sans extra bold, and used the sponge effect and bulge effect to show extra water in the middle (like water being soaked up with a sponge). I used the pencil tool to draw a puddle of water being leaked from the sponge.

Short - I used Ariel played with different sizes of letters to emphasize short and tall.

Saucy – During the paper exercise I used saucy to represent sexiness. In the digital version I used saucy to represent sauce that you'd put onto a meal. I used the bevel tool in the 3D and materials tab and played with the settings until I got a shiny effect and curved edges. From there I converted the text into an outline, and moved the anchor points to make the sauce look like sauce. I used yellow to make it look like mustard sauce and a red background to give it a fast food feel.

Silly - For this word I decided to make the letter "I" and letter "Y" upside down and used the font Zubilo because of its uneven shape and thin outline. I used the colour orange which shows vibrancy and yellow representing youthfulness, which is associated with fun.

Soothing – I used the White Angelica font and made it an outline. I then extended the letter "G" and letter "T" to exaggerate the soothing feeling. I used a green and yellow tints for soothing colours.

Squeeze - I used open sans font. I used the effects wrap and then the squeeze tool, to squeeze the word together. I then used tracking to make the letters ever more squeezed together.

Stiff - I used Franklin Gothic Heavy font and used vertical type tool to arrange the letters vertically, tall and strong to represent stiff. I used a slight drop shadow and put the word in a box to reinforce that the word can't bend.

Stodgy – When thinking of stodgy I think of bread. I used the copper black font, and the crumpled grain effect to make the letters look like bread that is heavy on a brown background.

Stoned - I made a monochromatic colour palette of tints and shades of purple, then added the wave effect. I then added the font Ravie on top, and increased the stroke to give the groovy effect of the 70s.

Scholarly - I used a chalk board font on a black background and used a brush stroke in charcoal to give the effect of smudged chalk on the blackboard.

Sinking - I used Ariel Black and capital letters. I changed the word into an outline and made the letters appear as if they are sinking off the page.

Sordid – I used Chiller font because of its ghostly appearance and brown tints and shades to emphasize the squalid nature of the word.

Serious - I used capital letters to draw attention to the word. I used the stark colour contrast of black and yellow to show that there is no joking around. The letters are in Helvetica type.

Skimpy – I used inner glow effect in the Didot font because I wanted to make the letters even more skimpy, using Didot with its hairline strokes, associating the word with skimpy clothing in fashion magazines.

Sophisticated - I used the Bodoni font because it's associated with high-end expensive branding. I inserted lines so I could change the stroke width profile of the lines.

Style – I used the Didot font with a black background. I imported a gold background and made a clipping mask and used this for the text, I wanted to make the word look exclusive and expensive.

Supine - I used Ariel black font and with each letter I rotated 90 degrees until they were "sleeping". I added a circle to make it look like a sunset and inserted stars to emphasize night-time and sleep.

Shadow - I used Ariel Black and in capital letters to make the word look bold. I then used the drop shadow effect and increased the blur to make it look like a shadow.

Sleek – I used the flag shape effect to make it look like you're stroking a cat. I then turned the word into an outline to extend the "S" and the "K" to exaggerate the sleekness.

Speed - I used Ariel italic and the gaussian blur effect on the text. I inserted lines with a teardrop width profile, to give the indication of speed. I then inserted a gradient background from light to dark green to emphasize the speed even more.

Swagger - I used the Hanging font, changing the angles of the individual letters to make it look like it's moving and being cocky. I placed the word in the bottom left hand corner and added a drop shadow.

Smart - For this version I used the British meaning of smart to mean well dressed. I wanted the word to look sophisticated and high-end. I used Luscious Lifestyles Script font and used a navy blue and brown to make the word look even more stylish. I finished the word with a border to make it look more elegant.

Squat - I used Franklin Gothic Heavy font and turned the word into an outline. I extended the letter "Q" to the bottom of the page and moved the rest of the letters to make it look like it's squatting a long way down. I used two colours in the word to give it more emphasis.

Sweet - I used kangaroo font because it reminded me of a sweet shop. I used pastel colours and circles to make it look friendly and slightly girly. I used the type on path tool to make the word curve on the circle.

Reflection for the digital exercise

I found this part of the exercise easier because I could use colour, different typefaces, sizes, effects and filters to create more meaning to the words. I found that I could be much more creative, by experimenting with different effects and filters. I found that with some words such as smart and saucy I changed it's meaning from the paper exercise because it was more visually effective to change. I think I was most successful with the words shattered, squeeze and sinking. With these words I didn't need to apply a lot of effects to the words. These words were the most straight-forward and communicated the meaning of the word well. The word snowy for example needed a lot of effects to try and get the word looking like snow. The words I really struggled with were the words stodgy and sodden, I found this really challenging and don't think I could find a way to express the words effectively without importing a background or picture to help make it look better.

I'm finding that I am becoming more proficient in Adobe Illustrator and now starting to enjoy using it to create images and designs for this exercise, although I felt that 30 words was a lot to get through!

My research has also given me an insight into how to select different typefaces for designs that I'm trying to convey. Choosing wisely has a huge impact on how the design will be perceived.