Personal Identity / Six.2

New Homepage.

Personal Identity / Six

Looked through my blog and noticed that everything is pretty much Helvetica. I'd like to think im not a one trick pony and I do enjoy times when i create things without using that bastard typeface.

Something I've always liked (within typography/design) is block typography. However Im under the belief that there isnt a whole lot of use for it! As mostly it is hard to read, because of this I've never seen fit to use it within my design work, but logo's / type as image is something deffo applicable to it.

Good example below...possible album artwork / poster.

So looking at the block type fonts I have installed...

I like some of the letters here and there, but I think I can create some better variations.

Had a play...

Took the parts I like and took away the parts I don't and got this result,

Then took the idea of adding a scenic picture to fill the type. Chose a more personal image to me, picturesque snowy landscape, where I feel I truly belong!

Dissertation

Started the reading / research phase of my dissertation yesterday. Starting with the book below, Story of a typeface, Helvetica Forever by Lars Müller. An interesting read on the history of the typeface, how it was designed and all that jazz.

Came across this in the book, a cover for an 'information brochure', was surprised with the design considering it was made in the early 60's, strong, bold and in my eyes beautiful design right there! From this I went to make my own version for my dissertation, title page perhaps.

Starting off with my proposed, short hand title of my essay, seemed too little within the page, my favourite out of these would be the top design, with the right bottom alignment. Sits comfortably on the page like that, in line with the end of the Helvetica*.

Went on and tried using most of the actual title of the essay...

Think i prefer using the longer title, preferred design again being the right alignment.

Looking at it closely during designing it, saw that I could include some of the personal identity work I've been doing, so threw that in there,

Alternative title?

Personal Identity / Five

Quick couple of ideas, concentrating mostly on the ' /// '

Personal Identity / Four

Some more work on using the Mr G thing, also taking the '///' further...

I quite like the outcome, leaves me with two logos essentially, as I can have it as the one above or just the square on its own. Taking this further I could apply it to a range of colours, I could also create a Flash image from it which could then be used in my website / main blog site.

Personal Identity / Three

A quick idea I put together after work last night, again using Helvetica, a trait of mine when working quickly with ideas just using Helvetica gives me a good idea of whether there is potential with it as it kind of goes with anything, in my opinion.

Nothing great, might try and expand on this idea at some point.

Personal Identity / Two

Something I tried early yesterday, wanted to use a pattern to fill and therefore make the type starting off with circles...

At this point I kind of realised they looked a bit crap and somewhat gay, could possible be used as a logo for a successful drag queen. maybe. So tried a few things to make it a bit more appropriate to myself...

Think the bottom one works ok, bit less brash and in your face than the earlier designs. Some definite potential, going to try the same idea but with single lines composing the type.

Personal Identity

An area that I have somewhat neglected since the typography sessions, but now having free time I have planned to work on creating an identity for me, this basically being some kind of logo.

What I have at the moment in terms of a logo / identity are the two designs below. The Bottom design is taken from some of the work I did during the typography sessions, simple purely type based work, this is a style I intend to take further and create more simplistic designs using just my name or an abbreviation of.

First initial design, I just really wanted to put something in a box. My whole name is a bit big i reckon so something that I had thought of in the past is using my initials M R G. This can also be used to read, Mr G, which is already existent in itself on letters and credit cards and shit! Clever. The reasoning behind the square is from a logo of an online magazine called Motif that an old friend works for...

I thought nice! So I tried designing some things, seeing what i thought looked good and strong as a logo for me...

From this cheeky designing session I pretty much came to this as a final product for it...

Showing some variation from upper to lower case, think out of the two I prefer the aesthetics of the lower however the descender of the 'g' misbalances it a bit I think and some people might try to read it as the word, "merge". I think the typography of it needs some work, not sure if it fits with the square design which I do actually really like, more playing around to be done I feel.

Blog Re-Design

Something That I've been meaning to do for a while, design all my separate blogs to be the same, as until now half of them have been black and the other half white with other differences between them, This is the result...

Decided to go for a more subdued, clean and clear header, making the blog as easy to read / follow / understand as possible.

Dice.