typography

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Art

Sunlight Casts Shadows of Phrases Exploring Theories of Time in a Street Art Installation by DAKU

Pseudonymous Indian street artist DAKU recently installed an immersive text-based work in Panjim, Goa. Placed along 31st January Road, a fishnet structure suspends letters above pedestrians. The region’s abundant sunlight pours through to cast shadows on the street, spelling out tropes about the passage of time. Some of the phrases include, “Time works wonders. Time moves. Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind. Time fades. Time is an illusion.” The temporary installation, titled Theory of Time, was supported by the public art nonprofit St+art India, as part of the Start Goa festival.  DAKU often integrates language into his urban interventions. You can see more from the artist on Instagram.

Art

Expressive Text Loops, Folds, and Ties Itself in Knots in New Murals by Pref

British graffiti artist Pref (previously) transforms words and sayings into visual interpretations of their meanings or messages—forming the word “undo” into a knot, or layering the phrase “all over the place” on top of itself to take up as much surface area as possible. With added shading and perspective the words appear as if they are 3D, like his piece “It Is,” which forms a a narrow grey cube when the letters are stacked. Some of his monochromatic works on paper (which you can see below) will be included in the upcoming group exhibition Control and Disorder with Gary Stranger, Elliott Routledge (Funskull), Georgia Hill, and William LaChance at Galerie 42b in Paris. The exhibition opens this Friday, December 14, and runs through January 19, 2019. You can see more of Pref’s recent work on his Instagram, and buy prints through his Big Cartel.

Craft Design

Floral Wreaths Blossom Into Bold Type

In designer Olga Prinku’s floral wreaths, hundreds of dried plants and flowers are sewn into the shape of large capital letters. Flower heads spring out of the tulle as if magically sprouting from planted seeds Prinku had scattered weeks before. Although a graphic designer by trade, her project has sparked a love affair with weaving and craft, and encouraged her to experiment with several different mediums. 

“This particular technique of weaving flowers on tulle actually came to me in a dream,” Prinku tells Colossal. At first she began placing dried flowers on a sieve, which resembled the net structure of tulle. Once she began using the new medium, she looked to her garden for fresh flowers. She initially used fresh flowers for her works, but the natural objects began to shrink as they dried, which left gaps in her designs. 

“Now I use dry flowers,” she explains. “Some I buy readily dried, and some I pick from fresh and dry myself using silica gel. I also collect seed pods at the end of the season, which I use as they are.”  Prinku alters what flowers and plants she uses depending on the season. “I’m still learning a lot through experimenting about what flowers are the best – I’m basically looking for ones that are good at holding their color when dry and that have thin stems that I can use on the tulle.”

Prinku’s artistic process has fostered her appreciation of beauty and intricate details that exist in nature. “I’ve become much more observant about the plants that are growing all around where I live, and that fuels my creativity too,” she says. To learn more about Prinku’s work visit her website and her Instagram.

Craft Design

Precise Hand Embroidery by Jessica Dance Creates Visual Representations of Common Words and Phrases

Textile artist and model maker Jessica Dance (previously) recreates everyday objects and ideas using fabric, felt, and thread. Dance typically utilizes embroidery to produce details and text on her three-dimensional objects, but in these works the thread-based practice takes center stage. The artist combines typography and embroidery in series that show words and phrases in their visual form: “harvest” spelled out in a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables, and “good as gold” in shimmering metallic thread on glamorous red velvet. You can see more of Dance’s textile work on Instagram.

Animation Design

A Colorful Medley of Inventive Type Animations Puts the Alphabet in Motion

Each year the project 36 Days of Type invites graphic designers, illustrators, typographers, and artists from around the world to submit their own alphabet-based designs during a 36-day typographical marathon. Designer Ben Huynh submitted animated letters for each day of the open call which he combined into a short film. The video presents his three-dimensional type in the form of Mephis-style office supplies, modern furniture, and abstract neon light installations, all set to the song “Sunshine” by Gym and Swim.

Submissions for this years 36 Days of Type ended earlier this month. You can see all of the alphabetical selections from this year’s edition on the project’s Instagram, and view previous iterations of Huynh’s alphabet animations on his own Instagram and Vimeo. (via Vimeo Staff Picks)

Art

Multi-Layered Lettering Challenges the Aesthetics of Graffiti in New Works by Pref

British graffiti artist Pref explores words and common phrases through unique multi-layered murals. His 3D text is used to create amalgamations of quippy sayings, often placing one word inside of another to give a piece multiple perspectives. In the work below a turquoise “more” subtly shifts into a salmon “less” simply by a twist of the viewer’s head.

Since he got his start nearly two decades ago, Pref has been interested in challenging graffiti’s aesthetic, working with typography to bring a more accessible appearance to painted text. At first the street artist worked with the negative space between letters, which eventually became letters themselves. This transformed into his signature style of combined texts, which he has been exploring since 2010.

“Since then I have pushed and experimented with this idea of overlapping words, seeing how many I can fit into the space of one word, and then slowly boiling it down and simplifying this idea to become more legible,” he tells Colossal. “This in turn lead more to the use of ‘typography’ throughout my style as you see today. I have always been interested in the idea of graffiti speaking to the general public, rather than just other graffiti writers, and readable letters or a more ‘typographic’ approach has been a good route to that.”

Recently Pref partnered with fellow typographic street artist Gary Stranger to launch a collective titled Typograffic Circle. The group unites artists working in the type-based street art subgenre, and their first self-titled group show is on view through June 3, 2018 at London’s StolenSpace. The exhibition features work by Georgia Hill, Saïd Kinos, All Type No Face, along with Pref and Stranger. You can see more of Pref’s recent work on his Instagram and buy select prints through his Big Cartel.

Design Illustration

Popular Electronics Brands Rendered as an Alphabet of Stylish Products

Taking inspiration from a wide variety of electronic brands, designer Vinicius Araújo designed this alphabet of Helvetica letterforms, each modeled after a brand’s namesake product. The letter “N” for Nintendo becomes a retro-styled NES gaming system while the “B” for Beats grabs the aesthetic of comfy headphones. Araújo went even further with several of the letters to create a few brief animations. You can see the entire series titled 36days Electronics on Behance.