This past quarter (Cal Poly Pomona – Spring ’08), I had both the challenge and privilege of taking a ‘Typography II’ class with Sarah Meyers – a well known graphic designer that’s done everything from book layouts for Rockport Press to providing congressional testimony on the topic of sign legibility. The purpose of the class was to push, stretch, and at times, to break each students understanding of type in order to make way for fresh information. The final project was a handmade book – of our own size, material, design, and layout preference – that reflected what we had learned through the course…
The final layouts:
The Proof:
My final project took the form of an 8″ x 8″ book that I not so cleverly titled, “8X8 Proof“. The title is obviously a literal reference to the size and nature of the book (a set of quickspun experimental graphics and layouts that came together in a chaotically rushed final week of class. The class turned out to be amazing despite me feeling a little lost in the middle of it (which is perhaps this is the sign of any good adventure). Long story short – check out the graphics – here’s a quick explanation of each.
1. Cover Spread.
2. Inside Spread (Traditional Normative Layout)
3. Absolut Type Leading (Expressive Layout)
4. Blue Layout (Modernist)
5. Type List (Abstract Expressive)
6. Type Families (Traditional Normative)
7. Loose Methods (Radial Modernist)
8. Formal (Formal Traditional)
9. Quotes (Modernist Expressive)
10. Speakerbox (Expressive)
11. Closing Comments (Traditional).
The final output was a sweet little handmade book with a clearly defined ABA relationship… one of my favorite little personal projects so far… and hard earned with blood, sweat and tears.
diu2899okookf3fw