OUGD603 - The Batsford Prize - Initial Type and Image Experiments

One initial idea was to create imagery out of type, formatting the type into a composition which represents the shape of a brain. In order to get a sense of the size and shape I was working with, a rough outlined sketch was drawn out of the side of a brain. Letterforms were then physically cut out of paper and composed spiralling around the shape. The first couple of attempts with this idea was found that the shape had been made too big, therefore the type did not fill the shape.

Smaller variations were then experimented with, shifting in all the type. However, it was found that in these attempts, as the type began to get closer to the middle of the shape, it was a struggle to fit in all the type effectively. As a result, this limited the legibility of the type, as well as distorting the initial shape which was thought no longer communicated the idea of a brain. As a result, these experiments were discarded since they did not work as effectively as I initially thought they might, with the chaotic nature reducing legibility of the type and distorted the initial shape, these would not be very engaging with the public to communicate an accurate and effective message.

Another idea in placing type and image together was to place abstract imagery of cells amongst the more sporadic typographic compositions representing the nature of human cells. It was thought these could be interwoven with the letterforms itself, to make them seem a part of each other, and experimenting with different shapes based on the typical shapes of different cells. Struggling to think about how this cell imagery could be produced, one experiment was to overlay the text with a secondary image of physical cells to see how the text would play with this imagery.

An additional idea was to scrap the use of imagery altogether and simply use type to communicate the desired message. Based on the two quotes "the mind is a blank slate upon which experience imprints knowledge" and "like white paper, void of all characteristics", this idea was to emboss/de-boss the typographic quote onto a sheet of paper, representing the mind like a sheet of white paper in which the type is slightly hidden through the process and where there is no other details apart from an imprint made by the process, also representing the idea of imprinting knowledge.

It was thought, however, this could potentially be made more engaging, using a similar process and idea in creating a stamp which could then be pressed into a plasticine mould of a brain to physically show knowledge being imprinted onto the brain. This could then be photographed and created into a more professional and engaging looking poster design. In order to gain a sense of what this may look like, a digital mock-up was produced, manipulating type to form a de-bossed effect overlayed onto an image of a brain as if it has been stamped into it. However, it was thought this would work better physically, since in the digital mock-up the type appears too flat against the more 3-dimensional image.

Despite all this experimentation, it was thought that none of these type and image compositions worked that effectively together in a professional or engaging manner.