p r a g u e . b l a g u e

typeface inspiration

Our discussion today in type class about our folios got me to look back on what initially inspired my typeface. I hadn't really looked at these images in a while, and my typeface has really taken off in its own direction.

I started with a type specimen I found on a piece of religious art in an antique shop. I liked the extreme verticle proportions of the face, the way it fit together tightly, and I found the stacked letter combinations to be an interesting idea. I also felt that the "A" (if that is in fact an A) was extremely unique.

My second source of inspiration has been the cubist typefaces that originated in Prague. The following image is a hand sketch I made of a Voltech Preissig typeface produced in 1925. I enjoy that the evidence of the hand and the tool is still evident, but that it's been suplemented with additional angles and facets.

I added my own touches to my typeface. It has really been a result of me being in Prague for the past 11 weeks and taking in my visual surroundings. Though elements of my original inspirations are still present in the face, the prominent outward curves are an addition of my own. It still has a LONG way to go...the angles need to function more harmoniously, and I'm sure many letters will be drastically altered before next week. But here it is, in it's current state:

I look forward to seeing how things shake out.

poster for the studio show

As I was organizing my poster yesterday for the advanced studio show in Brooks, it saddened me that the time for reflecting upon our semester is already upon us. Even though you can't read any of the greeked text, I thought I'd post a screen shot of what I came up with.

I'm pretty pleased with what I've managed to produce over the course of the semester, and even more satisfied with all of the exciting things I've been able to see. It's amazing how much changing your environment can alter your approach to design. I think we've all managed to pull some of the fun we've had in Prague into our work, and that kind of energy behind projects is always a good thing.

I'm glad that we can participate in the show even though we're over here. Hopefully everyone will enjoy seeing our work. I'd like to see what everyone else has been up to, too.

Interactions Design Conference

So this post is overdue, and not really on topic with the Prague studio, but I wanted to tell everyone about my trip to Berlin and Potsdam last weekend.

My reasons for going were to see more of Berlin and to catch the second day of the "Innovationsforum Interaction Design Conference" in Potsdam on Saturday. As always, there are a ridiculous number of pictures from the trip up on my flickr account, but I think the experience of most value was getting to see the conference, pictures of which can be seen in my Potsdam set.

Unfortunately, I was only able to catch the second day of the conference activities, but that was still very enlightening. The speakers of the conference represented some of the big names in the field of interaction design, and I felt it was very valuable just to see what is being discussed in that area of design. I had the opportunity to see the presentations of Mike Richter, Anthony Dunne, Gillian Crampton-Smith, Kristjan Kristjansson, Dr. Jens Heuer, Dennis Paul, Patrick Kochlick and Bruce Sterling. The last order of the day was a Q & A session with many of the conference presenters from the previous day, so I felt like despite missing the first day's activities, I still got a good taste of what the conference was all about.

The conference itself was well organized with lots of cool printed material. The act of going to a conference alone was something new for me, and made me feel a little closer to being "a professional," whatever that means. They had a pretty slick identity for the whole event, and the space it took place in was really beautiful, right on the water front.

I had seen Bruce Sterling give a presentation at State my freshman year, but at that point in my design education I didn't have any context for his talk, and I don't think I could really appreciate it. Though his presentation was impressive, his content frightened me. His "vision" of the future involves everything manufactured and sold having a tracking device and database contained inside it, through which we will "interface" with the object. He sees the end goal, or rather the end result, being that each of us will have to think and do less in our daily lives. He kept coming back to the phrase "don't make me think." Obviously, things that fill this function do sell and will continue to, but I'd like to hope that designers in this field will see the opportunity they have to encourage intelligent discussion and interaction within a new medium. I think the reason I am drawn to interaction design is the potential I see in it to create more effective and interesting education tools. Interacting with a subject, whether it be in the classroom or within an exhibition space presents an opportunity for more substantial learning. I made a "note-to-self" to never get caught up in desiging mind-numbing Paris Hilton interactive software for cell phones, despite the fact that Mike Richter professed that "this stuff really sells!"

My favorite speaker of the day was Anthony Dunne. A professor at the Royal College of Art, he concentrates on designing the physical, tangible representations of realistic futuristic products. The point of this activity is to facilitate discussion with the public about these technological advancements. He feels that the public doesn't get enough say about the direction technological advancements are heading in. Someone at the conference pointed out that the world will never be the same as it was before Google came around. It's not a bad thing, but we can never go back. So, Professor Dunne uses the tools of both the designer and the conceptual artist to try to engage the public. It may be that this kind of work only has the luxury of existing in the academic realm, but I found it really compelling, and it's the type of stuff I'd like to get involved in one of these days. In some ways I feel like there isn't enough discussion between the design community and the interested and intelligent portion of the general public. Producing physical, visual representations is a good way to cut through all the gargon to just have useful conversation about what design really means to non-designers. I guess that's the motivation for all the blogging, right? Both Anthony Dunne's work and the work of his students can be found online.

Outside of the conference I took the opportunity to see beautiful Potsdam (only a 40 minute S-bahn ride away from Alexander Platz), and a handful of the big sites of Berlin. But I think my favorite Berlin activity might still be visiting the funky artsy neighborhoods, checking out the off-beat shops, and of course, meeting kind designers.

I wish you were there!

ta da!

I am disappointed that I missed what I heard was a really fun and productive critique on the souvenir project...my body just wasn't cooperating. I look forward to presenting my ideas to you all on Monday, but I wanted to go ahead and post what I have produced on the blog. Below is a representation of the packaging design for my earring collection and representations of the earrings themselves. I want to continue taking "fashion photography" of everyone to model the earrings, more for myself than to satisfy the project. I think having everyone model them would be a good way for them to be displayed in the Brooks hall show, but not very useful for marketing an actual souvenir.

the lovely lights of Berlin

Just a little sample of some light fixtures I found in Berlin. Not all have potential for my project (some are not "covetable" enough and some are too wild), but I think that they are a good elaboration on my original idea post. Some of these pictures were taken in restaurants, and other examples were on sale at the flea market (I appologize for the cluttered background). Click for an enlarged image of each:

typography progress

Here are a few pictures of my progress towards a unified typeface. I am still a long way off, but I feel like I am making progress.

Initial sketches on variations of my initial idea can be seen below. The version I found most visually appealing and flexible was the bottom row of the sketch. The next step was to put it to a grid and try to regulate the oddities.

My first attempt at working off a grid and trying to make a system didn't work out so well. I started with a grid, but then moved to creating letters by tracing other letters. Each letter got a little weirder as I progressed, and when I looked at the alphabet together, it didn't seem to hold together. Also, it had digressed rather far from my initial sketch, which I found more compelling. Below are a few sample letters from this first alphabet.

I have begun working with a new, more simplified grid. In this version I am stressing the verticality of the letters and a consistent set width. Based on the letters I have drawn so far, I think the system might be too rigid, and perhaps some of the oddities and additional angles from the pervious version should be re-introduced. Hopefully the next iteration will strike a good balance.

light fixture earrings

So, here is my totally new direction. I still like my original idea of a postcard book about an "Afternoon in the Park," but I felt I would be constantly struggling against the very traditional format, and I thought a more bizarre direction could be more fun. So, late last night (as I was staring at the hostel ceiling, trying to think) this light fixture earring set idea occured to me. Feel free to tell me if you think I've gone too far off the deep end...

So, as I said in my previous post I really think that it's the details of Prague that set it appart from other European destinations. Everything is a little quirky and unusual here, but somehow the variety of aesthetics work together here. After looking through some of my pictures, I realized that light fixtures are a detail of daily life that begin to capture this quirkiness rather effectively. I haven't been conciously collecting images of light fixtures, because this idea just occured to me, but of course they happen to be in many of the pictures I snapped anyway. Because, obviously they are intigrated into many indoor and outdoor environments.

I have thought of several light fixture categories.The first, and the one that spawned this idea, was Eastern European almost elegance. Basically, all the light fixtures at the Domov Mladeze fall into this category. They are striving for refinement, but end up falling a little short of real luxury. Think of the aesthetic from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

But, as I looked through my photographs from this trip a little more, I realized that lamp fixtures can actually be very iconic of a specific site. One excellent example is the Municipal House light fixtures. They carry the decoration and Art Nouveau aesthetic of the entire building in a small detail.

But, I don't feel like they'd all have to come from recognizable tourist attractions to be iconic of Prague. Fixtures found everywhere, from in the cafes to street lights help make up the quirky aesthetic of the place. I don't yet have a photograph of the fixture at the Cafe Montmartre, but I know you fellow caffeine addicts remember it. Such quirky fixtures capture the spirit of the place well.

Right now I am envisioning the construction to be from metal (wire?) and glass beads to represent the bulbs. The shop display of the collection would have to be something I explore within the project. When displayed all together I think it would be quite obvious that they were all light fixtures, but when individually purchased and taken home, some could likely move beyond tourist kitsch and actually be elegant and beautiful. I kind of like that there would be an initial comedy and kitsch appeal that could be later disguised or revealed in its new context back home.

The other direction would be to go for total tourist kitsch glory and have them light up. That would make them have a very different, comedic appeal. Any thoughts on which direction would be more attractive?

Hungarian type specimens

These type samples are from the Postal Museum in Budapest. Lovely typography was just part of the story of this cute little museum. Tucked away in an old apartment, the museum boasted old [covetable] postal artifacts and ephemera. But more about the museum later...

I thought both of these typography samples were beautiful and unusual. I thought I'd post them for group consumption. Maybe they'll be inspiration for drawing lots of typography tonight!

souvenirs galore

The "Elf Market" souvenir shop on Jilska Street, with its large store front display space, offered the widest variety of tourist wares that I could find. Its shelved cases thimbles, spoons, magnets, playing cards, plates, dolls, "astronomical clocks," absinth, beer glasses, bottle openers, key chains, pins and Infant Jesus figurines.

The timbles and spoons, with their tiny illustrations of Prague attractions are standard tourist items that are produced all over the world in tourist destinations. Ideally these items are meant to be collected and added to a person's pre-existing set of thimbles and spoons from far away places. In some instances the owner of the collection might not have visited those places at all. Once a friend or family member knows that they are collecting them, they might help them add to their collection by bringing them back a spoon or a thimble from their own exotic destinations. So, beyond the fact that they have the Prague castle painted on them, these items aren't really unigue to Prague in any way. They almost certainly weren't manufactured here, and they basically reduce the entire city to just a notch on the experienced traveller's belt. Though obviously a particular tourist could be attracted to a thimble for its individual beauty (the tiny illustrations are cute), it's not really meant to stand alone or to be used functionally.

The magnets represent a slightly more functional souvenir. When placed on a family's refrigerator it is readily displayed and hopefully occasionally used. Typically I think that souvenirs that serve some function or purpose are far more interesting and effective than those that just sit on a shelf. By placing a Prague castle or Prague street sign magnet on your refrigerator, hopefully you will be reminded of your fun trip to Prague. These magnets could be made into more effective souvenirs if they gave the impression that they hand made or unique in some way. Also falling into the cateogory of "mildly useful" are the bottle openers and key chains. Whether or not they could be deemed special likely depends on how they are crafted and the perceived quality of the item.

I think that the most effective souvenir represented at the Elf Market are the beer glasses. I actually brought my dad a Staropramen glass this summer. These glasses are well-made (possibly locally?)and are in practical use every day in Prague's many resteraunts, bars and cafes. Tourists and locals use them alike. As visitors to Prague ourselves we know that we often eat out, and that our experiences in resteraunts (both good and bad) have a profound influence on the quality of our trip. So, although pulling your chilled Pilsner glass out of the freezer at home and filling it with an American Budweiser isn't at all the same as the experiences you had with the fine beers of Prague, you can still be reminded of your time there through a functional item. Maybe I personally am drawn to the design of some of the glasses. I like the idea of turning something common and practical into a souvenir because I think it captures the feeling of the place much more effectively than a representation of just one grand Prague attraction. Prague is distinguished from other European cities (with their own impressive sites) by the details, and those make the best souvenirs of all.

Bílkův dům v Chýnove

The Bilkova Villa represented a very strange, but polished, architectural project by the Czech sculptor, Bilek. I must admit that the unusual angles of the house were not what I was originally expecting, but are a part of that unexpected aesthetic that has come to define Prague for me.

From the very beginning, the hand carved typography and bird door handle gave us an indication of Bilek's style and fascinations. You have to imagine that when an artist (or a designer) constructs his own habitat, he concerns himself with only those things which he will enjoy, and no other audience. Though, as a member of an outside audience, I thought the villa made a good frame for his sculpture and sculpture prototypes. The small amounts of furniture and house hold items that were on display, showed just how intigrated those functional pieces can become within an environment through stylistic choices, and how something unusual (the door knobs) can make the environment more delightful.