Core Concepts- Exercise 13: Playing with words
Using the following words create typographical representations that present both the word and a suggestion of its meaning. Sad Safe Sardonic Saucy Scholarly Serious Shadow Shattered Shy Short Silly Sinking Skimpy Sleek Smart Snowy Sodden Soothing Sordid Sophisticated Speed Squat Squeeze Stiff Stodgy Stoned Style Supine Swagger Sweet Start this exercise by working on A4 sheets of paper. Set the words in 48pt Helvetica Bold, print and cut out the words and then arrange them and stick them to a sheet of paper trying to capture the meaning of the word visually. Think about the composition, using the white space of the page to help you construct your meanings. Then work digitally using any of the software you have available. Explore how you can set text at a slant, at different sizes, in different colours and fonts. Try using filters in your software for other effects.
Sad:
For the analog version I wanted ‘sad’ to convey confusion and fright. I decided to separate the text slightly and turn the ‘a’ upside down to present the feeling of everything being upside down when you’re sad. I arranged it in the bottom right corner to try and show the word ‘hiding’ due to fear. The digital version I made it a blue helvetica font. The colour blue to me presents sadness, and I warped the word downwards to represent a sad face.
Safe:
I wanted safe to be presented in the most ‘safe’ form and placement on the page. I decided that was in the middle, laid out in a square format, it is almost as if the word is protecting itself. For the digital version I decided to have 2 middle letters being protected by the 2 outer. I made the inner letters grey to exaggerate the difference, and show that it is a ‘weaker’ colour. The word is in the bottom right corner as if it is hiding from danger.
Sardonic:
Being Sardonic is mocking somebody. I feel that being ‘two faced’ best describes this, and that is what I wanted to portray with both versions. The analog one shows a ‘normal’ start (smiling at someone) followed by a change (sarcasm or back handed compliment.) The digital version I found a stylistic font that had a more hand written feel, which was aimed to make it appear genuine. The 2nd half of the word is backwards, showing disingenuousness.
Saucy:
“Sexually suggestive in a light-hearted and humorous way” I wanted to present the lightheartedness of the word, so separated the letters into a ‘wave’ to present suggestibility. For the digital version, I chose a ‘cheesy’ font that looked like a sauce (ketchup red) again to go with the humorous way of being sexually suggestive.
Scholarly:
For the physical display of ‘Scholarly’ I decided to have it leading from left to right as it would a book, showing it’s scholarly nature. For the digital I did the same, with a more serious looking font, again to present it as serious/scholarly.
Serious:
I laid out the letters so they were in a straight line in the middle of the page to exaggerate severity. The digital one I did the same, but enlarged the bold text again to exaggerate this. I chose a grey colour with a black drop shadow to make it stand out more and appear as it suggests.
Shadow:
I intended for the letters to look as if they were a shadow, with the ‘dow’ being the shadow of ‘sha.’ Digitally this was easier to present as I created a shadow for the writing in a grey and stretched it to exaggerate. I wanted the shadow to come forwards as if the light was from behind to again exaggerate the ‘shadow.’
Shattered:
When creating the physical version I arranged the letters so they can still be legible, but broken up representing ‘shattered.’ The digital version I laid out the text quite large, and cut into it randomly, separating and ‘shattering’ parts of it making it almost illegible. I spread it around the page, leaving shattered chunks across it.
Shy:
I wanted to present ‘shy’ as timid as possible. I layered the letters slightly and put them as far out of the centre of the page as possible. With the digital version I opted for a light blue, which to me seems a ‘shy’ colour, with an italic small sized font, trying to make the word ‘shy’ away from the rest of the page.
Short:
I produced the physical version leaving no gaps between the letters, making it as ‘short’ as possible. With the digital attempt I emulated the same with, with a small letter size and using a grey colour. I used this light grey as is it hard to see, as something small or short it.
Silly:
I aimed for this word to look more abstract and not aligned; ‘silly.’ This was easier with digital techniques, I distorted the text slightly using an abstract font. I chose the least aesthetically pleasing colour I could, being an illuminous green to exaggerate how ‘silly’ it looks.
Sinking:
For the paper version, I began the word at the top of the page, making it’s way downwards ‘sinking.’ I wanted the movement to appear slow and then exaggerated at the end to show the word in motion. The digital version is different. I decided to edit the word and pull it downwards appearing as if it is sinking into the page.
Skimpy:
I wanted the paper version to show ‘skimpy’ as revealing parts of itself, as being skimpy is -definition: (of clothes) short and revealing.
"a skimpy dress"
Looking back, this doesn’t really show it very well, I could have done letters poking further out than others. The digital version is a more humorous take, being in pink and neon lights as ‘skimpy’ would be an offensive thing to describe someone as, the light appearance was to hint at nightlife.
Sleek:
‘Sleek’ is a way to describe someones hair, for example being gelled backwards. I wanted sleek to be shown as regimented or inline as if it’s been looked after. I tried to show this on the paper version by aligning the letters top to bottom. The digital attempt, is a ‘shiny’ italic version, showing the word being ‘sleek’ sideways.
Smart:
These 2 versions were the most different visually. For the paper version I wanted the letters to be evenly spaced and aligned, looking ‘smart.’ For the digital version I used a computer style font, and aligned the text as if you were writing code and continuing on another line. I chose it to be black and green as an old school style computer.
Snowy:
For the physical version I spread out the letters across the page as if they were falling like snow. When presenting the word digitally, I could adjust the size, colour and appearance to make each letter appear more snow-like. I made the edges rougher and coloured it an off white/grey colour. This was my favourite word to do so far.
Sodden:
These 2 were similar in design. I placed the letters at the bottom of the page as if they were soaked through and weighing you down. For the physical version I altered the angle of the letters to show movement like water. In the digital version I changed the font to a wet looking one, as if it was dripping wet-sodden.
Soothing:
Definition: having a gently calming effect.
"she put on some soothing music"
I tried to display the letters in a soothing motion, how I imagine soothing to look, moving from bottom upwards (stressed or unrested to soothed/calm.) For the digital version, I went for a different composition, making the letters spacing further from each other, as if it is becoming ‘soothed.’
Sordid:
“Involving immoral or dishonourable actions and motives; arousing moral distaste and contempt.” I wanted sordid to be as least aesthetically pleasing as possible to show ‘distaste’ and have a negative feel. I separated the letters and placed them at the bottom of the page to represent being low. The digital version is different. I chose a font that looks quite negative/dark, and went with the colour red, again for negativity and anger. I flipped the word back to front to show dishonour and distaste.
Sophisticated:
For the physical design I aimed to portray sophisticated as smart and in order. I decided to have the letters aligned in the middle of the page going downwards. Looking back this doesn’t seem as much of a good choice as it doesn’t look as ‘sophisticated’ as I initially thought. For the digital version I chose an old english font to show smart and seriousness. I decided to align it from left to right at the top of the page to show formality.
Speed:
I wanted to portray speed with the direction of the letters, and went for a similar style with the digital and physical version. I aimed to show the words moving from A to B with ‘speed'.’ The digital version was easier to visualise this with as you can distort letters, I distorted the P and E to exaggerate the movement. I went for orange for its colour as orange is an energetic colour.
Squat:
My aim was for the lettering to be in the shape of a squat. The top letter being the head, the next 2 arms, the bottom being legs. For the digital version I chose a stencil text that looks quite active or even army like, exaggerating the exercise of a ‘squat.’ I decided on a yellow to represent heat and sweat from physical exercise.
Squeeze:
I wanted it to appear as if the word was being squeezed. For the paper version I places the letters in the centre of the page, and slightly overlapped them ‘pushing’ the ‘u + e + e’ above the other letters in an attempt to make it look squeezed. The digital version was easier to work with as I could edit the word. I warped the ‘e’ causing the other letters to look squeezed.
Stiff:
Definition: ‘not easily bent or changed in shape; rigid.’ The paper version I wanted the letters to look ‘rigid’ and stuck together, as if they wouldn’t move. I ended up with this composition. For the digital version I made the text a bold font, alluding to it being strong and ‘rigid.’ I gave it a rough texture to exaggerate the fact that it would be hard to move or change.
Stodgy:
Definitions:
Heavy, filling, and high in carbohydrates
Dull and uninspired; lacking originality or excitement.
I wanted to present stodgy as heavy and boring. I decided to place the letters at the bottom of the paper and arrange them messily to show lack of thought (uninspired) and heaviness. The digital version is different, as I could edit the appearance of the word, I decided again to place the text at the bottom of the page to show it being weighed down, and then warped the letters so they were pushed down further as if they were being filled in.
Stoned:
I wanted to show stoned as being chilled out/not caring. I thought that the letters at the bottom, spread across the page represent being calm and relaxed. When editing digitally I went for a more humorous approach, making the text as a decorative cloud font, in a green the colour of cannabis. I warped the text to show a ‘warped’ or different state of mind.
Style:
I aimed to show individual style- something different with these 2 versions. For the paper version I separated the letters across the page to show something different and to make it stand out. For the digital version I chose the colour orange because it is energetic and individual. I cut the text in half and rotated it in different ways, to show someone having style and moving in a different direction having their own style.
Supine:
Definition:
1. Lying face upwards.
2. Failing to act or protest as a result of moral weakness or indolence.
The 2 definitions can be represented by the same presentation of letters. Supine being lay facing upwards is shown by the letters at the bottom of the page, turned sideways as if they are looking upwards. This also can represent having a moral weakness or laziness, and just observing without action. The digital version is the same, but repeated to exaggerate the lack of action and moral weakness.
Swagger:
My interpretation of ‘swagger’ is someone who is arrogant or thinks they’re ‘cool.’ To present this I decided to arrange the letters in a ‘wave’ as if someone was following a trend or wave, for ‘swagger.’ For the digital version I went along the same lines, but used a decorative font and edited it so it was in waves. I chose a dark yellow colour because it is quite a sickening hue in my opinion, to show how to have ‘swagger’ is to think you’re ‘cool.’
Sweet:
Definition: Having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar or honey; not salt, sour, or bitter. I placed the letters centrally on the page to show that there is attention on the word, or attention on something being sweet. I reversed the e’s to show a difference from a normal taste. For the digital version I chose an interesting font that looks appealing and almost delicate. I changed it’s colour from white-red to show the change of taste, from something plain to a sweet (red.)
