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lettering & type
Exercise: Modular Alphabet
Above: Young Leader Live Sessions Lettering, 2004 Alex Trochut Although sinuous and decorative in appearance, the characters in this lettering treatment are assembled from a reduced set of elements.
Below: Scandinavian Sparks Typeface, 2004 Hjärta Smärta Created for an exhibition of Swedish art and design, the characters of Scandinavian Sparks are built from symbols and motifs found in traditional Swedish handicrafts.
From modernist experiments to bitmap fonts,
elements feel most at home. Your grid can be
designers have explored the possibilities of
reductive, expansive, or somewhere in between.
creating letters from a reduced palette of shapes.
After establishing a grid and a visual approach,
The predefined forms and restrictive systems
design letters that represent the alphabet’s basic
of modular letters make them a quick and
forms like H, O, M, R, A, or n, o, b, a, v. Stick to
approachable method for building letters. In spite
and refine the system as needed, until these initial
of the constraints, new and surprising letterforms
letterforms feel consistent. Gradually construct
can be built with modular elements.
more characters until you have designed
Create an alphabet using only a small set
combinations periodically to expose flaws and
a grid, where the regular and repetitive modular
inconsistencies.
Examples of student work from the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maintaining equal widths and proportions, build a modular alphabet from these three geometric shapes: a 1x1 square, a 1x2 rectangle, and a 1x1 quarter circle. Use as many or few shapes as needed. Bear in mind that smaller grids provide a more limited set of design options.
katie mclachlan
kate morgan
carlos vigil
Whimcircle Alphabet, 2004 Tore Terrasi
the entire alphabet. Test the letters in word
of basic geometric shapes. Begin by working on
Keep the shapes proportional; do not scale or distort any of the components. Do not overlap the elements or use a white shape knocked out of black forms.
eugenia wang