Lily Gongaware - Portfolio by Lily G

P O RT FO L IO

Baseline International Typographics magazine is a publication devoted to typography, book arts, and graphic design that was launched in 1979. Since then, it has grown to become a staple in any designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inspiration when it comes to the typographical arts. The topics covered in this magazine are wide, and always very eclectic. For this project, I designed an eight page spread that could be used in the magazine, based off an article written by Emily Gosling on the FontSmith blog. This article, called Skin Deep: Typography & Tattoos, highlighted three tattoo artists: Mishka, Lord Blue Montana, and Stewart Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Callaghan. These artists create beautiful and bold typographical tattoos that are all unique pieces of art. In order to successfully showcase these photos, I needed to create a comfortable home that could compliment the imagery. A picture is worth a thousand words, no? Since the tattoos are done with black ink, I settled on editing the photos to gray-scale. I wanted the images to look consistent, even though they are all very unique. Since yellow is the most visible color, I knew that the contrast could highlight important information using that singular color along with black and white. I found that by aiming for a layout that allowed the article to enhance the imagery rather than compete with it, I was able to maintain flow throughout four separate spreads. The photos, pull-quotes, and captions serve as invitations to read the whole article.

S KI N D E E P TATTOOS & TYPOGRAPHY Emily Gosling

Tattoos once served as emblems of defiance, danger and rebellion: images that had mothers weeping and careers advisers holding their heads in despair. Today, however, these countercultural connotations have abated as tattooing has worked its way into the mainstream. Many people you know probToday, theseorcountercultural have TheAccording style and to shape of letterforms are one thing, ably havehowever, one (visible otherwise), andconnotations the tattoo taboo has softened. a piece in The Atlantic, nearly onebut in what five people in the US now about the content? Are there any words, or phrases the artists abated as tattooing worked itsof way into the mainstream. sport a tattoo, rising has to nearly 40% marketing’s favourite demographic, those pesky “millennials.” Many people you know probably have one, and the tattoo wouldn’t ink on moral grounds? taboothe has softened. According to wider a pieceacceptance, in The Atlantic, With rise in inkings and their we’re seeing far more than traditional roses, swallows, anchors or well-intentioned inscripnearly in five people the US now sport a tattoo, rising Thewords, most sometimes common route into is through tions of one lovers’ names. Andinwhile a picture is said to speak a thousand words aretattooing exactly what people want on their skin, and so to nearly 40% marketing’s favourite demographic, thosethan ever.apprenticeships, taking anywhere from one to three typography andoftattooing are disciplines more interlinked pesky “millennials.” years, which involve learning the trade on the job as well studying aspects such asto contamination and the morelearning the trade on The most common route into tattooing is through apprenticeships, as taking anywhere from one three years, which involve physical risks that could come with badly created work. While With the rise in inkings and their wider acceptance, we’re the job as well as studying aspects such as contamination and the more physical risks that could come with badly created work. While many tattooseeing farfrom more traditional roses, anchors of letterforms many on tattooists come from most learn the ists come anthan art background, most swallows, learn the nuances apprenticeships oran onart thebackground, job. And of course, considerations around or well-intentioned inscriptions of lovers’ names. And nuances of letterforms on apprenticeships on the Andapplications. kerning, sizing and other typographic technicalities are while very different creating designs for skin compared to fororprint orjob. digital of course, considerations around kerning, sizing and other a picture is said to speak a thousand words, sometimes words are exactly what people want on their skin, and so typography typographic technicalities are very different creating designs and tattooing are disciplines more interlinked than ever. for skin compared to for print or digital applications.

*real size*

Blackwork tattoo by London-based artist, Mishka, reading “I put a spell on you.”

S KI N D E E P TATTOOS & TYPOGRAPHY Emily Gosling

*real size*

Blackwork tattoo by London-based artist, Mishka, reading “I put a spell on you.”

Spring 2018

www.baselinemagizine.com

Books

Ian McLaren

ISSN 6578-4842

Jan Tchioldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Typographic Gestaltung

Richard Doubleday

Security Printing

David Jury

Skin deep - typography and tattoos

Emily Gosling

East meets West of West meets East

Martin Bouette

Our finest flowers

Timothy Donaldson

Printed in England

UK ÂŁ13.00

International Typographic Magazine

One of the artists often shows her work overlayed on top of a mannequin or marble statue to show placement suggestion. I decided to create one of these images to showcase on the cover. This created a high contrast between the bold yellow design matched with the soft curves of the statue. As well as paying homage to one of the subjects of the article, this concept creates an aesthetically interesting cover as well.

US $18.95

Spring 2018

www.baselinemagizine.com

Books

Ian McLaren

ISSN 6578-4842

Jan Tchioldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Typographic Gestaltung

Richard Doubleday

Security Printing

David Jury

Skin deep - typography and tattoos

Emily Gosling

East meets West of West meets East

Martin Bouette

Our finest flowers

Timothy Donaldson

Printed in England

UK ÂŁ13.00

International Typographic Magazine

US $18.95

SKIN D EEP TATTOOS & TYPOGRAPHY Emily Gosling

Tattoos once served as emblems of defiance, danger and rebellion: images that had mothers weeping and careers advisers holding their heads in despair. Today,however, however, these countercultural have abated as tattooing hasand worked into the mainstream. Many Today, counterculturalconnotations connotations have The style shapeitsofway letterforms are one thing, butpeople what you know probably have one (visible orworked otherwise), and into the tattoo taboo has softened.about According to a pieceAre in The Atlantic, nearly in fivethe people in the US now the content? there any words, orone phrases artists abated as tattooing has its way the mainstream. sportpeople a tattoo,you rising to probably nearly 40%have of marketing’s favourite thoseink pesky “millennials.” Many know one, and the tattoo demographic, wouldn’t on moral grounds? taboo has softened. According to a piece in The Atlantic, With the rise in inkings and their wider acceptance, we’re seeing far more than traditional roses, swallows, anchors or well-intentioned inscripnearly one in five people in the US now sport a tattoo, rising The most common route into tattooing is through of lovers’ names. And while a picture is said to speak a thousand words, sometimes words are exactly what people want on their skin, and so totions nearly 40% of marketing’s favourite demographic, those apprenticeships, taking anywhere from one to three typography and tattooing are disciplines more interlinked than ever. pesky “millennials.” years, which involve learning the trade on the job as well as studying aspects such as contamination and the more The most common route into tattooing is through apprenticeships, taking anywhere from one to three years, which involve learning the trade on With theasrise and their such widerasacceptance, we’re physical risks createdwork. work.While Whilemany tattoothe job wellinasinkings studying aspects contamination and the more physical risksthat thatcould couldcome comewith with badly badly created seeing far more than anchorsof letterforms many come from most learn the around ists come from an arttraditional background,roses, most swallows, learn the nuances ontattooists apprenticeships or onan theart job.background, And of course, considerations orkerning, well-intentioned inscriptions of lovers’ names. And while letterforms apprenticeships or on the job.applications. And sizing and other typographic technicalities are very differentnuances creatingof designs for skinoncompared to for print or digital a picture is said to speak a thousand words, sometimes words of course, considerations around kerning, sizing and other are exactly what people want on their skin, and so typography typographic technicalities are very different creating designs and tattooing are disciplines more interlinked than ever. for skin compared to for print or digital applications.

Blackwork tattoo by London-based artist, Mishka, reading “I put a spell on you.”

Contemporary script lettering tattoo by Mishka, imposed on a mannequin for placement suggestion. This is common practice for Mishka.

Lord Montana Blue (yes, that’s his real name, not an aristocracy thing) has been working as a tattooist in London’s King’s Cross for the past ten years, having studied a degree that combined fine art and graphic design and working as a freelance graphic designer on graduating. “I was getting tattooed a fair bit while I was working as a designer and then thought it was a gamble worth taking to learn how to do it,” he says. It seems his grounding in graphics and lettering fostered an initial understanding of type forms that was

honed as he worked more and more on skin and stepped away from graphics client work. Fellow London-based artist Mishka also got into tattooing having studied art, moving away from a conceptual installation-based studio practise that she says was “haemorrhaging money” to work for a friend who became a mentor and trainer, Kali. Mishka’s lettering work is strikingly bold and geometric, rendered in a style that draws on her Belarusian heritage. “In general the only font I’m interested in is Vyaz, so it’s

“It’s constricted but beautiful and repetitive– a mix of being creative and rule-driven.” 36

SKIN D EEP TATTOOS & TYPOGRAPHY Emily Gosling

Blackwork tattoo by London-based artist, Mishka, reading “I put a spell on you.”

Contemporary script lettering tattoo by Mishka, imposed on a mannequin for placement suggestion. This is common practice for Mishka.

“It’s constricted but beautiful and repetitive– a mix of being creative and rule-driven.” 36

very geometric using long vertical lines,” she says. “I’m interested in that style as it’s not only script, but also an image, so it’s not always obvious what’s written. It’s based on an old Slavic church font, so you’re trying to slot letters into one another a bit like a logical puzzle. It’s constricted but beautiful and repetitive – a mix of being creative and rule-driven.”

Photo of Lord Montana Blue working in his studio posted to Instagram, captioned “Good morning. Another fresh week filled with opportunity.”

The letterforms Mishka draws from were traditionally used for icons and religious manuscripts in Cyrillic, but in her tattooing she draws her own versions on graph paper by hand either in English or Russian alphabets. “Once you understand the rules you can make them more gothic or Constructivist,” she says. “Personally I like a bold, graphic approach, and I try to do things that are a bit unusual or that not everyone else is doing.” Ultimately, it’s the role of the artist to guide people into collaboratively coming up with the best solution for the word they want, where they want it, how they want it drawn and ensuring it’s stylistically something suited to their design and personality. “Not every size of letter and not every font works on skin. Some people come in and say ‘I want this word and this font and I want it here’ then we guide them through things like letter sizes,” Blue explains. “I’ve got books and books and books of different letterforms with different styles so sometimes we try to open their mind a bit if we’re not sure their idea would work, or offer to make them a hand-drawn version. Other people will come in and say they want something that looks cursive, or like Old English, or a little bit ‘gangster’ or ‘horror’, then I’d go away and work on that the same as I would with anything else.” For Mishka, her process involves sending customers a number of different examples of the word they want drawn in her style, “ranging from the more feminine to the more gothic, or minimalist, or bold.” They then choose from up to 20 versions and she designs a custom font for them. “Some words constrict better and more elegantly than others,” she says. “It’s also very important to determine where they want it on the body, as that determines the shape of the letters. You have to be so careful with curvier body parts as the image can distort so much.” As Stewart O’Callaghan, a tattooist currently based in Brighton who learned the trade having been studying for a PhD in psychology points out, most people that come in aren’t aware of things like serifs, and “neither should they have to be.” He considers that having an artistic background could in fact be a hindrance to becoming a tattooist, “as not every art style aligns itself with tattooing.” He explains: “You have to think about line weights, composition and things, so it’s more like illustration. There’s been a growth in stark, illustrative tattooing styles as maybe more people are coming out of illustration degrees and want to apply what they’ve learned to tattoos.” When working out lettering designs with customers, O’Callaghan finds that many people simply know what they want written and where. “People often find it hard to visually map script, and so it’s your job to be able to draw that from them and guide their hand in the room.” He says that a lot of people want internet-ready type, and so uses the online resource DaFont, an archive of freely downloadable fonts. “But a lot of them aren’t tattooable,” O’Callaghan concedes, “so you have to think about where that design meets the body. I’ll often steer people towards something hand-drawn as I know that suits the sort of work I do.

A more “feminine” script tattoo, done by Mishka, utilizes a combination of script and imagery to create a tribute for “Gloria.”

“I try to do things that are a bit unusual or that not everyone else is doing.”

“One of the biggest problems in lettering on the body is size, because when we do a tattoo the lines can blur a little and even a millimetre is the difference between a ‘c’ or ‘e’. Sometimes with a font we’ll have to make the negative space bigger to make it clearer and be honest about people’s expectations for having a word in a difficult place, like behind their ear. Generally it’s best to push for lettering five or ten per cent larger, as you want it to read well years down the line.”

Mishka also stresses how different skin’s interaction with ink is compared to paper: “Things like the detail and scale are very different,” she says. “The contrast between black and white on paper is one thing, but on skin black becomes blue over time and the skin almost acts like stained glass as the ink ages – it grows, so the lines will get fuzzier and if the negative space in lettering is too small it eventually becomes illegible.” Blue most often works by drawing an image and creating a stencil, though other artists work freehand onto the body, working in a similar way to how a traditional sign painter might (albeit onto very different surfaces). But as Mishka points out, however you create an image, the most important consideration is its translation onto the body itself, and the individual person. “Anything you do with a tattoo has to accentuate the way the body flows,” she says. “You have to think about the person and the impression you get about their personality. You get a feel for a person, and I try to make something that

harmonises with their personality and their aesthetics, or how they carry themselves.” The advent of social media and image-based online resources like Instagram and Pinterest has not only popularised tattooing and opened up new avenues for inspiration, but it’s provided an easily curated and beautiful shop window of sorts for tattoo artists. The flipside is that it’s also meant a rise in trend-led tattooing work; and even more frustratingly for artists and customers, created a set of unrealistic images that simply aren’t possible. Many are Photoshopped, or cannily shot just as the ink is fresh. As such, there’s little indication of how such designs look in real life, let alone after a few years of being on skin that naturally morphs and changes with the body and in the elements. Trend-wise, Blue says that “at the moment there seems to be a fashion for a very loose handwritten scrawl that looks like a heartbeat line, but it’s so stretched that 38

them judged. So sometimes I’ll swerve things where I don’t want to be responsible for anything negative that happens to that person because they’re wearing a certain word.”

O’Callaghan captioned this photo on Instagram: “It’s always an honour to tattoo someone’s kid’s names on them.”

Mishka is even more emphatic about where she draws the line, literally and metaphorically. “I won’t do partners’ names,” she says. “I’ll do dogs’ names, kids’ names, gods’ name even, but I won’t do partners names. It’s like a jinx.” Typography is a huge tool not only in tattoos but to design in general. The way we visualize words speaks of ability to transfer text into meaning. Good understanding of it will help you choose a good typo design and avoid some common mistakes and misunderstandings.

there’s no negative space in the ‘o’ or ‘e’ even on paper. Whatever you do the line will always stretch and look different to how it looks on paper just because that’s the line you get with tattooing. You have to think about what it’ll look like in three or four summer’s time, and once it’s been stretched across skin. Bigger letterforms will always work best.”

The first thing you need to have in mind is what kind of font style to use. Serif, Sans Serif, Script or Modern – they can all mean a lot. There is a certain level of psychology coded in your choice. Modern typography styles are numerous. They vary from tech styles, to thin elegant lettering or handwritten letters, which are imitating brushes or markers. In tattooing, typography can be about breaking the letters apart and turning them into a new and personal symbols. Always remember that letters are still nothing without a good message.

GET SOME INK: Stewart O’Callaghan: @stewartoctattoo Lord Montana Blue: @montana_blue Mishka: @mishkatattoo

The other issue with social media feeds, as O’Callaghan says, is that they act as an “aggregate of popularity and the number of people hitting the ‘like’ button. But that’s not the same as a well executed idea or level of taste. Things can rise to the top that mean great work goes unnoticed.”

O’Callaghan adds that the styles that work least well as those “messy by design,” or that have a sense of rawness about them. “Things with a certain amount of crispness about the design work well, but you have to think about if you’re working with the flow of the body or against it,” he says. “It helps to pick soft scripts or big lines, something like a Chicano reference [Mexican-originated lettering] – that’s interesting because it mixes very heavy, bold letters with very thin cursive fonts. It’s that contrast that makes a very beautiful tattoo.”

Blue and O’Callaghan agree that cursive fonts – particularly Diana – are the most popular requests, and a common challenge is to simplify or enlarge the design to ensure legibility. The same applies to customers who want lettering created in the style of their own handwriting. The key is to maintain an awareness of “what sits well on the body,” says Mishka. “The body isn’t flat pages: a big block of text might mean a lot to somebody, but it doesn’t mean it’ll look good visually. If the script functions like a well-tailored item of clothing, it’ll look good on the body.”

“People are often scared that they don’t have the vocabulary to take the creative lead,” says O’Callaghan. “Often they’ll bring in pictures but you don’t want to just recreate another person’s tattoo as it’s against the moral code of tattooing. People who are more concerned about size can give you the threshold of how large they would be willing for the tattoo to go, but you want people to feel part of the creative process and trust you.”

Blue cites an instance of writing the entire Lord’s Prayer across a customer’s arms, using letterforms at just 5mm high. For him, the most fun letter-based tattoos to draw are “around five or six letters long, a big script where I’m given the freedom to run wild.” They also agree that the very true cliché in tattooing is that the smaller the tattoo, the more the customer is likely to fret about style, sizing and placement.

Blue finds social media and online imagery to be both a blessing and a curse. “It’s a struggle,” he says. “People come in with their heart set on something and we’ll give all the advice we can but you have to draw a line in the sand. I don’t want to blame Pinterest and social media but it can give the wrong idea, or an image will have been taken out of context having been reposted and reposted. With tattooing you have to consider the shape of the body, and how something might work differently on male or female bodies. Sometimes you say something can’t be done, and people will then just go to a less reputable artist to get it done there.”

The style and shape of letterforms are one thing, but what about the content? Are there any words, or phrases the artists wouldn’t ink on moral grounds? “Something I always think about is the fact that at some point you’ll be sick and in hospital and can’t speak for yourself, so your body will speak for you,” says Blue. “I’d rather not put something on someone that will have

With any sort of tricky negotiation, Mishka says that it’s vital the artist is patient and empathic, and will even show clients an image of a celebrity with their fresh tattoo, and another of the same tattoo six months later to try and demonstrate how mutable things can be. “The trick is to be patient; try and see where they’re coming from,” she says.

Typography needs complex knowledge, but here’s some basic advice for you to follow. The style of the written text needs to suit the subject.

“You want people to feel part of the creative process and trust you.”

The intricate ornimented script lettering of Lord Montana Blue.