The first thing I did was do some research into the word, its meaning and into other designers who have dealt with this theme before (see Design Context blog) as well as include my initial thoughts and interpretations of the word 'Shatter"(see picture).
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| Initial Idea Research |
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| Initial Ideas Sketches of Possible Shatter Letters |
- Smashed like a Window and expanded outwards
- Chipped Away Pieces/ Broken Apart Letterform
- Shattered Pieces to make up the Letterform
- Cracked like a Shattered Mirror
- Layered Letterform to represent the Sound of something 'Shattering'
- Tired, Aged Letterform with Faded Appearance
- Mixed Up Placements of Fragments- Like someone has tired to unsuccessfully piece together the "Shattered' form
- Cracked down the middle
- To be Upset
- Showing the physical act of 'Shattering' as a stopped moment in time
It was integral to my ideas that I was not confined to the idea of the word 'Shatter' as a physical act or form as then it would mean that my letters would be also confined. I wished to present the other aspects of things being 'Shattered', like the sound of the shattering and the leftover pieces of the occurrance. Also, I wanted to display other meanings to the word 'Shatter', such as being upset or tired, as it would give my letterforms more of an interesting slant, making them more difficult to work out and not as obvious.
At first, I had decided that I wanted to use 10 different letterforms for the series, however, after I had produced these ideas, I decided that it would be more beneficial to just stick with 1 letterform for the whole series so that it is alot more consistant and connected. I chose to use this letterform (see picture):
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| Chosen Letterform for "Alphabet Soup" series |
From this, I then proceeded to develop my initial ideas by drawing out versions and way I could approach the image and then I drew a 10 x 10 cm version to see that it would work on a large scale from the small scale (see pictures).
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| Development of Alphabet Ideas and Final Idea Sketches |
This allowed me to consolidate my ideas, taking aspects of each one and produce visually finalised, clear ways of representing the aspect of 'Shatter' I wished to represent. I evaluated my work as I went along, saying what I wanted to include and how successful my final decision is.
We were told that we were to keep our squares Black & White and the only colouration permitted was Greyscale, which I took advantage of to show ageing or a difference between the letter and the situation it's in. I felt this allowed my letters to be seen as more professional and work better as a series.
To me, what was most important about this brief were the letterforms themselves so I decided to keep the presentation of each one plain and brief. That way, it would allow for the clarity and message of each one to be portrayed in a simple yet profound manner. I didn't use any particular media apart from a pen so I could keep the images as simple and basic as possible to aid the interpretation of the letterforms and the large amount of space created means that the letterform has the full attention of the audience.
Final Designs:
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| Final Designs for 10 Letterforms to represent 'Shatter' |
What makes my series successful is the fact that it works as a complete series that link together, not just through the presentation of the letterforms but also, through the imagery that I have created. It has a strong identity that runs throughout the series and none of them look out of place from each other. The simplicity I think has worked to thier advantage as it makes the designs the most important aspect of the work, which I believe is how it should be. One thing I would perhaps like to change is to make the linework thicker so that it would be more bold and demanding, giving the alphabet a little bit more of a powerful presence, however, I think that would go against the delicate nature that the term 'Shatter' seems to connote.
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