Exercise 4 Text and image

In this exercise, I am exploring text and image by taking opposite words and writing them in a descriptive way. I will then find a similar font to the qualities I was seeking in each word. Once I have studied the fonts and created a moodboard for each word, I will draw the typed words freehand and render them to convey meaning.

I have used the book Lettering Manual by Ken Barber throughout this exercise and studied the work of three illustrators, Lisa Perrin, Adam Hayes and Cyril Vouilloz.

Figure 1 Book cover illustrations by Lisa Perrin

1. Big Small

I have made several drawings of Big and Small in my sketchbook. I used ink and pencil for the grid, but because this is a sketchbook, I did not always draw a grid. I went for big bulky letters that look heavy for the Big and a simple sans-serif for the Small. I later decided to add a block in the background to get a sense of scale for Small and use three-dimensional letters to have the Big look more prominent.

Figure 4 Sketchbook drawings for Big Small

2. Fat Thin

I did the same for Fat and Thin. I wanted the word Fat to look more rounded than Big and Thin to be tall and stretched out.

Figure 6 Sketchbook drawings for Fat Thin

3. Fast Slow

Fast Slow was more challenging to find ideas for, but once I started drawing, the ideas were flowing. When I do Fast in colour, I will use blue, silver, or even red. I prefer the Slow at the bottom of the page. It looks heavier and slower than the top Slow.

Figure 8 Sketchbook drawing for Fast Slow

4. Fun Boring

I tried several sketches for Fun, and I liked the top right corner with the circle shadow. I asked a few people, and the bottom left with the exclamation mark got most of the votes. The word Boring can be as plain as possible, maybe a sans-serif and monospacing.

Figure 10 Sketchbook drawings for Fun Boring

5. Calm Mad

I could not decide what to use for Calm. The Calm at the bottom of the page was my favourite. I like that it is melting into the ground, but the top Calm gives me a sense of weightlessness and contentedness. Mad was fun to sketch. I think flame shapes and sharp edges are fitting to describe the word Mad.

Figure 12 Sketchbook drawings for Calm Mad

Once I had printed all the words in the selected typeface, I traced the typeface in pencil, studied how the lines varied and observed the different line weights. These are the colours I think were most fitting for each word:

Big – Rock colours (brown, grey, black)
Small – Colours that fall to the background (blue)
Fat – Colour of cream or butter (yellow)
Fast – Blue, Silver or Red
Fun – Party colours (Pink)
Boring – Navy or Beige
Calm – Yellow or Green
Mad – Black or Red

Before getting started with the mood boards, I made a mind map. To practice my InDesign skills, I have decided to do the mood boards in InDesign for this project, but I prefer it the way I always do it, in a collage format.

Now I am ready to draw the typed words using freehand onto an A2 hot-pressed watercolour paper. I used the following mediums for each word.

Big – Colour Pencils
Small – Colour Pencil
Fat – Alcohol marker
Thin – Acrylic Marker
Fast – Acrylic Silver Paint
Fun – Pink Gouache
Boring – Concentrated Watercolour
Calm – Watercolour ink markers
Mad – Ink brush pen

Overall, I am learning the importance of using the correct typeface to express the meaning of a specific word. I am becoming more observant of how small line changes in a font can make a big difference, for example, round edges versus sharp edges. I am looking forward to the next exercise and will be using text as part of the illustration in packaging design.