Tutorial with Simon

This tutorial was really helpful because Simon showed me that my research was very visual and very to do with Graphics. Like the idea of 'Real life is better than graphic design', I need to find what the point of my research is.

How do these sign painters or hand rendered type affect the social society.
Is this trying to recreate and keep history going by making hand rendered type over digital?

I need to think about the social, historical context of this type of graphics.
But I need to become very specific because that will lead to better research where I will understand the point of the design.

What are the trends in the visual culture towards the retro/vintage.

PASTICHE - 

Fredic Jameson - Litery critic and theorist. His idea of Pastiche is very well known, but a bit cynical. 

 - Module on Jameson

After reading and rereading this information about what Fredic Jameson thought about Pastiche, it helped understand that Pastiche is slightly like showing history in the future. Only representing it because they can no longer show the real thing. 

With parody, you make fun of it, recreating it to change it. But with Pastiche it's about recreating it and celebrating it.



This is very true with sign painting.
I love the way they look, but probably because its historic. 

• My further research will be about if sign painting has affect on daily life, if everyday people pick up on it.
• What they think of it. 
• Why do people use sign painting rather a digital sign

Sign Painter and Gypsy Wagon painter - Jack York

In the summer I went to my friends farm to ride her horse. Afterwards she showed me around because there's a couple of sheds with workmen in it. Turns out they were a family ran business of sign painters and gypsy wagon painters.

Jack York the father of the business showed me around his shed and through some of his old work. 

It was really interesting talking to him and learning about how long he's been painting and how he's taught his son. I've emailed him to ask him some more questions but waiting on a reply.

Practise

After looking through the resources Hand Type gave me, it gave me some inspiration to keep practising. 

Tim recommended looking at other people's work and copying it to try and grasp the letterforms. So I copied this 'lettering' piece it actually really helped me understand how to compose the words.

I never know what to write, so thought I would do everyone's name in my family. It's helped me understand how to link the letters together and the form they should be.

I think I've progressed quite a lot even with doing just these. I've worked out how to use the pens -  use the brush end to create the wider shapes and the small end to link the letters and add the detail.

Interview - Hand Type Andy

I've come across Hand Type on Youtube which is a channel that shows one person creating type. 

Hand Type Youtube Channel

I emailed the address and they got back to quite quickly and with loads of helpful tips. 

I replied with specific questions that I wanted to ask as well.

Not doing too well // New buys

I don't think I have the will power to do a sketch everyday. I find it hard to try and think of something to write or put together. While not doing a lot over summer apart from work I don't have a lot of inspiration. I keep looking at peoples blogs and their works and think its getting me down that I can't produce something like that unless I sit down and concentrate.

I've decided to take time to draw and compose something rather than rush a sketch a day. Before Graphics I painted a lot and always chose to detailed pieces with texture. So I want to incorporate that into my research and my practise. 

After talking to Tim he recommended Tombow pens, so I got some to see what they are like. They take a while to get used to.

These are just a couple of pages I've done using the pens to practise.

Inspiration trip

I've been working a lot and not doing much drawing, so on my first day off in a while I went to Newcastle for some inspiration. 

I went to the Baltic to look at the Daniel Buren exhibition which I really enjoyed. I thought the colours were so good when they light shone in. The exhibition has given me some confidence to use a lot more colour in my designs.

I also went to the Grainger Market, which is a big old indoor market in centre of Newcastle. There's a lot of old style shops that have been there for year so I thought looking at the signage would be good to for research about type, hand rendered type and sign painting. 

This has helped me to look at different fonts and styles and understand how to draw them as well.

I also came across a church and looked at the headstones. They show real scripture and real type because all the flourishes and serifs etc became to exist because of carving techniques, like original letterforms. 

There's quite a lot of impressive shapes in the letters and think it's quite interesting how they have been formed. I'm keen to try and recreate these on paper.