The project is about taking enough inspiration from a word to convert it into a typographical experiment resulting in a typeface. This was done collaboratively between 2-3 students who came together to share their ideas, each bringing in a new perspective. Together they ideate, process, shoot and produce a handmade type.
Moving the classrooms outdoors, the students begin with simple assignments that help them to warm up - by hunting for letter forms in nature or in wall cracks, for instance. They can also find existing typefaces within the elements around, or they can find interesting objects that turn into their new tools, replacing the pen and mouse.
As a quick workout the first assignment ‘Walk’ helps the student to step out of their classrooms comfort zone. They are supposed to walk around open spaces where they are expected to find letterforms in the most unexpected places. This assignment helps in training their eyes into percieving the form of each letter and understanding their weights. It also makes them look at the different ways in which a material can be used and opens them up to the fact that there are many exisiting creative tools around us, if only we develop an eye for them.
The next assignment which is ‘Oops!’ is the one that has been explored and documented as a part of this Handmade Type module.
Please Note: This word can be replaced by any other word, that can inspire students to think creatively enough to make a font. Please downloadable PDF and PSD files attached below: