After reading Lawrence Lessing’s Free Culture, I decided to further read on the subject of “free culture.” I found an organization, FreeCulture.org: Students for Free Culture, devoted to advocating and pushing the Free Culture movement. On the organization’s Website, they have a blog space where I found a blog on the work of Tim Hwang.

In Tim Hwang’s speech It’s Tough Out There for a Geek: The Changing Battlefield for Online Freedom, he discusses the history and activism of digital freedom and the way in which the movement is affected by present day digital standards.

When I first heard that we were going to design and create our own fonts and color palettes in class, I was excited by the project. I have always had an appreciation for font and color design, but I had never had the opportunity to develop my own.

I was not familiar with the Web application FontStruct, and I assumed it would allow me to create a font containing curvaceous letters. I began sketching a font that I thought represented my screen name moniker “aheartofstars.” The font was to have thick crescent moon and heart like curves accompanied by a random star.

When I tried to mimic my sketch in FontStruct, I was forced to abandon my font. FontStruct is a great application, but it does have limits. One such limit is that it can not replicate extended curves properly. I felt disappointed and discouraged, but the assignment needed to be completed, so I tried to think of another way I could represent my screen name while conforming to the limitations of FontStruct.

I decided to make a novelty font that could only be used as a heading. It breaks many of Lupton’s rules as the letters are contained within a heart shape. The heart maintains a static cap and x-height, and it always rests on the baseline. I am not satisfied with the overall font.

I did enjoy creating my color palette in Adobe Kuler. As with my font, I built the color palette around my screen name. I used red as the base color as it represents the heart. I used a deep dark blue/purple to represent both the night sky and veins in the heart. The yellow, grey, and white represent stars, clouds, and other heavenly objects.

It's no secret that I hate my job.  In fact, I've disliked most jobs I've had because of crummy co-workers and awful bosses.  (I've worked on golf cart maintenence, bussed tables, waited tables, and worked at a gym.....all sucked).  But one thing that I've always been wary of has been being online friends with co-workers.

This article from NY Times discusses the pros and cons of accepting friend requests from co-workers and bosses on networks like Facebook and Myspace.  I highly suggest checking this article out; it's got some awesome tips and guidelines for how to handle online relationships with co-workers.

 

I found Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture to be a very interesting book to read.  My real fascination came from the fact that I'm a musician, and am always interested in reading about copyright laws and the history behind them. 

I've found that the laws concerning copyrights are very complicated at times and difficult to get a grasp on, and sometimes it becomes tough to form a solid opinion as to exactly how you feel about certain aspects of the law.

I liked Lessig's section on Music on page 55, as well as his suggestion for creator compensation on page 106.  A lot of my friends download music for free, in fact my one buddy JD regularly tells me about how he "hasn't bought a CD in years" because he downloads entire discographies.  To some, this may seem like a smart move, and a great way to save money.  But let me explain how this looks from the opposing side.

As a musician who is trying to promote myself independently, the whole process rests on my shoulders.  No management team, no record label, no PR group, nothing; just me and the help and support of my family.  Let's do a little math:

- First, we have supplies and tools to do my job (write and perform music.)  Guitars, amplifiers, microphones, mic stands, PA system, cables, extension cords, guitar strings, picks, guitar straps, effects pedals, slides, pickups, and  capos. 

- Now let's add in the instructional DVDs and lessons that I've learned from of over the years.

- I began playing music at the age of 12, so factor in 10 years worth of time spent working on my music (I'm primarily self-taught.)

- Add in the hours of practice each week, as well as time spent working on new material, shaping and crafting songs, and generally working to improve.

- I released an album in October 2008, (yes, a shameless plug, but I have to promote myself, remember??)  I had to pay for the time spent in the studio to record, as well as pay for the album to be printed and sealed, and then shipped out to me.

- Lastly, let's factor in the money spent on gas when I drive around to perform and promote my music.

Now imagine I wake up one day and find my album is up on Limewire, and everyone's downloading it for free because they don't want to pay for it. 

I only tell you this to remind you that a copyright protection, in this case, is there for a reason.  I think a lot of people see copyright protection as almost an inconvenience.  My friend JD doesn't get why you would pay for a CD when you can just dowload it for free?  CDs may be "expensive" in some people's eyes, but you have to remember that you're not paying for the plastic case, or the CD itself, or the lyric book.  You're paying for the time, energy, and money spent by the musicians/songwriters who have dedicated their lives to creating music (or any art form, for that matter) for people's entertainment.  Sure, I want to share my music with the world, but honestly, I don't want to starve in the process.

Now let's look at Lessig's point about building off of previous creations.  He gives the impression throughout the book that if we begin to limit what people are allowed to "add on to" or "springboard" off of, that our free culture will suffer.  I disagree.  Again, let me relate this back to music.

I'm a big John Butler Trio fan.  Now if I ripoff this song, Pickapart, and make some changes, but claim I've only built on what was already there, there's no way you're going to convince me that that's ok.  Instead, I feel that the drive to avoid copyright infringement has pushed me to study JBT's style, mesh it with my other influences, and create something unique to myself.  I have a few songs that are in the same style as JBT, but swiping specific melodies and progressions would be piracy in every sense of the word.  Lessig's assertion that the concept of "property" is detrimental to growth in a free culture is a bit absurd, but again, I may feel this way because of my background in music.  As my classmate Chris said in his post, " His theme is that if this occurs, 'Free Cultures are cultures that leave a great deal open for others to build upon; unfree, or permission, cultures leave much less.  Ours was a free culture.  It is becoming less so."  (p. 30)'"  There is plenty to build upon without ripping others off. 

Let me ask you this; if I came to you and said, "Hey a friend of mine approached me and said he wanted to use the melodies and vocal patterns from my song Jet Plane for a documentary he's filming.  He doesn't want to use my song, he just wants to create a song a lot like it and add in some piano parts, maybe a violin, and use a female lead singer."  Would you say that's ok?  Sure, he's adding on to what I did, but is the song not, at its core, still my creation? 

Copyright protection is something I feel passionately about, and this book really made me get really passionate really quick!

     Lawrence Lessig presents an interesting study and analysis of creativity, culture, copyrights, property and intellectual property in his text Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity.

     Lessig offers many arguments against giving authors complete control over copyrights and intellectual property.  At first, it seems like he is against giving authors any publishing control over their work.  But he starts the text explicitly stating, "We live in a world that celebrates 'property'.  I am one of those celebrants.  I believe in the value of property in general, and I also believe in the value of that weird form of property that lawyers call 'intellectual property'."  (p. 28) In addition, further analysis of his text reveals he is actually unveiling both sides of the perspective, author's and creator's as well as the public's.  Not only is he describing both perspectives, but also he is drawing logical conclusions about what is going to happen in our culture due to the changing technology, the copyright laws, and the affects these have on the public in general.

     Lessig begins describing one of the central issues of intellectual property by using Disney as an example.  In 1928, Buster Keaton created a silent movie called Steamboat Bill, Jr.  Before the release of this movie, Disney had been experimenting with music and animation in its short cartoons.  Upon the release of Keaton's movie, Disney released a short animated feature called Steamboat Willie, starring an unknown Mickey Mouse.

     The point in using this example is that in 1928, intellectual property was not a big issue as it is today.  If it were, Buster Keaton could have sued Disney for this creation.  The idea is that Disney used creative elements exclusive to Buster Keaton's creation Steamboat Bill, Jr, that Keaton as author had control over.  If intellectual property was an issue during the period, the creativity that spawned such works as Cinderella, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan may not have occurred.  His theme is that if this occurs, "Free Cultures are cultures that leave a great deal open for others to build upon; unfree, or permission, cultures leave much less.  Ours was a free culture.  It is becoming less so."  (p. 30)

     I believe what he is saying is that he fears that our culture and creativity will suffer if people are not allowed to add on and adapt to other people's creations.  He doesn't believe it is fair for society as a whole.  I am not sure I entirely agree with his point.  I hope I am not stepping on anyone's toes, so to speak, but I am going to go with a much more conservative viewpoint than I believe others who read this book will take.

     I believe in the right of every American to make as much money as they want to, without interference from the government.  Some may say, "Well, how much money is enough?"  Some may call this a "sleazy, capitalist" viewpoint.  "Enough" money is a subjective point of view.  There is no rational, scientific viewpoint for "enough" money.  I refuse to make that judgment on anyone.  Further, if I were in Mr. Lucas shoes, I cannot say that I wouldn't want to make as much money off of Star Wars as I could too, so how can I judge him?  Let me give an example, if I am George Lucas, and I create a highly profitable intellectual property called Star Wars, I have every right to make as much money as I want to off this creation.  (On another note, I think Lucas is a lousy filmmaker and writer; he had only one or two good ideas for films, the rest were flops.  I believe he is just an excellent businessman and marketer, and at most an average filmmaker.)  I recently saw that George Lucas is making an animated television series called Star Wars: Clone Wars.  Let's say for argument's sake, using an analogous situation that Lessig refers to above with Disney and Steamboat Willie, that another creator five years ago (does not even have to necessarily be Disney) wishes to create an animated series using some creative elements from the Star Wars franchise.  Mr. Lucas says no, or charges an enormous amount for permission to use these elements.  Maybe the creators of the animated series did not even ask Mr. Lucas and he sued them for damages.  Using the arguments that Lessig puts forth, these "animated creators" are just adding to free culture, adding to our culture's creativity.  But how do we, as the public, or the animated creators, know that Mr. Lucas did not plan on creating his own animated series based on Star Wars?  Should not he have a right to do so if he wishes?  He eventually did create a series.

     Lessig also uses an example of how a documentarian friend of his created a scene where a television was playing four seconds of an episode of The Simpsons.  He goes on to tell us that Fox (who owned the rights) refused to allow him to use the footage without paying an exorbitant fee.  While I believe and feel that Fox is essentially not being fair, they have every right to make as much money as they want off the creation they own.

     This may lead some readers to go back to the argument that creativity and culture suffers.  I don't entirely agree.  If people are not allowed to use other people's creations, it doesn't necessarily follow that NOTHING creative will be added to our culture.  Isn't it possible that instead of people relying on other people's creations to make art that they create something new and ingenious?  Further, copyright and intellectual property laws aren't refusing creators from adapting other people's creations to make something new.  It is only forcing creators to get permission.  While there are some creators who will say no for no logical reason, or some creators will charge fees that make it impossible for us to adapt their copyrights and intellectual property for our use, I believe that the majority of authors will be reasonable and either give permission or only charge a fair, market price.

     Lessig is right though; Congress must find a balance between the public's fair use, and the author's right to make money off his creation.  If authors have no financial incentive for creation of art or addition to culture, then free culture definitely suffers.  Overall, I think some of Lessig points seem hyperbolic, especially since some examples he uses seem dated.  For instance, the Napster example he uses I believe is settled.  The technology cannot be outlawed.  Pirating movies and DVDs is a crime.  Congress established this a few years ago and I agree with their decision.  I believe that he chooses examples and scenarios that paint a "black and white" picture of the situation.  For example, choosing the situation where his friend the documentarian had issues with Fox for using four seconds of an episode of The Simpsons.  Are analogous situations prevalent amongst authors and publishers of copyright and intellectual property?  He doesn't really prove that to me, and I am not sure he could convince me even if he tried harder.

Others may have differing viewpoints; I look forward to hearing from them here or in class.

A few weeks ago we read Lupton’s Thinking with Type.  Which is a fascinating book about how to use different fonts.  We used the theories that were discussed in Lupton to help us design our own  typeface.   Only a few days after I had finished the rough draft of my font I came a crossed an article on Yahoo that gave me a little more insight into typography.  (I’m am not sure if “rough draft” is the right phrase to use in this situation but I think that my meaning is clear.) 

The article was titled “Typeface Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will” by Emily Steel.  It discusses the controversy over the continued use of Vincent Connare’s font Comic Sans.  The font originated fifteen years ago as a software project at Microsoft.  Since then it has spread to “grade-school fliers, holiday newsletters, Disney ads, Beanie Baby tags, business emails, street signs, Bibles, porn sites, gravestones and hospital posters about bowel cancer”.

Unbeknownst to me the font has caused quite a commotion with graphic designers and other aesthetes.  I saw the font as simply cute and childlike fine for a five year olds’ birthday invitations but inappropriate for much else. However, it has caused so much controversy that many want it banned. There are numerous websites devoted to just that.  At such sites, you can even purchase anti Comic Sans apparel, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, etc. 

The Ban Comic Sans movement’s manifesto explains that they “believe in the sanctity of typography and that the traditions and established standards of this craft should be upheld throughout all time... Type is a voice; it’s very qualities and characteristics communicate to readers a meaning beyond mere syntax.

In fact after reading their position I was a little upset that I had attempted to create my own font because I might be considered one of the “uneducated [who now] have opportunities to desecrate this art form; therefore, destroying the historical integrity of typography”.  I am sure that they were not referring to students completing assignments however, their language was a little intimidating. 

However the site make several good points many of which were discussed in Lupton.  One was that like the “tone of a spoken voice, the characteristics of a typeface convey meaning.  The design of the typeface is, in itself, its voice. Often this voice speaks louder than the text itself”.  Therefore using Comic Sans for much of anything outside of a comic book is “analogous to showing up for a black tie event in a clown costume”.

 

When asked about the attention given to the font Mr. Connare said.  "If you love it, you don't know much about typography….if you hate it, you really don't know much about typography, either, and you should get another hobby."

I'm sure we all remember back in February when Facebook was about to put into effect a new set of Terms and Conditions that would grant them ownership of users' content, photos, etc, even after an account was deleted.  And I'm sure we also remember the total outrage that ensued.

Well it looks like they listened when we complained.  According to a New York Times article, after the enormous amount of protest and and resistance from users, Facebook has drawn up some new Terms and Conditions, and allowed users to vote on whether or not they should be put into effect (these new Terms and Conditions grant ownership of content to users once again.)

I think this is a great step forward for social networking.  It proves that the users really are the ones in control.  It's easy for changes to be made and it's up to users to simply adapt and get used to it, but the fact is we are the ones who keep these networks running.  If it weren't for us, there would be no Facebook, or Myspace, or Twitter, or Skype, etc.  I was very happy to see this unfold the way it did.

 

 

 

1)  In one of our first classes, we discussed how the ideas we communicate and interpret through metaphor are embedded in a larger conceptual framework that is socially and culturally constructed.  How has the concept of metaphor resonated in other readings, such as Understanding Comics, and how did such texts build upon our early discussions?  Has your awareness of such meanings freed you in your drafting of projects (such as the font and final cartography assignment) or caused you to stumble in the complexities of your craft?

2)  In Information Ecologies, Nardi and O'Day claim, "The social and technical aspects of an environment coevolve.  People's activities and tools adjust and are readjusted in relation to each other, always attempting and never quite achieving a perfect fit" (p. 53).  This indicates that it is through a certain disconnect that we achieve balance and, thereby, progress.  How may concepts within Sorting things out:  classification and its consequences, contradict such assertions?  How can we heighten our own awareness and act in such a way that we are coevolving rather than conforming or categorizing?

3)    Turchi claims, "The most profound question of our existence cannot be answered through a mere collection of concrete evidence; at some point...each of us reaches a border of the verifiable world, and every one of us leaps.  A great deal of what we know, we know only through our imagination--and that knowledge is crucial to our lives" (p. 92).  How do Tufte's ideas in Beautiful Evidence both reinforce and, perhaps, contradict (depending on perspective) this understanding?  How did this concept come to play in your creation of memory maps (whether for your Rowan map or other recent mappings)?

4)  Throughout ias09, we have learned to use tools that support the movement of information.  With consideration to the benefits of these applications as well as what may be compromised, how could you reconcile the concerns Brown and Dugruid discuss in The Social Life of Information? --To what extent is social interaction integral to the transference of information (keeping in mind that how we define and understand said interaction is also evolving) and how, in our use of these technologies, do we inevitably reinforce the metaphors that construct our understanding of reality?  What are we ultimately accomplishing?

     I have become increasingly interested in the role that technology has in constraining art. But when I became the artist, and had to work within the constraints of an unfamiliar medium, my academic curiosity quickly vanished, and I was left in intermittent fits of frustration. While my response to Fontstruct is probably borne more out of lack of typographical skills than it is with a problem with the program, the fact remains that building a font is a fairly difficult process.

     The first step to designing my font with Fontstruct was to first be a pencil sketch showing what I thought the font should look like. I didn't like this idea because I was afraid that I would be unable to translate something I drew onto the program. So, I just started playing around with Fontstruct.



     I started at the top of the alphabet and began working my way down. I was having trouble getting used to Fontstruct's limitations-- I found making curved lines of any type difficult. So, I tried to work within the framework I was provided with.

    But then, I ran into a problem: a clear lack of consistency. You can notice that the B is smaller than the A and the C and that some of the letters are just not recognizable. So I kept working.



You can see the difference between joefont2 (which was a clone of joefont1-- long story) and joefont3, which is much more similar to final product than was joefont1. The biggest difference was the size of the font. Initially, I was making my fonts around 4 or 5 blocks high, which was much too small. Then I experimented making the uppercase letters eight blocks high and lowercase ones four blocks high, but then I read in Lupton's "Thinking With Type" that the x height should be slightly more than half of the tallest uppercase letters. So, I adjusted the sizes again.
  

   But things weren't so simple. While I was deciding how large to make my fonts on Thursday night, I began having problems with Fontsruct. The page would load, but the Fonstructor would not. I had to remake the font almost entirely from scratch because the fonts were too small. This was frustrating at first because I felt as though I was throwing five hours of work away. It wasn't that bad as I was able to quickly re-assemble my font learning tricks I had learned from trial and error. Though I was no pro, I was getting much better at using Fontstruct.

     After spending so much time with Fonstruct, I thought I was seeing penguins on the page. So, I decided to make my font look like penguins. At the time, it didn't look like a stretch. If you look closely, you will notice that all of my letters have "eyes" that make the letters appear that they are looking at you. That is why I called the font "Vigilance".



This is what my font looked like just before the final pass. Notice how the lowercase "t" looks funny-- I had it dipping below the line. I don't know why I did that, and I fixed it for the last pass. I am also notably missing punctuation marks. Writing a sentence without punctuation marks is difficult, so I added them as well.



     I really like how Fonstruct allow you to type with your font. I think it provides the user with a better sense of whether the font is usable or not. I think my font at this point was usable, though not ideal.

     I spent some more time working on vigilance, polishing out the rough edges, adding punctuation marks, and checking for consistency. I am pretty pleased with the final product. Though a few letters did not turn out quite right, I am happy with the results overall.




     In addition to designing a font, our class was also charged with designing a color palette. I couldn't find a photo I was happy with to use as an inspiration for my palette, so I played around with Adobe's Kuler a bit.

     The application conveniently places a color wheel within easy reach to experiment with colors in real time. I enjoyed moving the points on the wheel around, and seeing which colors seemed to go well together. Then I came away with a palette that I liked. It is pictured below.




     I played with the wheel until I found a combination I was happy with. Why did I stop here? For some reason, these colors all seemed to go together. When you look at the color wheel, it actually makes sense.

   



My base color, as evidenced by the extra ring, which falls in the purplish side of the wheel, is matched almost perfectly by the olive color directly across. Any color that lies directly across from another color is said to be its opposite, and thus complimentary.

The Teal-like color I used is similar, and just a shade or two lighter than the light teal which lies closer to the center of the wheel. The ruddy color lies directly opposite the light teal. My eyes told me these colors go together because they are related, whether opposite or highly similar.

     I will never look at typography the same way again. It is difficult to remain consistent, original, striking, and yet follow good practices. On top of all these factors, it's important to remember that we are also working within a new medium (in this case Fonstruct) which has its own set of limitations.

If studying about typography in my years as a design student taught me anything, it taught me that on the whole, over the years the basics still hold. The typefaces we use today are all based off of ones that were designed generations ago. Why reinvent the wheel? Why redesign letterforms that have worked so well for so long? We work best with what we find familiar.  The computer has taken over our desk's top, but what does it do? It replicates a desk! Our desktops are covered with files, folders, and pictures, just like they used to be.

It is for that reason that I love looking at how science fiction thinks the computers of the future will change so dramatically, including the typography used on those computers. Over the years, while taking notes in class, to write faster I developed a way to write that forms each letter with only one line that mimics these science fiction based typefaces, while still being understandable.

Using fontstruct, I was able to craft a version of this typeface that is very close to this typeface, but due to the limitations of the platform, ended up only close to the typeface as invisioned, so let's consider it a "beta release". I've named it MINIMAX, because it does the maximum it can with the minimum amount of lines.
download here
view fontstruct page here

This has been a enlightening and challenging class.  The books we read lead way into fascinating discussions that have caused me to re think many preconceived notions I have about; metaphors, images, comic books, categorizing, the list goes on and on.  Now that the semester is coming to an end we find ourselves looking back over all we have learned.  These questions are designed to try to help us get an overview of the semester.  Hopefully they will help in our discussion. 

1)      I am sure that we each learned a great deal for all of the books that we read for this class.  But if you had to chose, which do you think had; the biggest impact on you, caused you to make foreseen and unforeseen connections, helped you to grasp an unknown concept or see something in a new way, etc?

 

2)      What connections or ideas are present from author to author?  What concepts do you think that the authors would agree about?  What do you think that they would disagree about?

 

3)      When working on the final project for this course, were there any concepts from the reading that you focused on specifically?  (Of course we all tried to pay attention to the lessons of the books but was there anyone that influenced your project in particular?)

 

4)      After using Twitter and the IAOC blog for the past few months has your opinion changed about these forms of communication?

5)      During the first few weeks of class we attempted to identify possible information ecologies within Rowan.  Now that we have read the remaining books and completed the map project do you still agree with what we had originally said?  Are there any other ecologies that we missed?

 

6)      Do you think that the information on your poster presentation could be considered beautiful evidence? If not why? Is there anything that could have been done differently to make it more so?

 

 

When creating the initial sketches for my letters  I was hoping to create a very ornate font. Hopefully my font would have still been easy to read and usable but it was also quite flowery.  However after quite some time playing with fontStruct, creating this particular style of font did not seen possible.  I had been hoping to create a font somewhere in between  Blackadder ITC and Curlz MT .  In order to create the curls I had to make the font quite large.  Since it was my first time working with FontStruct I was uncomfortable working at such a large size and was overwhelmed by detail.  I decided to regroup and attempted a different style that was more suited to the strengths of the application and my inexperience as a typographer.   Afterward I experimented with FontStruct by working with the different bricks and seeing what kinds of patterns and shapes I could make.

While exploring the limitations of FontStruct I was interested and amused by the circular bricks.  Circles are something that I have always found aesthetically pleasing and I was reminded of the wall art that many people create with circles.  Traditionally circles have symbolized togetherness, eternity, love, family, etc.  These are concepts that most people enjoy and can relate to in some way.  The wall art that I mentioned tends to create the appearance of bubbles floating toward the sky or Champaign in a glass   I decided to attempt a similar style within the constraints of a font.  I attempted to create a font that was fun and elegant while still being usable. 

I wanted to base the general shape of the font off Times New Roman because of its popularity and because it is generally accepted.    I also took inspiration from Imprint MT Shadow because of the strip of white that is present in the side of each letter.  As Turchi might say  this blank space is important, perhaps even more so that the filled in area and should be evaluated accordingly.  To me Imprint MT Shadow seems more intricate than Times New Roman while still being easy to read. 

The circles or bubbles and more dense on the right side of the letter than the left.  This creates an A symmetrical appearance that I find to be more interesting than symmetrical ones.   For the shape of this letter I was influenced by popular drawings of suns with curvy rays.

  I have used this concept over and over in my own paintings and artwork. While I did not think that I could create the hard curves of the sunrays, I was able to create the varying degrees of thickness seen in the rays. Of course some of the letters came out better than others for example I preferred the outcome of the letter “B” much more than the letter “E”.

One problem that I came a crossed was when creating the lowercase letters was that Lupton talks about having the bottom of curvy letters such as “o” or “e” hang below the baseline.  The rationale behind this is that “if a typeface were not positioned this way, it would appear to teeter precariously, lacking a sense of physical grounding” (p.35).  However because the lower case letters themselves were only 12 grid blocks high this made a bigger impact on the look of the letter than I would have preferred. 

Here is a screen shot of my font; Have chosen to call it Void because the shape of the letters is made up of small round holes. 

After completing my font I attempted to find a color palate on Kuler that accentuates the mood and character of the font.  (Or at least the mood and character that I tried to project with the font.) To do this I continued to use an image of a sun with curvy rays.  I chose one of the mosaics that I made back in high school as my inspiration. 

 

While the colors of the mosaic itself are more diverse than I would want in a four sample color palate it did provide interesting inspiration for colors to chose from. I tried to chose ones that I believed would complement the style of the font.  Therefore I chose deep purples, yellow, and dark gray for my color palate.  The purples and yellows are complementary to one another on the color wheel and I thought that the combination of the three would make it possible to highlight and subdue different items when creating a presentation.  Also yellow is symbolic of happiness, rebirth, regenerations, hope, warmth, nature, etc. While purple is symbolic of royalty, wealth, opulence, etc.  Dark Gray is symbolic of Stability, Power, Trustworthiness, Conservatism, etc. Of course the symbolic meaning behind these colors are all culturally ground. Each person will see different meaning in these colors because of their background and personal perception.    

This is my font, and as you can see, it’s absolutely fontastic.  I’ve always liked fonts that are odd and off the wall, things like Bobcat or X Files, so when I began designing my own font in Fontstruct, I wanted to make letters that were a bit exaggerated and imperfect.  I’d say I’ve definitely succeeded in that. 

 

 

I started by making each of my capital letters eight boxes high and eight boxes wide.  I began with A, and once I finished the letter and had it the way I wanted it, I copied it, and would paste it into the grid of each new letter I was working on.  This was a way for me to ensure that each of my letters was going to be proportional to the previous one.  The same principal went for lowercase letters, which were four high and four wide.  My making the lowercase half the height of the capital letters is a principle that can be seen on page 36 of Lupton’s Thinking With Type.

 

When I started fooling around with Fontstruct, I had a few ideas for my letters, but found that trying to translate what was in my head into the actual program proved to be a more difficult task than I initially anticipated.  I goofed around until I created the A that I now have, which kind of looks like Pac Man, southbound, chasing after some delicious dots.  Honestly, that’s the first thought that came into my head when I finished work on A and it kind of made me laugh, so I decided to make all my letters kind of rounded, bubbly, and thick to go along with the theme.

 

 

 

My font is more in the style of the Roman fonts, as Lupton points out on page 45.  (Side note, I didn’t even think until after I’d already finished and downloaded my font that I would need numbers as well as the letters.  That’s why in my printed-out version of this post that uses my font, I have to spell out all the numbers I write.)  You can also see that my tracking is pretty even, but the space between letters is pretty wide, which would me more in the way of positive tracking, as Lupton points out on page eighty one.  I did this because of the style that I created.  The fat, rounded letters would have been too mushed together to read had I made the tracking any less.  To see my full alphabet in all its glory, just click here.

           

(The early stages of capital G)

 

 

I also used Kuler to create a color palate.  The picture I used is one that a friend of mine snapped on South Street in Philadelphia while we were there walking around in the fall. 

 

 

 

 

Like some of my classmates, Gage’s discussion on the colors of social division was one that interested me.  In my palate, you can see the red, gold, and blue colors, that were talked about in the book (red for freemen, gold for nobility, blue for slaves) but I liked that they weren’t too striking or bright, but rather more along the lines of a pastel.  This also gives the colors a calming effect, which I found interesting because to me, the picture is very vivid and alive with color and is very striking, while the color palate, though based off the picture, looks a bit more subdued and placid.

 

IPhones blow my mind as it is.  One of my buddies has one, and sometimes we'll be out at a bar or bowling, and something will come up in conversation, like the name of a movie character or what a celebrity looks like, and he can break out his IPhone and in seconds find the answers to our questions and then start surfing around the web a bit.  And as my classmate Brandon pointed out in his Twitter review, there are plenty of cool apps that go along with the IPhone that make it even more amazing.  But all you IPhone junkies had better brace yourselves, because it looks like a new Hulu application may be upon us in only a matter of months!

I'm not very familiar with the IPhone and the applications that go along with it, but from what I've heard and read, there was some hype about a Hulu application last year, and that all fell through.  But it seems more believable this time around, especially since there is going to be a new version of the IPhone launched this summer (the IPhone OS 3.0 software update, as I just read.)

If you check out this article from CNN, they admit that nothing has been set in stone just yet, and there are a few factors that still leave the Hulu app rumor up in the air, (like the fact that a Hulu application that would allow IPhone users to watch videos, movies, and listen to music all without leaving the app.  This, of course, would damage ITunes.)  But come on, with all the possible apps that are floating around out there (like this one, which tracks hurricanes, and one for news and updates about gastroenterology......who is using this stuff?), I think a Hulu app has been a long time coming.

 

 

     I had the opportunity to create my own font using Fontstruct recently.  I had an interesting sort of inspiration for it.  I am a rap artist, and get inspired by lyrics from other rap artists.  I felt it would be interesting to create a font inspired by rap music.  Rap music has long had associations with graffiti.  I felt it would be fun to create a font inspired by graffiti.
     Choosing an image became my first step.  I enjoyed seeing this image.

      There are several unique characteristics to the letters painted here.  Most typefaces resemble in some fashion geometric shapes.  This graffiti is very curvy, and only at certain parts of the letter does it resemble a geometric shape.  As a matter a fact, most of the letters do not have straight lines and those that do have them only at certain parts.
    In addition, parts of the letter in graffiti also become part of the background of the image.  One can see parts of the terminal of the S in the above picture form the background that outlines the word.  Also, the thickness of the lines that create each letter varies as the letter is finally finished.
Further, because graffiti comes from a counter culture and anti hero perspective, it does not follow the rigid rules of geometric shapes and patterns. I attempted to replicate all of these characteristics in my font creation.
     I began a few letters with a dedication to creating them as curvy as possible.  I found out, however this would be extremely difficult.  My first attempt is below.



    FontStruct is a program that allows users to create fonts on a grid similar to graph paper.  The user then chooses a block from what felt to me like a limited selection based on what my goals for the font.  Most of the choices of bricks were geometric, which is typical of fonts throughout their history, and did not allow for the curviness I planned on creating.  I decided to mimic instead of replicate the characteristics of graffiti in my font creation.





    One can see in my second attempt I was able to vary the thickness of the letters.  I even added arrows in some of the letters.  By rule, most letters hit the baseline and stop, due to the social context of graffiti, hitting the baseline and stopping with my letters did not seem to fit that context.  To exaggerate this context, I drew an arrow to show visually how the font adopts these traits.

Here is a screen shot of all my letters:



Link to my font.



    I also had the opportunity to create my own color palette using Kuler.  I chose to stick to the same theme, using the same image shown above.   What I found interesting was while reading Gage on page thirty four, he discusses the three social divisions of color during the nineteenth century.  Nobles were gold, freemen were red, and slaves were blue.  One can see from the image above that it is done in many shades of blue.  The history of rap music has many themes of oppression due to it typically being a medium for urban minorities to voice the oppressive practices of the status quo.  To me, it makes sense for the street artist to use blue in this way for his work, even if he did not know of it consciously.  It also sets a melancholy mood as is typical for blue as a color.  Another interesting element is that the image is outlined with a shade of purple that I chose.  Purple is an interesting contrast to the different shades of blue the artist used.  It suggests to me that the artist may be suggesting a mood albeit melancholy, outlined by a potential for a happier situation

Link to my Color Palette.