Our instructor, Beth Remsburg, gave us an option for our next-to-last Advanced Typography assignment: design a set of 26 Euchre playing cards, or a set of 26 miniature alphabet books.
For me, there was no contest. I have made playing cards before, and the examples she showed us were already too numerous and fabulous for me to think I had much to offer there.
Alphabet books, on the other hand… the assignment was nebulous enough that anything could result, maybe something really wonderful. I love books; miniature books are even better, and handmade miniature books are the best.
With the inspiring assignment in hand, the next thing I needed was a theme for my books. I felt it was time for another project that married art and spirituality. The exact theme came to me during my drive home from class: the Psalms!
When I arrived home, I grabbed a little blank book that was sitting unused on my shelf. I knew I would need dedicated, organized space for 26 psalms’ worth of sketches! On the first page of the book, I wrote out each letter of the alphabet. Then I opened my Bible to the start of the Psalms and asked the Holy Spirit to emphasize which ones I should use. I skimmed rapidly, intuitively, assigning psalms to letters, trusting that I was being guided.
Over the next couple weeks, I carried the little book around with me, taking every free moment to brainstorm and sketch letters to interpret verses. I began to feel more like a type designer as I adjusted curves and angles to make the letters express exactly what I felt the verses were saying.
At first, ideas flowed quickly. In the subsequent posts for each book, you can see my sketches if you click “Behind-the-Scenes & Outtakes.” Once I had enough good sketches of one letter to fill a tiny six-page book, I began to interpret my ideas in color using Photoshop wet brush settings and a Wacom tablet. This is how I achieved the painted look.
At one week from the due date, I had the D book painted, A and B started, and complete sketches for maybe 3 other letters. It was looking like 26 books were not going to happen in 7 days. My instructor told me that I had already put more work into the assignment than she had anticipated, so whatever I came up in the end with would be fine.
As I looked through my book of sketches, I determined that the only letters with ideas ready to go were A, B, C, D, E, F, G, S, and Q. A rather unorthodox set, but I planned to execute at least those nine. Later, I felt prompted to drop S and Q. My grandiose visions of the 26-book set were sorely cut down, but then I realized that A through G would make a very nice set – they even line up with the letters of the musical scale. And Jesus knew all along that I would only be creating those seven, so no wonder He didn’t bother giving me ideas for the others. Here are some of the left-overs:
After having completed A through G, I feel that the concept and style have been pretty thoroughly explored. I don’t see myself ever continuing with this series, at least not in the same style.
I used some real fonts in the digital execution, but I also tried on the role of type designer. There were a number of times when I felt subtleties of expression that I could only convey by drawing the letter myself. That process was probably my favorite part of the entire project! I spent ridiculous amounts of time tracing, erasing, stroking, thickening, thinning, etc., until the shapes were just right.
Acquiring the right paper for this project was another adventure in itself! I benefitted from friendly connections with the RIS paper distribution house and took home more than enough free samples to complete the project. I wanted a felt finish (like watercolor paper) for the inside pages, and a variety of textures and colors for the covers.
After getting all the pages printed onto the felt paper, I spent a long afternoon cutting, scoring, and folding the pages into accordion books. The covers took even more time, but they ended up sturdy and wonderful! I then attempted the miniature bookcase, figuring it out as I went along. My measurements ended up being very inexact, but foam core is forgiving.
To puruse the contents of books individually, see subsequent posts:
Psalm 27, Brought to You by the Letter A
Psalm 116, Brought to You by the Letter B
Psalm 55, Brought to You by the Letter C
Psalm 91, Brought to You by the Letter D
Psalm 128, Brought to You by the Letter E
Psalm 32, Brought to You by the Letter F
I agree, the photography IS gorgeous…itself a work of art in capturing a work of art!
You mention some hand sketching as well Photoshop wet brush. Did you take the sketches and re-create them with the tablet, or did you scan them in and import them into your Photoshop files?
Both, it depended on the complexity of the sketch and whether there some essence I needed to recreate exactly or not.
These are incredible. I can’t get over the expressiveness of the fonts you use. If you were to make more I would buy one (or trade for somthin I make). I find C and D especially powerful.
peace
Daniel
LOVE. Love. love. Thanks for sharing the process with us. I’m with Daniel. I know this isn’t a “too be mass produced” type of project, but I sure would love to have a copy as well….Powerful stuff.
rach. it’s been way too long since i visited your sight, but this project was such a pleasure to peruse. thanks for sharing, and thanks for your example of integrating art and spirituality. you are an inspiration to me, friend!
This is another one of your effective pieces of fine art within graphic design. One of your greatest works yet, Rachel. It is a rare to see a work at school that has has such a mastery of technique, aesthetics, and theory all in one. On top of that you have retained a level of mystery with the illustrations that effectively places my thoughts on the familiar mental path that scripture takes me down. Thank you very much.