I accomplished a few things this week.
I re-strung the prototype wind spinner, back on cotton cord. It was more complicated than the previous time since the three parts of each unit were now glued together, and therefore I had to thread the units onto the cord. (I hate learning experiences.)
May is Paper Cutting month on Friday Night Flicks. Since this coming Sunday is Mother’s Day (in North America), it seemed appropriate to show Cat Lamora working on a piece inspired by the words of her grandmother.
Here’s a bit of the text from the Youtube page:
Lamora says, “In Korean traditions, a lot of our knowledge is passed down from the elders to the children orally. So we’re taught stories; we’re told folk tales. Songs are gifted to us by them. I think when I was younger, I didn’t have as much of an appreciation because I didn’t understand what a wealth of knowledge, what a wealth of inspiration it was — but with age and being away from home, I think I’m finally seeing just how beautiful it is.”
I would recommend spending a few minutes on Lamora’s website this weekend, beginning with the installation Talisman which includes the paper bowl featured in the video.
These days just about everyone could use a visit from the Bluebird of Happiness, and today’s post makes that possible.
The Decorata font family created by Berlin-based designer/illustrator Martina Flor and type designer Neil Summerour is featured in the final lettering video for April. From the original text accompanying the flick:
For this unique project, Martina created several versions of the alphabet and its decorative layers in her eye-catching style. Neil then took those designs and created an enormous eight-style font family that respects the designer’s need for control and capitalizes on the artist’s expressiveness.
If you are interested in hand lettering, you might want to sign up for her weekly newsletter with lettering tips, or just spend a few minutes this weekend browsing her website.
As I mentioned last Sunday, I am participating in the #areyoubookenough_bodylanguage challenge. I spent the first part of the week making square and triangular paper beads out of the pages of a discarded book.
Hand lettering signs for businesses is an old tradition that carries on today. This video features the work of Estudio Itálico, and shows some of the ways members of the trade have adopted modern digital technology.
Have a look around your community this weekend and see if you can spot examples of work by sign painters.
I am a bit unfocused at the moment, being without a long-term goal like an exhibition. (It’s also Spring —at least some days—which doesn’t help.) I am contemplating doing one of those #100daychallenge art things on Instagram, but so far that has mostly involved staring morosely into drawers of coloured paper.
Tonight’s short flick by Jackson Alves takes a look at some of the lettering designs of Brazilian designer Juliana Moore. She obviously has a good design sense since she has chosen to have an ampersand on a shelf behind her in the video.
This weekend you might pick your favourite inspirational saying —people seem to need inspirational sayings at the moment— and design your own hand-lettered poster.
When I was preparing my post on Hedi Kyle’s Diagonal Pocket Folder at the end of March, I noticed her Self-closing Wrapper in The Art of the Fold. It reminded me of something I had seen in my early days on the Internet. I went back and looked at Carmencho Arregui’s Turning Triangle and created my own variation which requires nothing more than a single sheet of paper.
The basic layout should work for all but extremely tall and narrow books Continue reading
Tonight’s short flick, Lettering Process, was made by Anecdote Film Company as a branding video for graphic designer, Aaron Marks. It shows his process of hand drawing the lettering, then clean-up and colouring on the computer.
(Note: This post is a little late. It’s spring, so I lost track of what day it was. Perhaps I will become re-oriented to time and date this weekend.)
