Task One / Research + Reflection
0.1 / Anátema – Zine / Full Project
For my first closer look, I chose Heitor Kimura's Anátema which is inspired by various old philosophical concepts and their respective creators. This zine takes viewers through an eclectic visual exploration of the designer's mind as he engages with various ideas from old philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Socrates and more.
The zine is quite devoid of any type and instead chooses to explore these ideas solely through colourful imagery. Each spread allows for a generous amount of space to for its main content to fill in each page, leading the readers to focus entirely on the images.
Aside from these illustrations though, this zine is overall very minimalist in its approach to visual exploration on each spread. The use of space to me, feels more like another interesting characteristic of the zine's unique aesthetic...
0.2 / Unicorn Revolt / Full Project
For my second zine, I chose Unicorn Revolt - a student project by Jisu Kim exploring the contrasting relationship between unicorns and the Situational Internationalist organisation, with a focus on Situationist theory in particular. A major tenet in Situationist theory is the spectacle, meaning mass media which Kim actively tries to break down through using unicorns as a representation for being able to truly express, perform and improve ourselves in a system that continuously pushes us down further.
The zine successfully utilises duo-tone colours, a manuscript grid structure for its body content and the employment of both a serif and sans-serif typeface. The simple two colour palette between the black and orange hue creates a strong contrast in-between the background of each spread and the content that occupies each page. The fact that these same colours are also reflected in each image on all the spreads, allows for the zine to feel more seamless and connected. This is especially demonstrated on pages where an image takes up the entire spread, with the duo-tone palette creating the effect of a seamless transition between the page colour and image. It also establishes a strong visual relationship between all the other elements on the page as well.
For my next zine, I chose Out of Office, a zine designed in a ...
Task Two / Zine Concept & Thumbnail Sketches
0.1 / Full Concept /
My zine will focus on the concept of way-finding design - a method of exploring how users engage and respond to navigating through physical environments with the help of intuitive signage and information layouts. Way-finding systems encompass many forms of design we see in our every day lives. It helps us navigate through hospitals, airports, shopping centres, transportation centres and other public spaces with it's intelligent use of visual pictograms, directional pointers, smart layout design and of course well-utilised type.
When it comes to way-finding, typefaces are chosen and optimised specifically for the given project to not only fit the brand but also maximise overall legibility as all audiences need to be able to see it. With this in mind, sans-serif fonts are universally favoured as they usually have longer x-heights and offer many weight variants. In some circumstances, typefaces have been designed and optimised from the ground up to be solely utilised for way-finding purposes - an example of this is Wayfinding Sans designed by Ralf Herrmann in 2012.
I chose this concept for my zine mainly because it offered unique opportunities to experiment with simple sans-serif type, pictograms made out of text, glyphs, simple colour palettes and 3D perspective type effects to reflect the physical environments way-finding designs often inhabit. While I do think it will be a challenge to somehow extend this concept over eight spreads, I think that introducing only a two colour limit will certainly help me as way-finding systems usually utilise fairly limited colour schemes to maintain overall legibility and simplicity.
0.2 / Thumbnail Sketches /
Task Two / Zine Concept & Thumbnail Sketches
0.3 / Zine Contents /
Page One / Title page
Spread One 2 - 3 / Zine Contents
Spread Two 4 - 5 / What is Wayfinding Typography?
Spread Three 6 - 7 / Why Sans-serif?
Spread Four 8 - 9 / Colour in Wayfinding
Spread Five 10 - 11 / Symbols and Pictograms
Spread Six 12 - 13 / Further Navigation
Spread Seven 14 - 15 / What's the deal with wayfinding type?
Page Sixteen / Contents
0.3 / Zine Contents /
My chosen colour palette for this project will most likely consist of a combination of either red and yellow, and / or yellow and black to reflect its common usages in most way finding signage and street typography. The reason for their common employment within way-finding projects are because they emit the longest wavelengths of any colour on the visible spectrum, making them easier to spot from further distances away. This is especially important for a field within way-finding because it ensures that it is legible to all viewers from a variety of perspectives.
