The London Underground Map

An unemployed electrical draftsman by the name of Harry Beck designed this classic 20^th century London Underground Map in 1931. Also known as a “Tube Map” the typeface used was designed by Edward Johnston. He created Johnston Sans with legibility in mind so that all of the busy people on the platforms would be able to see it. I believe he had originally developed this typeface in 1916. His typeface influenced a man named Eric Gill, who studied under Edward. Gill created “Gill Sans” which became very accepted in 1929 and used as a regular typeface for the London and North Eastern Railway. From there it grew even farther, from companies to everyday usage Gill Sans was used and it can still can be found everywhere today. Becks map was designed keeping the people in mind; previously it became hard for passengers to understand. He used colours and shapes and enlarged areas for legibility. He was able to simplify the routes and make it small enough to be folded into pamphlets that passengers could take with them. I think that this design is a good example of the speedy advances being made in the early 90’s in digital computer hardware and software. I feel that overall the design of this map is a good example of information design the use of colour really helps to clarify it. The fact that today London is still using a variation of his map today helps to prove that.

Image source: http://wobblingsolutions.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/3-a-single-person-for-a-big-group/

Here, I have redesigned the “Serious Coffee” logo, to reflect the styles taken form around the 1890’s. “Art Nouveau” became the expression for many styled pieces at this time. I have tried to design the logo using some of the characteristics from which this style was known. Inspired by Alphonse Mucha I chose to use a female figure and a circle, I used curly and organic lines to create the typeface and swirls. This period was known for its elegance. I believe that the audience for this piece now days would be older, classy or artsy types of people who may recognize the style.

Much of the nineteenth century is known to be revolved around seeing the bible as the exact truth, morals and the status of wealth. The Victorian age is notably well known for its development in arts, science and mechanical inventions. The industrial revolution brought about materialism and advertising created the “need”.

Here I have found an illustrated advertisement from the 19th century for "Brooke's Soap" found in the book "Consuming Angels". "Brooke’s Soap" is made out to look and feel heavenly. It is reflective of the important morals of the time, by being presented to you in a passage from the bible. But there is also a sense of playfulness or mischief brought to you by the monkey. I have to wonder if weather or not some people would be offended, although during Queen Victoria’s reign there was an amplified criticism of the Bible, because of Darwin’s theories and scientific advances.

Loeb, Lori. Consuming Angels. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Print.

Renaissance Style

Renaissance designers had a fondness for floral decoration so here I have tried to design both an illustration and a drop cap keeping this in mind. For the illustration I would like to note how hard it is to draw a mirror image. Looking at the designs from the renaissance, I have no idea how they would be able to do this so precisely with out a computer! Grids I’m assuming… But then they would have to cut it into wood!

A drop cap is used at the beginning of a paragraph when the text first starts and runs several lines deep. Drop caps were used at the time in manuscripts and books of the renaissance providing decoration. I attempted to create a roman typeface with large serifs.

Both images are inspired by Erhard Ratdolt; I used more naturalistic forms as well as reversed forms to capture his design essence.

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics in the 21st century

Here I have found a piece of contemporary design referentially influenced by Egyptian Hieroglyphics. It is a poster for the London 2012 Olympic games using pictograms to represent all of the athletic events. Created by the organizing committee the pictograms are simplistic and easily depicted giving no need to typography. Pictograms that depicted objects or beings are what Hieroglyphs consisted of, they can be found in everyday life to represent or convey resemblance to a physical object.

http://www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/London-2012-Olympics-Pictograms-Posters_i7347678_.htm