Secondary Research 2

I researched three typographical artists, Johnathan Barnbrook, David Carson and Eric Gill. 

Johnathan Barnbrook

Barnbrook was born in 1986, and trained at St. Martins School Of Art and at the Royal Colllege Of Art - both situated in London. (Wikipedia)

Barnbrook was born in Luton and lives and works in London. He has developed a multifaceted practice that includes activism (the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change), graphic design, typeface design, industrial design and motion graphics. He founded the design studio in  1990, and in 1997 he established his own font company virus fonts, releasing well known fonts such as 'Bastard' and 'Tourette'. He believes that design shapes the environment, changing the way we perceive things and informing our choices. (Barnbrook.net)

Barnbrook has collaborated with such noted people as David Bowie, Damien Hirst and AdBusters. His contribution to graphic design was recognised by a major exhibition at the design museum in London in 2007. (Myfonts.com)
Barnbrook's influential and often controversial work makes strong, provocative statements about corporate cultures, policies and consumerism, while his original fonts notably including Mason (originally released as Manson) displaying a subversive interplay of language, meaning and letter forms. (Book - DESIGN MUSEUM How to design a typeface)

This is Barnbrook's best-known font that he designed, 'Mason'. (Taken from www.moma.org) I think that the sharp strokes, brackets, chins and loops create an evil feel to the type, making it suit a horrific or gory theme. The type is also very medieval and old fashioned, therefore creating a link back to those days into the 21st century. 

I love this design that Barnbrook created for the 17th biennale of  Sydney.  By using reverse type, the headings stand out immensely. (Taken from www.designboom.com) i feel that the bold, bright colours that Barnbrook has used as they work well together, creating a statement to the public. It is telling me to enjoy life, and visit Sydney for a funky time. The three colours harmonise each other with the type over the top, the poster really stands out. The type is very bold, clear and easy to read, which is one of the main areas that typographic designers like to cover. the kerning between the letters differs between 'SYDNEY' and 'BIENNALE' (Sydney being wider), which makes each individual letter stand out more. This also creates all the attention on Sydney, making the viewers to remember and recognise the type. One of the main reasons that Barnbrook did this was to make hierarchy for Sydney over the rest of the text. 

David Carson

Carson was born on September 8th, 1954. He is an american graphic designer, art director and surfer. he is best known for his innovative magazine designs and use of experimental typography. (Wikipedia)

Carson graduated with 'honours and distinction' from San Diego State University. He received a BFA degree in sociology. Carson and his work have been featured in over 180 magazines and paper articles around the world, including a feature in New Week magazine. David's work continues to be subjective and largely driven by intuition, with an emphasis on reading material before designing it, and experimenting with ways to communicate in a variety of mediums. (Taken from davidcarson.com)

Carson came to the force of visual culture in the early 1990's, solidifying his place in 1995 with the publication of 'The end of print: The Grafik Design of  David Carson. His frenetic lettering and layouts inspired countless designers to push boundaries and break classic rules, which are qualities that are still prized today. (Taken from Printmag.com)
'We are used to seeing words as the content and then either as text that is typeset for a layout and perhaps illustrated, or perhaps as a script that is performed live or to a camera.We are increasingly aware that these words change in the telling. The emphasis.  The context. The distractions. And we are aware that these words cannot exist in communication without some form of telling'.  (Book - 'The End Of Print by Lewis Blackwell)

This first image was taken from Carson's own website, showing how he uses typography and how he bends the rules. This image is quite simple, using a small range of colour and images. The type takes most of the attention, however I feel that the first couple letters get lost with the middle image, as both are in black. The characters have been leaded, however the A, the R and the S have been slightly kerned. They have not been seriffed and the weight of the strokes are equal. The bottom image is also bleeding off the page.  

Below, this image was taken from Printmag.com. Carson has used overprinting when layering the numbers, making them overlap. However, each pair of number hasn't been overlapped, making the '76' in the middle stand out. The point size has been increased making the numbers overlap. The body copy is mainly the same around the poster, with various increased point sizes to show hierarchy. The spacing in these areas are equal, creating a simple design for the main information. Carson has kept with using columns, however he messes with the spacing in the large numbers. Some of the numbers and the background image is bleeding off the page and reverse type is included, on top of the larger numbers. There is a display face (heading) on the middle left side, on the blue and beige background. This stands out, with capital letters, however the point size has not been increased by that much, therefore does not take the attention until a while later when the viewer has been caught by the attention of the colourful numbers. I feel that the numbers have no meaning to the main context of the poster, but it does look effective. 

Eric Gill

Gill was born 22nd of February 1882 and died 27th November 1940. He was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stone cutter and print make, who was associated with the arts and crafts movement. He is a controversial figure, with his well known religious views and subject matter being seen as at odds with his erotic art. (Taken from Wikipedia)

  Gill was also a writer and teacher, and taught the students about typography. In 19110, he began direct carving out of stone figures. His growing reputation, together with his conversion to catholicism (1913) led to a commission from westminster cathedral for 'The stations of the cross'. His catholicism inspired other biblical works. His best-known commission on a secular subject was 'Prospero and Ariel (1931) for the BBC. Gill's highly original typeface designs had a lasting influence on the 20th Century printing. (Taken from Tate.org.uk) 

'Best remembered as the designer of thee lettering known as 'Gill's Sans Serif'. (Book - Dictionary Of Art and Artists by Thomas and Hudson)

'His popular Sans Serif design is based on the sympathetic style and proportions of classical letter forms and is in complete geometric Sans Serifs which were so popular at the time'. (Book - The Complete Typographer by Christopher Perfect)

The columns are very neat, even though the point size is increased on the first letter. The N and the D are very neatly aligned with each other, and have been kerned quite close together. However, the designer has used leading to create a larger space between the two letters, making the image of the women fit it easily. The increase in point size and the use of capital letters throughout the body copy was to show hierarchy towards the reader. The seriffed type and the same font and style throughout also shows simplicity, as the bolder text at the top catches the eye, showing the viewer that this is an interesting article. The text is all left justified and ragged right, and is text wrapped, making it easier to read. The weight is equal for each different point size. I really love this type as it works really well with the theme.('www.pinterest.com')

These are all San serif, bold and all the same point size, therefore there is no hirarachy except form the capital letters. The width of the strokes are all the same, making the text easy to read, which is useful for designers and advertising. The body copy has included the same point size, spacing and type style. This image is taken from Nickgraphic.wordpress.com