I found this project to be a lot of fun and quite interesting. I was happy to be able to strengthen my typography abilities through this project and practice my writing skills. I was surprised how much information I could find out this particular typeface, and I struggled to condense all the information I found into one little zine.
I wanted to choose simple, light colours to balance the strong type knowing that fat face is a very prominent type and very bold. Because the lettering is so bold and flat, I wanted to be a little creative and add some gold detailing to the lettering to help it stand out even more.
If I were to give my self a grading out of 10, I would give myself a 7.5/10. I found that the layout is a little confusing and a bit all over the place. I also struggled to find imagery to add to the zine, so I find it to be a little type heavy. I also found a couple of spelling mistakes that I wish I could go back and change. But overall, I’m not unhappy with the outcome.
Citations:
Kennard, Jennifer. The Story of Our Friend, the Fat Face. 3 Jan. 2014, fontsinuse.com/uses/5578/the-story-of-our-friend-the-fat-face.
Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard Grandville, most known as J.J. Grandville, was a French caricaturist most known for his unique and political illustrations of people with animal heads. Grandville was born in Nice, France, in 1803 and later passed away at the young age of forty-three in 1847. During his successful career, Grandville produced a collection of lithographs titled The Metamorphosis of the Day. This series was a popular hit and began to build a lot of traction. The Metamorphosis of the Day consisted of 70 illustrations depicting humans with animal heads in a political way.
Typography
Robert Thorn, a British Typefounder, introduced what is now known to be the Fat Face letter form. Face Face is a Serif typeface in a modern style in an extremely prominent design. The typeface was most commonly used for spicing up a design that might be plain or boring. The type was not used for a large amount of text, it’s widely used for headers or titling on posters or advertisements. Fat Face typography usually consisted of lettering with thick and thin lines that are overdramatized.
The Baroque period was full of changes and revolutions within art, writing, painting, and so much more. One of the critical elements of the period was the fight between the church and the crown. Before then, the church was an essential part of life until the crown started fighting for attention and dominance. The French king Louis XIV decided to transform what is now a historical landmark, the Palace of Versailles. Louis XIII, Louis XIV’s father, was very attracted to the land and decided it was a perfect space to build a hunting lodge. At that time, Versailles was very uncultivated and well forested, allowing wild forest animals to roam freely, making it a perfect hunting spot for Louis XIII and his companions. Later on, Louis XIV (also known as the Sun King) made the big decision to transform his fathers hunting lodge into a magical Palace, making Versailles the seat of France’s government. Louis XIV managed to complete his quest in time of his death. Louis XIV ruled France for 70 years, and in that time, he managed to transform Versailles into the magical palace it is today.
Typography
It wasn’t just Architecture and the French Government that Louis XIV made a difference in, but also typography. During the Baroque Period, Typography was really taking off into what it is today. At this time, the graphic design revelation was pretty quiet; the busyness was all happening within type. In the 1500s, everyone was creating new typefaces, and printing was already invented. Later in the 1600s, people would use these techniques to create more creative prints and even included imagery and design elements. At this time, Gutenberg created the first movable text, and Shakespeare published his first play, Romeo and Juliet. Louis XIV saw this all happen and wanted to get a taste of typography. He wanted to shine a light on himself and the french, drawing the attention away from Italy, so he came up with the bright idea to have his own typeface designed for him. This typeface would now be known as Romain du Roi.
Written Citations:
Jarus, O. (2017, October 05). Palace of Versailles: Facts & History. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/38903-palace-of-versailles-facts-history.html
Jarus, O. (2017, October 05). Palace of Versailles: Facts & History. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/38903-palace-of-versailles-facts-history.html
Photography Reference:
Jarus, O. (2017, October 05). Palace of Versailles: Facts & History. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/38903-palace-of-versailles-facts-history.html
Jarus, O. (2017, October 05). Palace of Versailles: Facts & History. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/38903-palace-of-versailles-facts-history.html
Jarus, O. (2017, October 05). Palace of Versailles: Facts & History. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/38903-palace-of-versailles-facts-history.html
I found this project to be very interesting. I was tasked to research about 1905 to 1915, which luckily I already had a rough bit of knowledge about from researching the different waves of feminism in the past. But this assignment allowed me to dive deeper and research more about things that interest me. I’ve always been interested in pulp magazines and Plakatstil poster designs, and luckily they were both popular within the era I was given. The overall project idea was interesting, but I found the assignment brief to be confusing and the use of the Invison app to be strange, knowing other platforms may be easier to use for this specific project.
If I were to give myself a grade, I would give myself a 6.5/10, knowing I could create something much more informative and interesting if I understood the brief sooner and was given a little more time to complete this assignment. The link to my mood board is here.
