Pause for Paws

Or, rather "Give Pause for Paws"...

I took my ten thumbnails (See post here.) from my Typography class and began anew. You see, our assignment description actually asked that we design a poster for a cause. I spent a few hours browsing the internet hoping something would jump out and me and get my creative juices flowing. However, I couldn't think of anything. So, I then began focusing on letters that would be interesting bleeding off the page as the assignment required. I decided "G" was a fun one. Then, I ran across my art supply catalog and jumped in designing with the phrase "Gallery of Art." I knew full well that I would have to change it later. Later being today.

I spent another hour or two trying to find causes that began with a "G." I asked suggestions from my parents who thought of Government, Greenhouse Effect, and Matt and I came up with a few others. However, none of them seemed to fit with the fonts and layout designs that I already had set up. I didn't want to have to start completely from scratch. Then, I began looking for causes starting with giving and gold. At some point I came across a link referring to their pet. I immediately thought of Sugar, my adopted dog as a young girl. We adopted Sugar from a shelter called "Pause for Paws." I have always loved that name and decided to tweak it a bit to begin with a "G."

Here's the result of my poster design and thought process (I know, scary stuff... huh?):

This is merely my first draft. I still have a chance to make corrections. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Typography

I have just finished my second week in my Typography class. It's going well and I'm enjoying the work so far. These classes always gets more fun as the weeks progress. I have three assignments due each week; first are ten thumbnails coinciding with the particular project speculations, then we have a rough draft of one and a final draft.

Here is my final draft from the first week. It is a couple of words including any serif and sans serif font and labels the anatomy of type.

Instructor Feedback: Carol Clemente-Ferrazzano 23 Jan 09 7:59 PM MST

Sara's design is a class act that works solely and successfully with type. She utilizes black ink to enhance the style of the serif and sans serif typefaces. The diagram labels are informative and clear.

For next week we had to submit ten thumbnails for a poster type design and enlarge the first letter to bleed off of the page. We were also only allowed to use one color. The negative space is supposed to cause visual confusion in some cases. Below are my ten thumbnails for next week's projects. There are a few that I do not like at all, but it was tough to come up with ten different designs, so a few are just thrown together. (Hey, ideas count as ideas - good or not! :o} )

Please help me by letting me know which one or two are your favorite and maybe even why you think it is that it appeals to you.

Thoughts Without Language

I begin my Typography class today with a very intriguing question:

"We all have thoughts passing through our minds throughout the day. What kinds of thoughts (if any) do you think you would have if there were no such thing as language? "

I imagine thoughts full of color and shapes. Shimmery bright happy thoughts and vibrant and dark swirling emotion. I think even if there were no language to express our thoughts (even in our own minds) there would still be sounds to coordinate our thoughts. Bubbly, light, and airy sounds; soft, low, deep sounds; and everything in between. Man's mind is nothing short of expression and language isn't necessary in order to do so. There are gestures, colors, shapes, and all of these things that we use throughout design to convey feelings and messages, with or without statements made in any true language.

In addition, I think we would rely on imagery from our past to think our thoughts. If you were cold, you would imagine snow; likewise, if you were hot, perhaps you would bring to mind an image of the squelching sun. It would be like a picture without a headline. It still holds the same meaning to us as individuals, it's just harder to express to another human without being able to show them our colorful thoughts.

This was an intriguing question and I enjoyed pondering a bit on this one.


Now I'm curious; what would your answer be?