Project 01: Word Semantics

DUE DATE: Wednesday, 01/28/09

Overview:
Fonts are not just symbolic tools that spell out our words, but they also possess the expressive ability to further describe the word or phrase that it represents. Your first project is going to have you explore and exploit this facet of type.

Objectives: To explore and interpret typographic form to express meaning.

Assignment:
Each one of you will pick one option out of the following lists, giving you three designs that you must complete. Visually interpret each of your chosen words/phrases using only letterforms, punctuation and vector graphics. The resulting pictorial representation should parallel the common verbal meaning. Some words will inspire their own visual solution, while others need more thought to bring about the ideas inherent in their meaning.

Adjectives:
Distorted, hyperactive, glamorous, unstable, insecure, buoyant, fragrant, exuberant, arrogant, lachrymose, crystalline, fanciful, moody, balanced, meticulous, mysterious, sonorous, insane, gentle, organized, organic, curvaceous, mercurial, introverted, grandiose, turbulent, jocose, fierce, melodic, reckless, ethereal

Nouns:
Explosion, metamorphosis, migration, evolution, vacuum, filigree, magnetism, electricity, magic, prism, feathers, levitation, gravity, charisma, technology, epicurean, glacier, popcorn, comedy, blueprint, labyrinth, bubblegum, bliss,vegetation, terror, narcissism, shadow, hallucination

Phrases:
Time flies when you're having fun.
Beauty is only skin deep.
Better late than never.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Dead men tell no tales.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Great minds think alike.
Love is blind.
Home is where the heart is.
When it rains it pours.
Don't cry over spilled milk.
Laughter is the best medicine.
Look before you leap.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Pride comes before a fall.
Snug as a bug in a rug
There is safety in numbers.


Presentation:
You will mount the finished designs on the same board size/color you have chosen for your portfolio. Boards should be presented in a vertical format. Each choice will include both its b/w and color versions on a single board, so you will show three boards on the due date.