Visual references for Glyphworld

 Visual references 

Even though Spencer and I have decided on the initial rules of the MoodGlyph branding and visual language, I wanted to look at some visual inspiration for ideas of what we could do with the project once we have the whole typeface. As well as this, Spencer has spoken briefly to Village Books and inquired into whether we could possibly sell the final outcome in their store; once we have a solid concept, we need to pitch it to them and (hopefully) we can sell it there! As well as this, since the project is all about being in touch with emotions, we thought it would be fitting to donate money made from potential sales to Mind.  Mind is a charity I have worked with before, as it is a massive help to those struggling with mental health. I think we need to vocalise this on our instagram account at some point in order to raise more awareness and hopefully gain more submissions. 

CanCan Press

Although this is looking further ahead into the project, I wanted to look at some inspiration for the packaging of MoodGlyph, as it is a vital part of creating a contemporary brand image; this is even more essential as hopefully we will be able to publish and sell the final outcome. I looked at the branding of CanCan press for this, as I love their sticker designs; they include stickers as part of their brand image, which creates a playful undertone, similar to the kind of vibe we want to create for MoodGlyph. Stickers are definitely something we could introduce to the final outcome, as it would provide a nice tangible product alongside a type specimen. As well as this, if we create some characters from the typeface, this would be perfect for a sticker format as it would make the final outcome more fun. Also I love stickers so would be something I'd be up for designing on my part. 

Lifeisunfair (Jack Mitchell)

I've worked with Jack before on one of his lil zines, and really admire how he creates things you can wear (like badges, stickers, iron on patches, etc). I think stuff like this definitely helps create some kind of brand, as producing something people can wear can create a nice sense of personalisation and tangibility. It would be cool if we created some sort of sticker or badge pack to go alongside the final outcome, as it would be nice for people to wear the emotions they created; this also opens up an opportunity for people to personalise the merch we could potentially create; people could get their initials on a t shirt or badge.

Leon Sadler

Again, looking at apparel design for future reference, Leon Sadlers' stuff is super cool and has the contemporary feel that we want to create. I love how his stuff is really abstract as it has a very human quality to it; I kind of want to apply this ethos to MoodGlyph as it will allow us to not take ourselves too seriously. For example, we could create some super quick illustrations and sell these on items of apparel; people nowadays want something tangible that they can wear, so hopefully we can create a brand image people will want to purchase. 

Cihan Tamti 

Relating to typographic projects, I decided to look at this publication design by Cihan Tamti; the cover design is what interested me the most, as it uses a mixture of typefaces which creates a nice collective visual language. The design also sticks to a black and white colour scheme, placing more emphasis on the type itself. This example is definitely the kind of atmosphere Spencer and I want to create with MoodGlyph, as it is focused entirely on type. 

Mark Price: Content Desert 

Again, this is another visual reference for MoodGlyph, in the sense that it uses black and white colours alongside a mixture of typefaces. I also like how the cover features negative space to place emphasis on the type itself; a composition like this could be quite interesting for our final outcome. 

Marcello Jacopo Biffi: A is A is A 

This typographic project by Marcello Jacopo Biffi is massively relevant to MoodGlyph, as it involves drawing multiple letters in different typefaces; the result is a gradual transformation of the alphabet which explores what happens if you change the variables within a font. I love how playful the outcome is, and the branding works really well in focusing entirely on the typefaces. This approach would be very fitting for MoodGlyph as it is also a project entirely focused on type; despite this, we need to create humanistic elements in order to relate to the theme of emotion. In terms of the layout of our final outcome, we could possibly try something similar to this project; such as printing large scale on a massive fold out zine; a posterzine for instance could be very appropriate. 

Leah Malonado: Glyphworld work sheets

I love Leah Malonados' type design as I relate massively to her approach to typography; she mainly focuses on not following any typographic rules, and uses very human approaches to her type design, often basing it off abstract concepts. Glyphworld is a project that she created that features worksheets for people to draw letters in response to certain prompts. Obviously, this is massively relevant to how MoodGlyph is a responsive submission based project; due to this, we could definitely take inspiration from how Leah creates these prompts in order to make it clear to our audience. 

Anna Mills

I've already researched into Anna Mills at the beginning of this module, as she was one of the key designers that inspired the concept behind MoodGlyph; she uses raw and handrawn approaches to type, and doesn't limit herself with type rules. This ethos is embodied within MoodGlyph, as it is all about emotional responses communicated through type. I wanted to revisit Anna Mills as visually her work informs MoodGlyph, and is a great reference for the final outcome; we could use a similar black and white approach within our design of the type specimen publication, and apply some hand drawn elements also.