OUGD504 PRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK

Today I presented my findings of the summer task to my group and explained my ideas. I had to begin writing my brief for this project for flexibility around my chosen context. I also discussed a few different concepts for my publication and finally I debated a few production methods that I could possibly use. The main part of this brief was the production so this would be further addressed at a later date.

My presentation addressed typography in different religious areas such as churches and mosques. I documented images of type on graves, the front of churches and signs advertising them. My favourite piece I found was this first image of type chiselled into a headstone of a grave by a traditional stonemason hundreds of years ago. It is a very traditional gothic type and summarises the graveyard aesthetic very well. I believe the initials are the craftsmen's initials as it can be seen on a handful of graves in this specific yard.

Another grave I looked out which was rather interesting was this second image here. The reason I found this interesting was because it had three different forms of type in it, a traditional gothic type, a modern sans serif one and finally a sans serif in italic which looks like it belongs on a race car. The reason I found this so alarming was because the grave was dated back two hundred years ago and the type seemed incredibly modern. 

Here is a photograph of the front of a mosque. All I know about this is that it is cursive and is read from right to left. I wandered that if someone where history the creation of this script had some relation to the creation of our english type. 

Once more I have another image of type created by a stonemason. This time it is type that can be found on nearly every christian church. It is in a very simple sans serif type, possibly for the ease of the artists. The type states the name and date of the first priest to enter the church and basically when they found it. 

Finally this last type was an ironic one as it is an incredibly poor display of type and design. I thought it was a real shame that nearly all of the churches I saw had these awful billboards outside, completely tarnishing these beautifully created buildings. Its an incredibly lazy way of design in comparison to the the stonemasons work. This almost seems like a lost art. 

FEEDBACK:

• Create publication backwards the Quran
• Use stone in the creation of publication to resemble gravestone
• Research religion
• Show how type changes between happy and sad events at a church i.e. weddings and funerals 
• Tell a story
• Timeline of type/old to new
• Show history of the stonemason
• Take religious quotes out of context
• Carve and or emboss publication in the style of a stonemason