Your Vision - Experimental Typography

Experimental
Typography
By Gabriele Lecce

INTRODUCTION
Graphic design is a creative
journey that find its roots
in experimentation.
Nowadays, everyone can
be identified as a designer
by simply mastering digital
applications.
However, the reality is that
only a few of the above
have conquered the real
meaning behind the word
design.
It begins by understanding
that behind each artwork
there’s a long and creative
process of imaginative
experimentation.
Typography is a branch
of graphic design that
uses words to convey a
message, emotions, and
sensations.
At the heart of good
typography there is a deep
meaning: the hallmark of
great typography is that it
should not go overlooked,
but it should be able to
make the reader question
the real meaning behind
the words.
In the modern world, it’s no
longer enough for type to
be type: it must add depth
to the message delivered.
Does this mean that type
is considered as the new
illustration?
The purpose of this book
is to try and understand
the meaning behind
experimental typography,
seen as a journey from
analogue to digital, from
paper to screen, from
scratch to artwork.
See my book as a creative
journey: each section
will introduce different
aspects of typography
that can help understand
the striking process of
creating your own letters.
Page 3

CONTENTS
Introduction
Section 1:
Creating meaning with typography
Section 2:
Ispiring designers
Section 3:
How to create expressive typography
Thank you
3
8
20
32
48
Page 6 Page 7

TYPEFACE ATTRIBUTES
Typefaces have simple
yet breakable rules, when
experimenting.
When designing one, there
are different aspects to
keep in mind: what do you
want your type to express?
Who is the target
audience?
It is very important
to understand a few
principles before starting
the design process.
Typefaces which are
not considered fully
experimental, are bound
to be labelled in different
categories, which help
users identifying the right
one based on the message
they need to convey.
Some examples of wellknown
categories are:
1. Serif typefaces, which
are considered to have
a more sophisticated,
traditional feel.
2. Sans serif typefaces
have a different approach –
more modern, minimalist.
3. Script typefaces, based
on the more fluid strokes
of handwriting, which can
give away a feel of causal
but also formal.
4. Display typefaces, which
vary in their appearance,
and include both practical
and novelty fonts.
Understanding the above
information, is the first
step towards creating your
own typeface and breaking
the rules that makes them
conventional.
In order to be successful
on creating experimental
typography, you must
take inspiration from your
environment (food, stones,
plants, buildings etc)
and use those elements
to create something
new, meaningful and
innovative.
Page 11

TYPEFACE EMOTIONS
When creating experimental
typography, you need to
understand how to give a
meaning to it.
You can create a positive
feeling, but also negative.
It all depends on your
composition.
For example, take the
artwork on the left, which
has been produced to reflect
the negative sense of decay,
death, and mould.
The letters can be seen as
elements that are no longer
filled with life. The colours
are selected by following the
theory of colours, which aids
when it comes to decide
the meaning you want to
communicate.
Every single element of
the artwork has a specific
insight, and it is your job
to produce a particular
meaning.
Construct your own truth.

KINETIC TYPOGRAPHY
Kinetic typography is an
animation technique
that uses moving text to
capture attention, set
a tone, and amuse the
viewer. It creates more
engagement by removing
the ‘static’ side of the
typography.
Nowadays, it seems to
be everywhere: movies,
commercials, music video,
mobile applications, social
media, and websites. Users
tend to use it to make their
words more impactful and
creative.
Contrary to what people
think and assume, kinetic
typography is not a
modern concept. It’s been
around since the 1960s,
when feature movies
underway using animated
opening titles instead of
static ones.
A clear sample is Alfred
Hitchcock’s North by
Northwest (1959) which
is considered as the
first feature film ever to
significantly use kinetic
typography.
There are different ways
you could master kinetic
typography with the help
of digital or analogue. For
the latter, imagine taking
pictures of a text or letters
in a different position/
angle for each frame.
Then using an application,
you could join those
photographs/frames and
enjoy a very simple kinetic
typography.
Remember: keep it simple
and enjoy the art of
dynamic typography and
experience conveying a
sense of realism to your
art.
Page 15

@ Gabriella Clare Marino
@ Ashkan Forouzani
Page 16
@ Markus Spiske @ Gabriella Clare Marino
@ Gabriella Clare Marino
@ The Blowup
@ Gabriella Clare Marino
VERNACULAR TYPOGRAPHY
All over the world, there
are cities and towns that
retain their rich traditions
of vernacular typography in
signages and so many other
objects.
Vernacular Typography is
defined as the letterforms
selected, created, or
adapted by untrained
people whose occupation
is not derived from regular
work with design.
Seeing how typography
has been applied for
functional purposes can be
very interesting and helps
inspiring new creativity.
If you step outside your
house and have a look
around, your eyes can meet
a lot of different examples
of vernacular typography:
a handwritten message all
over the glass of the bus
stop, a simple hand-written
leaflet attached to the
streetlight, a message from
a small business written on
a board.
Wherever you go, vernacular
typography is a distinctive
characteristic of public
places.

Page 20 Page 21

Carson, 2019, Marketing Tribune, Cover design
Carson, 2019, Street Poster, Spain’s REC festival
Carson, 2021, Nucollage.001, Book cover
Carson, Collage
David Carson
Graphic Designer
“
You have to utilize who
you are in your work.
Nobody else can do that:
nobody else can pull
from your background,
from your parents, your
upbringing, your whole
life experience.
- David Carson
David Carson is a
prominent contemporary
graphic designer and
art director. Because of
his unconventional and
experimental graphic
style, he revolutionised the
graphic designing scene in
America during 1990s.
He discovered Graphic
Design later during his life
when he was 26.
Before that, he had another
job and he swapped to the
creative world of design.
He didn’t have any training
in the field, hence why
his style is considered
very experimental and
one of the most famous
characteristics of his
work is the fact that he’s
constantly breaking the
so called ‘rules’ of design,
especially in typography
and layout design.
He is claimed to be the
godfather of ‘grunge
typography’ which he
employed continuously in
his magazine issues.
His work is characterized
by the chaotic typography
and patterns and photos
overlapping each other.
The disorganized use of
his typography has its own
purpose: each stroke of a
letter, each disorganised
layer, each pattern, evokes
a different emotion,
imagery, and perception.
His innovative style of
visual communication
attracted new readers all
over the world, becoming
one of the most famous
designers; however, his
style also repelled many
who considered his work
too messy, fractured.
He was the art director of
the magazine Ray Gun, in
which he introduced the
innovative typographies
and distinct layouts.
The magazine had no
continuing design: each
issue had a different
approach to layout and
design, depending on the
emotions evoked by the
content of that issue.
David Carson is not only a
Graphic Designer, but also
an artist: a key element of
balance to be producing
successful and memorable
designs.
Page 22 Page 23

Tomato, 2010, Brasilia, Poster of exhibition
Tomato, 1995, Levis shorts, advert
Tomato, 2016, Anniversary exhibitiob book
Tomato, 2011, There magazine
Tomato
Design Collective
“
We’re sculpting
information, and the
process goes through
various media and you
cut that media at a
certain point and that
becomes your piece of
work. It doesn’t matter
where you came from
or where you end up.
Anything can happen
en route and it’s
not restricted by its
beginning or its end. In
design terms I like the
same approach.
- Warwicker. Information
sculpture. Interviewed by
Rick Ponor for eyemagazine.
Tomato is a wide and
creative group of artists,
designers, musicians, and
writers.
It has been an inspiration
of mine for the last year,
since I got to know their
creative work.
Tomato creates and
delivers multi-media
art and design projects
and publishes books
and artworks, creates
exhibitions, gives live
performances, and hosts
workshops and lectures.
The group perfectly
masters the mixture of
fine art philosophy and
freedom with graphic
design practicality,
mastering the perfect
balance for innovative art.
Each artwork published
on their website speaks
up about art, emotions: a
voice is created to convey
a message that is personal
and expressive.
Tomato group was formed
in 1991 by a group of
friends and includes a
group of multidisciplinary
artists which gained
popularity due to their
motion graphics in movies.
Each member of the
collective is very
passionate about their
work, and they work
together in order to
achieve the best outcome
possible. Each piece of
art conveys the artist’s
individuality and voice.
The group has been at the
forefront of award-winning
work for more than two
decades.
What I like the most is the
incredible repertory they
own, where each piece of
work is different compared
to another one, showing
how art can evolve, mature
and be personal.
Page 24 Page 25

Arslan Shahid, Splinter, 3D typeface Kosuke Takahashi, 2020, Braille Neue, Typeface
typegoodness
Showcase
“
I’ve always loved type
and still believe it’s one
of the key ingredients
to good design. The
main goal of the site
[typegoodness] is to
inspire young creatives
and give them tools to
better themselves.
- Frederik Samuel. Top 20
Type Picks. Interviewed
by Zoe Loring Murphy for
Type01.
Frederik Samuel is an
Amsterdam-based Design
Director who specialises in
branding and advertising
and works with clients
including Adidas and
Magnum.
The design director
created typegoodness
back in 2009: a platform
to showcase and celebrate
the most creative, known
and unknown, type work
out there. It is a platform,
as well as a resource of
inspiration where to find
anything related to type
and art in general.
I came across the showcase
quite recently and been
drawn by it instantly:
the website is filled by
incredible pieces of art
which are not only clever in
their design, but even very
much functional.
Some of their most
valuable showcases are
the ones about being very
active in social matters.
For instance, there’s a
project called ‘Braille
Neue’ which is a typeface
that combines braille with
existing characters. The
clever idea was meant
to be helpful for either
sighted and blind people
in the same space. It was
created in order to have
a truly universal space
where anyone can access
information, no matter
what your sight status was.
I am a great believer of
using Graphic Design for
the greater good, and the
reason why I instantly liked
the showcase was for its
functionality.
If you are looking for
inspiration, that begins
from static typography to
kinetic one, typegoodness
is a great platform were to
find your inner creativity.
Page 26 Page 27

Mark Simonson, 2000, Sharktooth, Typeface Mark Simonson, 2000, Felt Tip Senior, Typeface
Mark Simonson
Typographer
“
I’ve been thinking about
letters and drawing
letters for as long as I
can remember. Not so
much as building blocks
of language, but for the
particular and peculiar
forms they take on in the
physical world
- Mark Simonson. About.
Mark Simonson. Studio.
Mark Simonson is a great
typographer who created
my favourite Sans-Serif
typeface called ‘Proxima
Nova’, which is widely used
in advertisement.
I came across Simonson
when I first started to
approach my journey
in Graphic Design, and
I began to explore the
marvellous world of
typography. I remember
creating my first leaflet
and looking for a complete
set of typefaces which
could help me convey a
minimalist and modern
look.
His website is filled by
an incredible number of
typefaces, from Serif to
Sans Serif, from Luxurious
to Calligraphy.
Each typeface has a
different personality
and conveys a different
message.
Mark Simonson had a
natural talent towards
creating doodles of letters
since he was a child,
something that has helped
bursting his creativity over
his creative journey. He
also believes in typefaces
conveying a message,
feeling, depending on the
style. Similarly, he has a
really interesting attitude
towards each letter of the
alphabet and what they
can communicate with
their look.
“
Something else that
goes way back for me is
an almost synesthetic
feeling about letters,
that they have
distinct attitudes and
personalities, as if each
letter is like a face. The
letter “e” looks like it’s
smiling. The letter “a”
looks alert. The letter “E”
has a sort of grimace.
- Mark Simonson. About.
Mark Simonson. Studio.
Page 28 Page 29

Break the rules
AND DESTROY TYPOGRAPHY
Creating experimental
typography, is a creative
experience that makes
you want to push your
boundaries and step out
your comfort zone.
You don’t have to be
afraid to break the rules
to achieve unexpected
results, and you must
feel free to combine as
many different textures
and objects as you like,
balancing together
analogue elements with
digital.
Minimalism can be very
effective, as in everything,
but sometimes it’s good to
create complex, abstract
shapes for that added
touch of surrealism and
depth. Also, by playing
with such complex
elements you can achieve
unexpected outcomes.
You can also take a
typeface and transform
it so much you end up
creating (or adding) new
meaning to it.
I truly believe in
‘destroying typography’,
where the messier, the
more deteriorate the
artwork looks like the
better the outcome is.
There’s no specific rule but
only your imagination and
your taste.
Destroying typography,
is a way for you to show
happiness, anger, sadness;
deep emotions you feel
every day.
It allows you to turn into
a complete artist, where
your designs can fully
engage with the reader’s
emotions.
Designing experimental
typefaces/artworks is a way
for you to add that extra
personal touch which
makes an artwork worth
admiring.
So break the rules, destroy
typography, and enjoy the
unexpected.
There’s no limit on what
you can do.
Page 35

Use your surroundings
TO CREATE THE UNEXPECTED
Everywhere you look
at, you can recognise
letterforms through
objects. If you walk
through the park, a tree
can suddenly remind you
the letter ‘L’, whilst the
gleaming sun that creates
obliques shadows across
the grass, reminds you of
the letter ‘O’. When the
darkness anticipates the
end of the day, the waning
crescent moon takes
up the shape of a shiny,
ghostly, thin ‘C’.
Typography is everywhere
and, whilst we mostly
ignore it, attentive eyes
can appreciate how artistic
our world is and how it
provides us of astonishing
inspiration every day.
To understand better
the principle of ‘using
your surroundings’, look
around yourself. See what’s
drawing your attention.
Is that an object? Food?
Water? Plants?
Ask yourself if you could
use such objects to create
typography. Mix them up
together, form letters,
words, phrases.
Don’t worry about being
meticulous: it is time to
break those rules and
create what you feel like.
It is your decision, not
everyone else’s.
Break it, burn it, wet it,
splash ink on it, place it
into a bowl of cold coffee.
Create the unexpected.
I once remember looking
for inspiration, before
realising I was eating it.
Whilst nibbling on popcorn
I thought: Why don’t I use
popcorn seeds to recreate
the word pop?
I so sat on my chair and
used the seeds to form
each letter, creating more
meaning to the word ‘pop’
by simply adding some
popped seeds.
My idea was to give people
a meaning to the word
I was trying to produce.
Think about it: when you
see a popcorn seed you
immediately think about
popcorns, which must pop
out once the seeds are put
under the pressure of heat.
Page 37

Use digital to emphasise
AND TO CREATE THE IMPOSSIBLE
When it comes to
expressive typography
or design in general,
depending on the project
and the designer’s
preferences, there are
different ways the author
can create their artwork:
analogue or digital.
I believe in the power of
balance and how both can
work together to reach the
desired (and unexpected)
outcome. Being a digitalonly
designer is a skill
that everyone can obtain
and master as long as you
get to learn the digital
software.
However, being an
analogue designer is a skill
that, whilst obtainable, is
often overseen.
I was part of the first
category for years and,
whereas enjoying what I
was doing, I knew I was
living inside a black and
white world, ignoring the
colours out there. Finally,
after approaching the
analogue world, I improved
not only as a designer, but
as an artist too, learning
new skills that helped me
creating better designs.
However, whilst the colours
were shiny and attractive,
analogue-only design was
not for me, and whilst
enjoying the experimental
side of it I knew that I
could reach more. And here
comes digital.
I see digital as the final
step to add depth to the
colours discovered in
analogue. For me, it was
like discovering tints and
shades of the colours,
which could help me
reaching a better outcome.
Moving my experimental
designs to digital, assisted
me advancing into the
experimental side of it,
adding textures and filters,
achieving something that
would be impossible or
very hard to accomplish in
real life.
My designs have never
been better produced than
now.
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Page 46

Thank you
You have reached the end
of the book!
Thank you for embarking
this journey of typography/
experimental typography
with me. It has been a real
pleasure to be working on
this book.
I believe in the link
between analogue and
digital and how these two
can help us improving as
designers and artists.
I hope you can find these
pages useful and that you
can start creating your own
creative work based on
your feelings, sensations,
and artistic eye.
This book has been created
as a final assignment
towards my university
degree course called
Creative Book Design.
The unit has helped
me understanding the
importance of colours in
a black and white world.
It has provided me of
the chance to ultimately
understand the importance
of experimentation
and how it can help us
approaching a new level of
confidence.
Special thanks have to be
made to my tutor Peter
Lester, who helped me
finding the colours in
myself and pushed me
to improve as an artist,
teaching me how to
explore, in an analogue
way, a world way too
digitalised.
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