Critical Debates in Design: Task 1 - Two Typefaces

   

 Usually I don’t stick with only one typeface. I think that a designer should not fall for only one font, but experiment and discover different typefaces all the time. There are fonts suitable for everything, and sticking to only one can become dangerously too much. As I tried to decide which one is my favorite type of font I realized, that I like Art Deco styled typefaces most.

1.Verlag

"Verlag” is the German word for “publisher” or “publishing house”. The font is inspired by the Guggenheim façade designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it’s iconic Art Deco lettering and is a part of the Sans-Serif family. In 1996, when designing the magazine for the museum, Abbott Miller (Pentagram) approched Jonathan Hoefler (Hoefler & Frere-Jones) to create a custom typeface for the publication. Hoefler referenced Wright's iconic lettering and designed the custom typeface in 30 various weights and italic and bold versions for exclusive use in the magazine.

“Because the fonts would ultimately represent a range of individual artistic voices — from Cézanne to Kandinsky to Matthew Barney — Verlag was carefully planned so that its distinct personality would be checked by a sense of objectivity.

From the rationalist geometric designs of the Bauhaus school, such as Futura (1927) and Erbar (1929), Verlag gets its crispness and its meticulous planning. Verlag’s “fairminded” quality is rooted in the newsier sans serifs designed for linecasting machines, such as Ludlow Tempo and Intertype Vogue (both 1930), both staples of the Midwestern newsroom for much of the century. But unlike any of its forbears, Verlag includes a comprehensive and complete range of styles: five weights, each in three different widths, each including the often-neglected companion italic. ”

RSA Shared Assets: "Have to Give" - Critical Reflection

Sharing means awareness of the fact, that you are not alone. Awareness of the fact, that we are all connected while living on this planet. Giving away what you no longer use seems like the easiest thing, but sometimes it’s not. Making giving reality and knowing, that you have helped someone with something that simple, and you have changed that person’s life for the better feels really good.



As the brief states I should “design a service, that gets better or more useful the more people use it, so that sharing it becomes more attractive or viable.”

The purpose of this project is to encourage people to share their no longer used belongings, because the trash for one is a treasure for another. The purpose is to change peoples perspective on charity sharing, and to inform them about the benefits sharing does for the environment and the world we live in.

After some research I realized, that the best way to make people share their belongings these days is through internet platform. People advertise much more online in recent years - houses, cars, electronics - you name it. This is why they would choose to notify online, about their no longer used sofa, couch, table etc. The furniture will then be transported from people’s homes to a workshop. Then people willing to help, design and art students, practically everyone interested in the cause involved in the process will be able to redesign the donated furniture and then it will be donated to homes for children, old people or families in need for furniture.  In the online platform people would be able to actively participate in the cause – the site will be divided into three sections – people willing to donate, people, who would need furniture, and people willing to volunteer .

After deciding to do the “Shared Assets” brief, I started to research and think about what people share these days – they share information about themselves, photos, news etc. In order to invent something linked with my specialty – photography, at first I decided to think what could benefit the society in that connection, and decided, that giving objects a second life and photographing them would be interesting. I got inspired by the recent visit to the Victoria and Albert museum, and the Postmodernism exhibition. The one object, that stuck in my mind was the “Proust chair” – a design created by Alessandro Mendini in 1978 for Studio Alchimia. Redecorating something from the 18^th century in a modern way is quite inspiring for me. Then I had a conversation with my tutor and he proposed me to contact several charity organizations in connection with my idea for redesign. He gave me directions to make the project more socially engaged and to include people in need.  I did some more research, and my idea became more clear.

RSA: "Have to Give" Final Logo Design

RSA: Shared Assets Timeline

RSA: "Have to Give" Logo and Poster Creation

Logo
At first my idea for the project was to be named "Art of Recycling", so I started to think of the concept of the logo - I decided to create a logo symbolising the idea of a cycle, and a particular object in the middle (in this case furniture), that would present my idea of recycling and reusing, then after a small research in my target group, I understood, that the name I chose is not clear enough, and a person not familiar with the idea would not instantly understand what it is all about, I rethink the concept, and realized, that I should emphasize on the idea of sharing. If you HAVE you can GIVE. I decided to keep the general "recycle" vision, included colour furniture in the middle, so a person can recognize easier the main purpose and also to present the art and refurbish idea.

RSA: Shared Assets "Have to Give"

Brief
Design a service, that gets better or more useful the more people use it, so that sharing it becomes more attractive or viable.

Purpose
The purpose of this project is to encourage people to share their no longer used belongings, because the trash for one is a treasure for another. The purpose is to change peoples perspective on charity sharing, and to inform them about the benefits sharing does for the environment and the world we live in.