D&AD - The Wall - Research


CommonWealth - Neubau - “Visual Identity/Branding/Design for Commonwealth, a boutique NYC based agency representing photographers and stylists working in the fields of fashion, editorial and advertising. The typefaces for Commonwealth’s visual identity are custom designed. A digital design standards manual introducing all core tools and elements helps maintaining the integrity of the developed visual identity.”

I picked this typeface by Neubau because it has a very geometric modular block like form which matches the idea of a physical wall well. I like the way that when the typeface is displayed as an alphabet, these modular forms create a rectangular form like a wall, almost like the negative space is gaps or cracks in the wall. 

How can this research apply to my work? - well obviously I need to use a font from google fonts and while I can edit it a bit, it still needs to be recognisable. If I pick quite a blocky font, maybe I can arrange the type in a way inspired by this, so that it forms a wall. 






Closed Worlds - Pentagram - “Exhibition design and graphics for a show about closed systems at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, complete with its own custom typeface.”

Similarly I picked this project as a point of research because of the blocky modular form of the type. This typeface however is a lot more readable and functional. There are no curves, with all the points meeting at angles, and the forms of the letters are very compact, with thick sections and stems that leave very little space between them. 

How can this research apply to my work? - I think this typeface is so original, that it speaks for itself, in other words, it's applied very minimally in black on a white background, so the majority of the visual intrigue lies within the actual forms of the type, I like this simple application, and it definitely makes it a very typography focused campaign. In this D&Ad brief, the brief states that the project should be typography lead, so maybe this would be a good way to do that. 





Pink Floyd Records - Pentagram - “Record label identity and 27-disk boxset that pay homage to the early years of one of the world's most celebrated bands. Pentagram worked closely with Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis to create the visual identity for the label. Taking inspiration from the original lettering on 1977’s ‘Animals’ record cover, Pentagram built a complete alphabet based on the album's stencilled lettering in both outline and solid form. This lettering has been used to make a unique mark and headline font for the band and business.”

This is a typeface that pentagram did for Pink Floyd, and though related to ‘Animals’ as opposed to ‘The Wall’, it still has that brick - like blocky form. I also like how its a stencil font. Stenciled type is very related to graffiti and people putting a message or their voice across, often sprayed in public on walls. It almost feels applicable to this project because I can imagine something being sprayed on a wall. This is definitely an idea I should explore. 





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