Dimensional Type

Lately I've been sewing up a lot of these typographic pillows. I first was inspired to create these in my typography class this fall, but since the class has finished I've stitched up a bunch more! The goal of the class project was to use typography in a three dimensional way. We get so accustomed to seeing type on a page, but it is a blast to bring those characters into our environment in a three dimensional way!

Wouldn't these be so cute on your bed as an accent or in a designer's office? Use 'em to add a graphic accent to any spot in your life!

Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade 2010

Our completed float was debuted on Main Street downtown Greenville, SC at the Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade. The parade officials awarded us the Joel Poinsett Best Overall award!

Thanks to my adorable friends for riding along on the float with me. (It was freezing!) Love you guys :)

photo credits :: photo 2 - this flicker stream :: photo 3 and 4 - The Collegian

The Making Of (continued)

A lot of the work on our float was assembled at our office, but in order to start building the final version we trucked everything to a weld shop/warehouse off campus. At this location we attached all the elements to our float bed.

Our float is a trailer with a wooden stage built on top. The pear tree, swans, drum, geese and golden rings were attached to this base using screws, foam sealant and wire. Every empty crack was desperately packed to the brim with hot glue.

 
photo credit :: photo 3 - Philip Eoute

The Making Of

Happy New Year! It has been a while since I've written. There certainly is a lot to recap. This past year (2010) I was able to play a big part in the designing of a float for the Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade. The university I work for enters a float in this parade every year, and this year I was able to be a part of the team. The theme of the 2010 Poinsettia parade was The Twelve Days of Christmas.

I drew inspiration from the Scandinavian style of artists such as Sanna Annukka as well as a visit to Disney's It's A Small World in May 2010. I tried to incorporate the graphic simplicity of this geometrical style. The first step was to sketch and vectorize each character/element of the float. (Check out my earlier post for a peak at what these creatures looked like in the early stages.) The vector design was used by my fabulously skillful boss to create a 3-D version in Google Sketch-Up.
Our float mocked up in Google Sketch-Up

The shapes were cut from 4-inch Styrofoam. These pieces were covered with petal paper. We used more hot glue sticks than I want to remember, and everyone involved burned themselves enough to last us til next year. (Wanna see my scars?)
French Hen cut from 4-inch Styrofoam

Swan-a-swimming decked in petal paper. Iridescent and black

Air Mail

I picked up these stylish stamps at a local flea market last spring. I love the graphic simplicity of the design. I don't collect stamps, but always enjoy picking mine out at the post office! With minimal research I was able to find a fabulous pictorial history of the U.S. Air Mail stamp on Wikipedia covering stamps as early as 1918. Some samples from the 50s and 60s are below.

Musical Pattern

I enjoy creating simple illustrations that appear to be inked by hand. I'm working on a series of musical instruments and assembled my sketches into a pattern. Which is your favorite? What instrument would you like to see?

Madebyjulene

Lovely papercuts by Julene Harrison. In my search for dimensional inspirational typography this evening, I discovered this artist and had to share!

Motion Typography Update

I shared the poem, i carry your heart by e. e. cummings with you a few posts ago, and now I am back to share a photo update of how the project is coming. I decided to express the poem as a card with movable panels and parts. The project is complete now and I'll be posting the final photos soon!

The photos below show the card, which was designed in one piece, unfolded, and partially folded.