Studio Brief 1 - Visual Thinking - Alphabet Soup

Brief

Produce a set, series or sequence of ten letterforms that explore and communicate your interpretation of the word that you have selected from the randomisers. Using your newfound appreciation of the anatomy of typographic forms and the wealth of research that you have already gathered, focus on the manipulation of existing letterforms in order to solve this problem.

Background / Considerations

Think visually. Consider what the visual essence of your subject matter is and how best to communicate this. What are the obvious responses? How can you beyond these? How subtle can you be? Do your ideas operate as a set, series or sequence? The following terms may prove useful: Trace, erase, layer, combine, outline, silhouette, and surface. Consider the most effective and controlled use of media appropriate to your subject matter. EXPERIMENT with a range of possible line qualities, marks, colour and paper types. How will colour help with the communication? What paper stocks can you work with? Do you need to draw, photocopy, photograph, collage, trace or combine all of these processes?

To start this project off, I looked into the various meanings of the word 'compact'. Through looking at these, as well as some synonyms, I was able to generate some ideas and get a stronger starting point.

com·pact

adjective

 

1.  joined or packed together; closely and firmly united; dense; solid: compact soil.

2.  arranged within a relatively small space: a compact shopping center; a compact kitchen.

3.  designed to be small in size and economical in operation.

4.  solidly or firmly built: the compact body of a lightweight wrestler.

5.  expressed concisely; pithy; terse; not diffuse: a compact review of the week's news.

verb (used with object)

8.  to join or pack closely together; consolidate; condense.

9.  to make firm or stable.

10.  to form or make by close union or conjunction; make up or compose.

11.  Metallurgy . to compress (metallic or metallic and nonmetallic powders) in a die to be sintered.

12.  to crush into compact form for convenient disposal or for storage until disposal: to compact rubbish.

noun

13.  a small case containing a mirror, face powder, a puff, and sometimes rouge.

14.  Also called compact car . an automobile that is smaller than an intermediate but larger than a subcompact  and generally has a combined passenger and luggage volume of 100–110 cu. ft. (2.8–3.1 m ³ ).

15.  Metallurgy . (in powder metallurgy) an object to be sintered formed of metallic or of metallic and nonmetallic powders compressed in a die.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English  < Latin compāctus  (past participle of compingere  to shut away, bind together), equivalent to com- com-  + pag-,  variant stem of pangere  to fix, arrange (akin to pāx peace; compare pact, compact ² ) + -tus  past participle suffix

Synonyms
2.  small, snug. 5.  concise, succinct, brief. 8.  compress. 9.  stabilize, solidify.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/compact

Main Entry: compact Part of Speech: verb Definition: make condensed Synonyms: combine, compress, concentrate, condense, consolidate, contract, cram, integrate, pack, set, solidify, stuff, unify, unite

Part of Speech: adjective Definition: condensed Synonyms: appressed, bunched, close, compressed, crowded, dense, firm, hard, impenetrable, impermeable, packed, pressed, solid, thick, tight

 My initial ideas for this project are:

• 10x10 squares filled with the letter, as though it has been crammed in
• Larger stroke to gap ratio
• Solidify or firmly built - scaffolding or something 'holding' the letter up?
• Parts of the letter are holding up other parts of the letter
• Letter seems to have been crushed and are caving in
• Squeeze letters into various shapes
• Cut parts from numerous letters and use to form one letter
• Impenetrable?
  Folding letters in on themselves

  
These are images I got from googling 'Compact', as well as scaffolding as reference for an intial idea: