Type, Image, Composition 5: Abstract Typography

Focussing on three key typefaces I created stencils from each and used a roller and ink to create abstract prints. The three typefaces that were the focus of the workshop were Din Alternate, Cooper and Baskerville Bold. Din Alternate was created in 1931, defined by the German Institute for Standardisation (Deutsches Institut für Normung, of which DIN is an abbreviation). With a simple design so it could be applied with limited technical difficulty, it quickly became a widely used typeface, particularly on signage as it was legible and uncomplicated. Cooper, slightly older than Din Alternate, was founded in 1922. When it was first used for printing the typeface was frequently referred to as ‘the Black Menace’ as it required so much ink to print it was quite costly to use and more likely to smudge whilst printing. The oldest of the three typefaces is Baskerville Bold, dating back to the 1750s. It was initially created for printing books, unlike the more modern fonts Baskerville has a much lower x-height, which results in less ink being used which is economically efficient for printing books.

The task was to select approximately five sections of letters from one of the fonts to draw and cut out as a stencil on A3 paper. It works best if the stencil is of a cropped section of a letter and more abstract rather than the full letter. This stencil was then used to print with a roller and black ink on a sheet of A2 paper. This process was repeated for all three typefaces. Below are my stencils and final prints.