Project
Illustrate with text. The teacher showed us examples and, unfortunately, I can’t find them online. Most were from former students. We were also given the choice to use the original photograph in the background, but I got sick and missed that lecture so made do with what I had. It was also limited to one font family (ie Times, Helvetica). Because of this, we should pick one with other styles like Palatino or Myriad.

Mechanics
In Illustrator, place the image. Lock it. Use the pencil to draw the various sections, using “option” key to make sure it’s a closed piece. Make a box the size of the shape off to the side. Type in the box and use whatever to make it darker (bigger font, bolder, tighter, etc.).

Put shape on top of box of text.

Object -> clipping mask -> make

Put the shape back on there.

I used the same text just different pieces of it for the person but the background was a different text. The layers were named and grouped so that it was easy to find what I wanted and to turn viewability off and on easily.

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When I look around at other folks’ blogs and see postings of what they’re working on, I love it when they talk about why and how they did it. So here’s my attempt.

Project
Our assignment in Typography class was “Oxymoron.” Some of the ideas I had were: science fiction, virtual reality, dull roar, Advanced Basic, bitter sweet, business casual, quiet storm and sound of silence. We were to illustrate, just with type, each of the words of the oxymoron.

Various things that came up in critique:

• How do we say the phrase? Is it “home office” or “HOME office” or “home OFFICE.” This gives us the emphasis.
• Let type do the acting.
• Lowercase is relaxed.
• “active energetic font” (though I don’t remember which it was but I liked this phrase)
• Be interpretive with type. Use its voice.
• Freezer burn: maybe burn around the edges and add depth. Maybe snowflakes.
• Transparencies always create depth.
• We want realism; things to relate.

It was amazing how many had the page divided in half. The teacher said that mine was a “nice solution” and “clean” and though I divided in half (I didn’t… it was purposefully not exactly half), the black of “virtual” makes it look like it’s not.
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