Learn by Doing

I started my assignment by replicating most of the lessons taught by Aaron Draplin using the words used in the videos.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 1 - student project

Kerning & Leading

Then I worked using my (fictional) hometown, Nauvoo, Illinois. This is a quasi-sequel to my Icarian Travel Sticker project for the the another class taught by Aaron Draplin.

I started out by tweaking the basic adjustments (tracking, leading, size) using Futura. I tried to always use the shortcuts. After that, I tried using a slab serif Blackoak STD. I saw potential in working with the negative spaces in the slab serifs, but the ‘O’ needed major reworking to satisfy me. So in the end, I wasn’t too happy and started making another wordmark with a sans-serif typeface, Poplar STD Black. I was very pleased with the geometric result.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 2 - student project

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 3 - student project

Custom Type #1

I got inspired by a photo I saw in Chromegraphy, (a hat tip to Soma Blaise for sharing the website in the 'Discussion'.). It was challenging to fit the letters into a diamond shape, but very rewarding to see the result. The zoom tool was essential for this one. Just one wrong angle would spoil the outcome. Although tricky, I finished it pretty quickly.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 4 - student project

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 5 - student project

Boxy Wordmark

This is another custom type that has a woodblock type aesthetic.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 6 - student project

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 7 - student project

I exported the Illustrator path to Photoshop to round the corners and added texture using the technique that was shown in the video.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 8 - student project

Mockup for a patch:

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 9 - student project

Script

Lastly, I challenged myself to make a script type, something I normally wouldn’t dare to do. But Aaron dumped so much hot, molten lava of knowledge that I didn’t want his effort to go to waste. The angle was inspired by an cotton earbud packaging. As you can see, script lettering is pretty exhausting for me. So much that I couldn’t bear to finish the 'Illinois'.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 10 - student project

Mockup for a keychain:

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A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 11 - student project

Conclusion

I finished this class with four designs that I was really pleased with. Thank you once again Aaron Draplin, for another wild ride of class.

A Tribute to Nauvoo, Illinois - image 12 - student project

Viki Karoli

Graphic designer in progress

16

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