Hairvetica

Helvetica Typespec Book Project

Here’s something I’m actually kinda proud about; my type spec book project. The whole scope of the project was to create a type spec book that would be able to showcase the chosen typeface (in this case, Helvetica. It was supposed to be Aksidenz Grotesk but I couldn’t get my hands on the family, so), with the challenge of not having to use any illustration and/or photography. To get things straight with you guys, that rule really messed me up. I seriously do not know how I was going to go about the project without the use of any form of illustration or photograph. Being able to review the past works on this project, I realized they used the same technique which was like this letter-mosaic thing– you know, that one where the image would be consisted of small letters/words. From then on, my mind was set on one thing and one thing alone: I have to jump out of the bandwagon (and run far away, if possible). I wanted to bring something new to the table and that actually made things harder for me, especially during conceptualizing.

I originally wanted to create a Disney-themed concept, but it felt like I wouldn’t be able to clearly illustrate the iconic images without using the letter-mosaic thingy. So that concept was thrown out of the window…along with dozens of others. I didn’t know how else I would make this project become something that I wouldn’t get bored doing, so I went to trusty ol’ Pinterest and reviewed my recent pins. Yes, ok, I have been pinning hair stuff (like 99% of Pinterest people do, duh). And like those glitchy-discontinuity editing in movies, an image flashed so quick in my mind that I was just lucky enough to catch: a brush consisted of small caps L’s and I’s (refer to 3rd spread). And ta-dah, this type spec book came to life. In contrast to the letter-mosaic thingy, I made my illustrations by utilizing the shape of the characters and just rolled with it, basically.