Author Archives: c.nova

About c.nova

5081190220122782

Design Samples- Nova

Posted on by

IMG_2133

This is a sign i found at a bicycle shop that my uncle owns in the city. I choose this sign because of the different uses of letter spacing throughout the sign. For the name of the store on the top of the sign the letter spacing between the letters is very thin which creates a block like shape for the words. Then in the word Bicycles on the lower right side of the sign the letters are spread further apart and curved which really forces you to read across the word and raise the level of your eyesight to finish reading the word. Then the name of the website is very small and crunched together which really forces you to focus in and slowly read across in order to fully see the word.

IMG_2134

This is a sign i came across walking around midtown. The sign say RETHINK 3 times in different variations. I choose this sign for the aesthetic appeal as well as the different use of the word rethink. The number of colors used in the sign give it a unique look and they are not normally used together the way they are in the sign which helps to reinforce the meaning of Rethink. Also the Rethink word is altered in different sizes as well as tilted in different direction to help create a rectangular shape out of the words. IMG_2135

This is the sign for a New York City tourist shop near 34th st. I choose this sign because of the way the lines in the letters were used. The transition of thinness to thickness of every letter in the sign reminds me of the Baskerville typeface. It helps to give the words a unique look as well as making it stand out with the rest of the color and images used in the sign.

IMG_2139

This is the sign for a bar not to far from my workplace. I choose this sign for its simplicity. Using only a black and white color contrast for a color scheme it gives the sign a sense of the nighttime life. The letters in the name of bar also have a heavy focus on the serifs with a sharp end to help give it a razor edge look which stands out.

IMG_2141

This is a sushi bar that i often go to. I choose this sign because the way the name was design. The stroke designs in the name are reflecting the strokes used in the Japanese writing system. The letter spacing works well to help lead your eyes through the next letter by having the letters closer together. Also the the lower right leg of the letter K going under the I helps to create a diverse look as well as a unique way to transition from the letter K to the letter I.

Expressive Words- Nova

Posted on by

For this assignment i used Helvetica Neue Bold Outline. I decided to use this style of Helvetica because it really stood out to me and seemed like a design in itself. I approached this assignment with the idea of experimenting more with placement. I decided that for some design i would do things like rotate the word, break up the letters of the word and place them on different areas of the page and place letters within letters to create a flow so that your eye follows the letters in a certain order so that you know what the word is and it is done so in a very unique way. An example of a placement i did was using the word Strict and breaking the letters up and grouping the letters in groups of two and one group of one and spread the groups far apart on different levels. This keeps the flow of viewing the word from left to right as well as giving an opposite meaning to the word strict by making it more non strict.

From this assignment i learned how important things like, size, placement and letter spacing are in giving words meaning and depth. If you want to give a word a stronger meaning you may want the word to be bigger and centered in the middle, while if you want a word to have a softer tone you may go with a smaller word size and place it off center to draw away some attention. I also learned how interesting Helvetica can be with all the different types of Helvetica you really have to study and get to know a lot of these types in order to find out what types work best with a certain design. It was a very interesting and eye opening assignment.

Illustrated Quote Analysis- Nova

Posted on by

For the visually enhanced quotation assignment I decided to use the quote “ Live Long And Prosper” said by Spock on the classic T.V Sci-Fi series Star Trek. The illustration I choose to use as a reflection of that famous quote was the Vulcan sign that Spock does as he says that quote in the series, the sign is just the shape of a V using his right hand. For the lettering I decided to use Baskerville bold as It has become one o my favorite typefaces due to a previous assignment. The boldness of the letter helps to compliment the bold lines of the hand that is in the picture that I used for the Vulcan sign. I decided to put each of the word going across the 4 fingers used in the Vulcan sign as to create a sense of direction when you’re reading the quote from left to right which I believe really helps draws people’s attention to the quote. In doing this assignment I learned how important not only typefaces are in helping to compliment the picture but to give a stronger or weaker presence for the word overall. I also learned how important placement is because if your word are not placed correctly on a picture, the image can often drag the audience attention away from the quote and perhaps give the quote less meaning in the process where as the right placement helps the quote give itself and the picture a stronger meaning.

-Nova

Trace my name- Christopher Nova

Posted on by

For the name tracing assignment the typeface that I used was Baskerville and my descriptive word was Charming. It was interesting using Baskerville for the first time as there were two key things I noticed about this particular typeface. The first thing that I noticed was the transition from straight line to curves at certain points of each letter. In other typeface when needing to draw up from left to right a lot of letters will allow you to just create a straight line up creating something close to a 90 degree angle. However with Baskerville in order to draw up the transition must be a curve rather than a straight line. The second thing I noticed was the difference in the thinness and thickness of the lines in the letters themselves. For example in the letter “N” the two line that are drawn going vertically is very thin compared to the line that goes diagonally connecting the two vertical lines is much thicker, maybe about 2 to 3 times thicker than the vertical lines. I also noticed that with certain letters more line spacing was involved to keep the letters from being scrambled together, for example I felt I had to push the V in Nova more to the right to give the upper left line going across more room to keep it from being too close to the O, by doing that the rest of the V looked slightly to far apart from the O.

This was definitely a much more difficult assignment then I thought it would be at first but I definitely learned something from it. I learned more about how important it is to pay attention to detail and how things like curves and thinness and thickness of line can separate one typeface from another. I also learned how thicker lines provide a much bolder, stronger presence with the thinner line have a much softer, smoother presence and how the transition from thinness to thickness and vice versa can affect a person feeling on a letter or word. Doing this assignment definitely makes you think and respect how at one point people had to create these letters on blocks by hand and how much time and precision it must have took for them to do it as close to perfect as they can. This was definitely an interesting and enjoyable assignment.

What is Graphic Design? Nova

Posted on by

This article helped me to understand how graphic design and visual communication and time are connected. To learn and to understand that a graphic design can have an effect on someone in an instant or over time is amazing. I never thought when i looked at a poster or advertisement on a bus and how quickly it would catch my attention or how i would look at a billboard or building design and take my time to look but looking back at the some of the things I’ve seen there is definitely a connection. This also connect to the typefaces used for these graphic pieces. Every typeface has a certain personality behind it and can definitely alter how a person views a graphic design. Some typeface can have a loud and aggressive personality and catch a person attention very quick, while some typefaces have more a quiet and smooth personality which can take some time to take in. This article was very informative and i enjoyed reading it!!

One question i would have for the author would be ” What advice would you have for someone who has an admiration for graphic design but may feel that they may not have the artistic or creative ability to be able to do graphic design”?. A possible answer may simply be ” You never know until you try, i believe everyone is born with an ability to be artistic and creative in different ways, its just a matter of taking the time to explore the type of style that you enjoy and have the most interest in and really take the time to study the works of other in that style as well as practicing that style as much as possible. “Most importantly of all be patient, you will fail before you succeed”.