Studio task 1 - Kudell

Kudell

 

-       5 keywords that you think define its character and personality.

Simplistic

Straight

Old Norse

Jagged

Airy

-       Explain how your typeface works as a machine

This typeface is a game-based typeface. It is based on coordinates in a grid, where the players take a set of coordinates from the deck and follow the coordinates with a string on the board to create the letter. So, if you were to pull an “R” you would get the coordinates: Ix2, Ix3, Ax3, Ax4, Ex3, Ix6. You then have to create the letter. The first one to finish wins.

• What are the rules or instructions behind your system?

The typeface is based on a set of strict rules. I wanted to work around rules because I based this typeface on two ideas I had earlier. One of them was quite strict it is based on a three-step grid, where everything lives on that line and nowhere else. There is no stems, bowls, lobes, legs or arc. This made the typeface slightly illegible, it would not work in a context at all. That is why I combined that one and one that I made with elongated descenders. This was first just a desperate attempt to make this work in any which way. To my surprise, it worked really well, and it created some interesting shapes. I had to change some letter since they become either too obvious or illegible.  

• How have these rules or processes impacted on the type of anatomy?

               

The rules of this typeface created quite a lot of problems as the type needed to be recognizable, and usable. With the number of rules, I set for myself I am slightly hindered with the finished typeface possibilities and it was always going to be a geometric typeface. it was not just a hindrance it also made the typeface uniform in a way I would not initially think of. I was never going to have rounded bellies or loops, that it was just how it would be.

• What are the personality traits that your typeface has created - link these to the

anatomical features?

The typeface has created an image of slightly jagged and geometric which speaks in a slightly demanding tone of voice without being whiny. It is demanding in its joint, vertex, crotch and apex, but it is contracted in the typeface’s length and space. In that space it allows the consumers' eyes to rest till the next joint.

• Describe any research sources and their impact on the design of your typeface.

During my research, I tried to find inspiration in history, and since I always been quite interested in norrønn mythology I decided to try to find something of a resemblance of a type machine. I did not find that, but instead, I decided to be inspired by the written language as it was then.

The Norse written language was written down in during 1100 to 1300s. It is one of the oldest written languages in north Europe. It is based on straight lines and simple shapes; my type is influenced by that times simplicity. Sudell is inspired by that memory of time.

• Suggest possible uses for your typeface based on its qualities (visual personality, how

the user can interact with it, etc.): branding, editorial, signage, wayfinding,

supergraphics, educational use, online (e.g. it animates or changes in real time)).

This typeface might not do as well in a longer text but as an album cover it would possibly thrive quite well. Since the typeface is lightly demanding it needs space around itself to make sense. it is slightly intrusive in a calm way it might work nicely for branding since it sticks out in a crowd of normalized typefaces.