Illustrate with type!

After watching the Hillman Curtis films I've discovered a new appreciation for the world of typography. Which led me to choose Paula Scher, and David Carson as the artists to compare.


Image by Paula Scher

Paula Scher, from what I gathered, was introduced to the term syncopated a term meaning everything is in place except for that one thing. This is a great way to catch the eye with the slight imperfection that makes the type so perfect. She made the statement in her video that "typography is designed to look like they make noise" which helped me relate to the previous assignment with our words and boxes. Scher designed several posters that expressed noise like "Noise Funk" which created a style for the New York public theater. Using this term syncopated allows me to see that imperfections even slight imperfections can create the motion in the message that the artist desires to portray.

David Carson, on the other hand has a different perspective than that of Paula Scher, which is also what drew me to his style. He has been formally noted as the father of grunge, and I assume that this is due to his sporadic placement of letters in his art which is entertaining to maneuver through. Carson believes that the artist should pull form who they are and put that into the work. He says this in a TED interview in 2003 that no individual was raised by the same parents, the same way, with the same background, and that should be integrated into the work that they promote. In the same TED interview he displayed "no parking" signs that were on the same surface but had different font, and asked how the audience responded emotionally to the sign by asking "which one would you park in front of?" I agree with Carson when he states that "who you are" should be portrayed into a work of art that one produces this way there is emotion from the design end that can coexist with the viewer of the work.

These two artists assisted in showing me a new approach and appreciation to the world of typography. Both artists have their similarities with type by displaying it in a syncopated manner; on the other hand the emotion or lack of emotion placed within the piece shows the difference in all work.


Image by David Carson