Try Something New
January 2015
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Purpose of the project:
For the class Vorm & Interactie (translates into Shape & Interaction), the final assignment was to show your opinion on the font Akzidenz Grotesk for modern graphic design. Akzidenz Grotesk is seen as the "dad" Helvetica.
Deliverables:
The assignment wasn't just to make something. It had to be a printed object, with no glue marks or uncut edges. Plus, we had to be able to answer these questions:
- What is gonna be your message and to who?
- What can the target group do with your message?
- Why is your message useful to them?
- What'll be your tone of voice?
- What should it at least consist of?
My role:
This was an individual project.
I wanted to give students, who were graduating at CMD, some guides that can help them experiment with different fonts. Because yes, sans-serif fonts and grids are both aesthetically pleasing, but what if you could experiment for fun and get inspired by your own ideas?
To get inspired myself, I looked for styles and images that challenge the way we look at fonts. On the left side of this moodboard, it's about grids and sans-serif fonts. On the right side, it's more colorful and doesn't use particular fonts.
After collecting images for a moodboard, I started sketching to create a language from shapes. In the image below, you can see some of my tiny sketches.
Eventually I came up with the idea of making two folders. The one is called “The Easy Way Out” which 4th year students of my study choose if they use Helvetica or Akzidenz Grotesk and the other folder is called “Try Something New” that can help 4th year students to look further than just a sans-serif font.
In my opinion, Akzidenz Grotesk did influence some parts of modern graphic design (proven by the worldwide use of Helvetica), but I do think you should try out new things. Especially as someone who's about to step into the "professional field".
On the pictures below, you can see the two folders.
The folder “The Easy Way Out”. Full of sarcastic tips to make your design super "interesting".
The folder “Try Something New”. There's a fineliner pen attached to it and this way students can experiment with it right away. Wherever they are.