Response to an ISTD brief ‘Paper Messengers’.
The brief asked to re-imagine and re-evaluate the stamp and its communicative power using typographic forms.
I focused on storytelling as being a powerful method of communication. For the content of the stamps I chose five stories from five British authors and then selected fonts that reflected the character of the stories and authors. Taking influence from the fact the stamps are made up of sentences, I used the idea of line length, and created the stamps as one thin long line that wraps around the envelope.
I wanted to tackle the fact that many people don’t write letters and also add another function to the stamp, so the stamps can be scanned through an app, opening up a whole world behind them. The sentences on the stamps were cut off so they end on a cliffhanger, in order for the reader to discover the ending, they need to use the app and scan the stamp. Once scanned, the end of the cliffhanger is revealed and there are options to read whole novels by the author. There is also a share option, which rather than sharing through social media, downloads a letter template that must be handwritten and sent through the post.
The brief also asked for a publication that supports and promotes the stamps. I designed this in the format of three envelops, one inside the other, that work the opposite way to the stamp – still in one long strip, but unwraps away from the envelope, revealing the text on the inside. The strip was perforated and tears all the way around the envelopes.
Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights
Font : Historical FellTypeItalic
Wuthering Heights was written in 1847, so the type for this story needed to have a histroical feel to it. Choosing italic gives a more handwritten feel. Ligatures were used to add a decorated old fashioned feel to the type.
Ian Fleming – For Your Eyes Only
Font : Futura
Futura was chosen as Ian fleming was writing books during the 60s and was a popular font at that time and released shortly before. All caps have been used to give the type a stronger feel to show the character of Fleming’s books.
J.K.Rowling – The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Font : Manson Alternate
Choosing Manson gave a magical feel to the type which was suited to the story and the author. The form of the letters gave a nice shape and wave to the type.
Lewis Carroll – Through the Looking Glass
Font : ITC Caslon bold
Through the looking glass was written in 1871, so a font deisgned before or around that time was needed to look older than some of the more modern stories on the stamps.
Type has been reflected to portray the content of the book, where Alice steps through a mirror into a reflected world. However, only certain letters were reflected so that the scentence is still legible.
Type has been reflected to portray the content of the book, where Alice steps through a mirror into a reflected world. However, only certain letters were reflected so that the scentence is still legible.
Roald Dahl – BFG
Font : Double Dutch Smooth OT
Roald Dahl’s stories are very quirky and unusual, therefore a typeface that reflected this was chosen.
Also, the type does not follow any typographic rules and therefore conforms to no baseline, is set haphazardly and has a variet of font size and angles.
