Solutions the Lyrically Challenged Brief, the brief was to express song lyrics using handmade typography.
I chose to represent Micheal Jackson's song "Beat it", which is about gang violence.
Gang culture is a problem in the UK, with increasingly young people joining gangs, once someone is a
member of a gang it can be extremely difficult for them to leave. Loyalty within a gang is so strong that
members thought to have been disloyal are at risk of violence or even being killed.
"You're playing with your life this ain't no truth or dare." - lyrics from the song
I chose to use tennis balls beaten into a fence to represent the difficulty of leaving a culture that sucks in
the very young and won't let them go. For some children growing up on deprived estates the gang can
become the family. The tennis balls represent these youths or someone getting caught in a gang, at that
point of being on the verge of the vilolence, crime and drugs. Caught in the middle, stuck in the fence.
To finsih on a lighter note 'Running with Believers' are some lyrics from the song "Sticks and Stones"
by Jamie T which are lyrics that I love.
This time round I chose to represent the lyrics very literally by placing sticks on a slab of stone. My
primary focus was using natural forms and the beautiful shapes of the sticks to create a pretty and
uplifting piece of typography.
