Where am I now in my research journey?

So where am I now in my research? 

I have been getting stuck in now reading lots of useful books in the areas of letterforms and typography, both of which have brought me to a place now that has given me a new perspective on letters and how they are informed from a systematic approach when they are created. There is so much to learn when it comes to understanding typefaces and letterforms, the shapes, styles and origins to which they were influenced, make this research journey an interesting one to explore further.

Nigel Cottier Letterform Variations (2021)

 

Nigel Cottier Letterform Variations (2021)

The work of Nigel Cottier who is known for his book Letterform Variations 2021 which can be seen above, has brought me to a place that somewhat has created a curve ball moment within my research journey. This is due to me wanting to expand upon my research further looking into letterforms, glyphs and the systematic responses that come from creating such typographic forms. However, from my initial interests and discovery, I had stated within my proposal, that I would be looking to explore Hebrew typography and their interrelation with Western Design. 

This is informed by the aim to dive into analysing the systematic forms that are presented in Hebrew typography, whilst exploring the connections with the Latin alphabet through calligraphic traditions. Through the importance of exploratory practice and methodologies used in creating letterforms, I want to explore this through traditions of writing letterforms that have now been adapted to the modern day. This is to show its influences within typographic design today, whilst answering my primary question that is guiding this enquiry: To what extent do calligraphic traditions of the Hebrew and Latin alphabets influence and shape the systematic forms within typographic design? 

Further to my studies, I want to seek how this has evolved within contemporary design communications through different methodologies today? The thing is, I believe that we can benefit from the understanding of how letters and their forms were originally created through a systematic approach. Something I have discovered from my research early on is that designing letters has evolved over centuries.  They have developed languages culturally from the origins of hand lettering from the perspective of calligraphic traditions, which has informed the development of print and editorial design to branding and way-finding. 

Through the lens of analysing both the written forms of using a systematic approach when writing Hebrew and Latin, strict guidelines within angularity help to inform the scribe on how to hold the pen to create consistency when letters are written on the page.

Image showing iteration work by Jordan Jones

The image above shows an example of the written form of the Hebrew letter Alef in different letterform variations. I can't help but see a similarity to the work of Cottier's letterform variations, by the systematic forms and variations made from each Alef letter. However, each design was created with subtle variations in mind to inform different visual meanings behind this letterform. I found this exercise rather rewarding, as it showed me that using calligraphic systems allowed me to create a sense of consistency within each letterform. I believe this is due to the strict confinements of designing letters in this way and how it can still benefit within digital age today.