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Symbols:The Alphabet of Human Thought

“Modern Hieroglyphs,” (PDF) chapter from Ellen Lupton’s Design, Writing Research

Gerd Arntz and Isotype (also choose the ISOTYPE link in the menu at the bottom of the page)

Pola Wren

Richard Humphreys

EXERCISE ONE : ICON Set

choose from one of the following typefaces:

Helvetica

Ariel

Chicago

Gill Sans

Peignot

Cooper Black

Century Schoolbook

Bodoni

Bembo

Didot

Baskerville

Garamond

Clarendon

Blackletter

Fraktur

Times New Roman

Research the history of the typeface.

Use the alphabet (converted to outlines in Illustrator) to create a set of 5-9 icons based upon imagery/art/industrial or product design from the time period. (cut up with the knife tool and reassemble)

Your icons should work together as a system and relate in terms of level of detail and scale.

Do not change the letters scale.

Do not skew or distort the letters.

Do not fill in the counters.

Do not change the underlying path of the letters.

(note: this project is an expansion of Hellen Lupton's class project "Helvetica Nation" for Graphic Design II at the Maryland Institute College of Art)

Working with restraints

Conveying ideas through minimal means

Relationships between contemporary design across discipline

Relating parts of a set as development of a style