3D type (OUGD403)

As at the moment we are doing research on grids that are completely 2D we were set a task that challenged the way we thought about grids by making some 3D type. We had to make a letterform using 4 planes so from one angle it looked like the letterform but from all other angles it would just look like random shapes hanging. 

We went for a capital B from Helvetica as we thought the curves would be a good challenge.

This image shows our completed letter in cardboard. We thought we had managed to line up the letter pretty well but the letter didn't stand out very much from the background so we wanted to paint it. Also the back stroke was a little short and needed extending.

This image shows what the letter looked like from another angle so far, you can see how from this angle it just looks quite randomly hung.

We painted out letter white and added a pink a background so it stood out more and it looked even better this way. We had also been using a viewfinder we made to help us align the pieces so they looked like the letter from a certain position and the image above shows what it looked like from there.

Although we were using a viewfinder I actually think it worked a lot better from the angle of the photo above, the letter looked a lot less cramped this way and you could really see all the pieces well. 

And lastly this image shows how it looked from a different angle. Overall I found this task really fun trying to work out the different sizes of the pieces according to their places. It also helped me think about the uses 3D grids could have in design. I have always had an interest in anamorphic typography like this so actually doing it was really good.

There are a lot of examples of anamorphic typography around as its something thats becoming really popular now in exhibitions in particular. But out of all the examples Thomas Quinns example 'Face reality as it is' is probably my favourite because of its really perfect neatness. He has done quite a few pieces like this often for art galleries as part of exhibition branding. 

These two images show what the piece looks like from different angles. His interesting choice of a tricky looking wall is real ambitious and he has executed it perfectly. I really love this type of work that tricks your eye as no matter what angle you look at it you'd be intrigued and you would make it a kind of game trying to find the perfect angle to look at it from. Its a great way to engage people with your work.

These images above are an example by Axel Peemoller. This type was painted onto a carpark as directions to cars telling them which ramps to go down. Its a brilliant example of how this style of work can be used out of the art galleries and in a more practical way.

There are a lot more examples of type like this but there are my favourites. A good blog post showing some other referances to this is (http://blog.typograffit.com/2011/07/anamorphic-typography/).

Overall I am really interested in using perspective and anamorphism in my work in the future and this task was really helpful in showing an approach I could take to it.