Although I have two videos on the way detailing the entire process of the production of the boards I though it worth just reflecting on a few stages of each board here. I have used stills from the film I collected.
Board 1:
I found that a large preparation of my time for this board was taken up just laying out the construction lines. This is partly because these construction lines are part of the design. However, it was a fairly therapeutic process that really helped me render the complex type forms well.
Because it was the first board that I did, a lot of people came up to me asking what I was doing, and although not all of them came into frame, it was an instant situation where what I was doing was facilitation social proximity.
Creating the soft blurred effect of chalk dust on the first board was tricky but I managed it with a soft dry cloth to smudge it.
This created a really nice enclosed space feeling around the lettering which just made them occupy the space better. This board took a little longer than anticipated, possibly because I was being far too careful (as it was my first board). However, I do think that it was worth it.
Board 2:
The construction lines for this design could afford to be a bit more rough because I would be rubbing them out. The verticals of this lettering style proved particularly difficult at they larger scale. However, the vertical guides of the construction lines really helped and it didn't take nearly as long to get the outlines done.
As this project progressed I did find that a large amount of what this process is, is removal. I spent so long taking chalk off the board, be it construction line or something I got wrong. I found that if you didn't remove the chalk effectively the high contrast look of the board would be lost. Just as much of a skill as getting the chalk on the board!
I struggled a lot with the ornamentation of this board. This was because it needed to suggest symmetry without adhering completely to it, whilst also having to work around text that was by no means symmetrical.
I spent sometime working out the chalk combinations that would work on the leaves and settles on suggesting depth with increasingly light shades of green on each leaf. This was great but I am still unimpressed with the overall pattern created by the vines. I do like the overall feel however, and think that its not so bad for a lettering style that proved so hard to get right.
Board 3:
Board 3 started with the lettering outlines, just like all the others. I had to refer constantly to my sketch book in order to get both the glyphs and the spacing right.
Then came creating the sense of depth and reflection with the white highlights and coloured low lights. Again, with reference to my sketches this went perfectly well and the colours chosen combined gem like brightness whilst also being that shadow parts of the letters.
I didn't want to use different colours for each line because I felt this would be far too much, but I did want several different colours to have that bright sparkle and optimism.
The beam of light was problematic and although I smudged and smeared it didn't feel quite right until I could make sure all of the smears were going in a consistent and correct direction, otherwise it just felt wrong. I thought about fitting some 'light' around the letters but this was far to difficult and my control of the density of the chalk in those small areas was limited and therefore not very good. In the end I edged around the lettering softening it at the edges to suggest it falling on them.
Board 4:
The construction lines for board four were quite complex because of the different lettering styles I wanted to use. I worked around this by dividing the board up with my set square and working from those straight lines to create the top and bottom sections. I also used my ruler width as a consistent X-hieght measurement to maintain some constancy in scale, if not in style.
The increased tracking on the lettering on the lower part of the board really made the words pop from a distance and the contrast in the visual texture between lettering styles ended up really good. The flourishes and unevenness of the top in contrast to the stark distance of the bottom.
As my designs dictated I recreated the vines from board 2 but in warm and autumnal colours. This time I managed to be much more consistent and symmetrical with is what the somewhat inconstant lettering needed.
I used yellows and oranges for the leaves again using three colours to suggest depth. I ensured that the stem weight of the vines was slightly less than that on the 2nd board because the type it sits next to is much lighter and still needs to be the dominant form on the board.
I had a bit of a change of heart when it came to the lower part of the 4th board. I was going to create digital patterns of some sort, form mother boards or the like. However, I liked the abstract distance that the type had established and felt that a simple physical representation of technology would not actually communicate the distance and isolation that I was trying to. Instead I tried to create the coloured clouds of nebulae around the type, suggesting the 'alienating' depths of space.
I used highlights on the edges of the clouds to suggest the glowing of the type, as if microchips were lighting our way into this isolation.
Overall there were only a few hiccups along the way. Filming went pretty well but I found that during times when I was either charging the battery or wiping the memory card loads of people came up for a chat that wasn't caught on the camera. Also, I did over run on the amount of time I set aside for the project. Only by one morning so it wan't huge problem.
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