Stage Typography – Visualgroove

So here I am again, deciding to type up on my thoughts on what may be considered a reading. I said that I would start researching in January and this is the start of the project.

Febby Tan is the designer, and she has just finished her final year of her BA in Graphic Design. I am interested in her “applied typography” college project. On the website, it says that the students had to “apply a typography design to a real object.” She applied the typography to the stage and scale models of a drum kit and a guitar, and has a strong Indonesian flavour which ties all the elements together. This is relateable to my project as my first mini-goal is to find out how to apply typographical methods to costume (clothing) design. The way that she has used typography on her designs reflect one of the methods that I had come up with before.

Instead of using typography as the main point of focus, she uses it as a texture device. In her research process, she shows that her basis of design was a batik pattern from Indonesia, then there is a jumble of letters to fill in the black space of the pattern. This was then repeated over and over again.

What I think of this technique is if you want to cover an area with type, then it's the way to go. However, I don't think the letter forms actually mean anything, and thus isn't a real use of typography – more use of letterforms to provide a texture. I like to have a meaning that is represented in the typeface that I have chosen and if it's relateable to the design itself. So rather than using a block serif font, maybe something more that either looks “indonesian” or even go with the old written system of the Javanese alphabet. It doesn't even need to be comprehendable, it's such a beautiful writing system and would've given it an old school Indonesian flavour.

I don't know what the constraints for the assignment would've been, but I think this could've been acceptable, you would just have to prove that it is a writing system and thus it counts as typography. But I digress, it's a beautiful price of design and it think it would've satisfied the brief. It's just another of my interests; using non-english typography in designs and how different the typography becomes when trying to connote the same message. And darn it, I'm passionate about everything that I enjoy doing.

Back to my project. I think I could modify the technique and make the letter forms actually mean something to the character that I am trying to portray. I will be focusing on the Baker, as that is the costume that I want to make, but I will write about anything if my head moves in that direction.

I could apply this techinque of typography to the bakers costume if I needed to create some texture within the clothing. I don't want to have heavy blocks of colour in the costumes, it has to be broken up with another colour if possible. I could use the technique that Febby had used, but making it more relateable to the characters by using lyrics or pieces of script in a jumbled and organized mess. I'm going for a medieval baker look – something that looks old and where fairytales could've been set – but with some more modern accessories.

My vision for the baker

I'm imagining him in a fair few layers – it seems to be cold in the woods. However, when he is working he normally wears a short sleeved bakers tunic with a plain white shirt underneath. He is wearing basic pants/leggings that keep him warm and a pair of basic leather boots. When he goes out he is wearing a pair of thick pants, and a jacket hand-made lovingly by his wife.

As he moves out into the woods, he is wearing his father's hunting jacket – the jacket that he has found and with it has found his father's strength and protectiveness. This comes in the form of wanting his wife to stay home and chastising her whenever they meet up in the wood. There is also a scarf that his wife brings to him – I see it working as though the scarf horribly matches with the hunting jacket, but she sees it as a moment to follow him into the woods. He wouldn't dare to take it off though, it would just give her another reason to move back into the woods.

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These thoughts have triggered a lot of other thoughts that I have about how the costumes can represent other characters hold upon the character that is wearing them. But that's for another post as I think I have majorly stepped over the 750 word mark. Signing out!

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Sources:

http://visualgroove.net/v3/stagetypography/

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/javanese.htm

Introduction to posts costumes

First post of the year, and it's time for a new post. I got my acceptance e-mail and now an honours student! Huzza! It's a cause for celebration, it means that I can start and focus on what I really want to do once I get out of here; make my way into the theater set design realm.

I've made a point that this will not be a “academic” blog right from the start. My writing style is write whatever is on my mind and then refine, refine, REFINE. This is why I've decided to go and complete this blog in the style of 750words. The idea is that I just write whatever is on my mind at that particular moment about my life, and just keep writing until I hit my goal and finish you train of thought. I've done it away from honours, and it is very very useful. I feel good after I write down the things that have been on my mind, and it clears my head. It's been such a good idea, that me and a friend have pledged that we will do this everyday. (By pledge, I mean “Bug each other until we do it.”)

As my life will be all about honours this year, it'll be constantly on my mind. I need to be able to put all those thoughts down just in case that I forget something along the way. In turn, it will keep me sane and stop me talking constantly about my project somewhere else (as I am already doing that on my blog. This exercise is purely a train of thought, and if someone says something that I disapprove of, I will state it plainly on this blog. It will give me time to reflect on what you have said and I may even make a compromise. Do not take offense :D

Okay, maybe I should start on my primary thoughts on what my project will need done. It's gonna be a hellova lot of work, but I think it will be really satisfying. I've been primarily thinking on how to incorporate the use of typography into each and every facet of the stage design. From the lights to costumes to set to opening the show and closing the show and even between the acts. I know that I will have fun looking at all of these things, I will be happy to research all these topics throughout the year.

I guess a good start will be writing about the aspects that I have been thinking of the most. The costume designs for each of the characters.

I'm lucky that I have actually performed in the musical with Penrith Musical Comedy Company and have seen the 1978 recording of the show. I have formed my costume ideas around the ideas that have been set while watching/reminiscing about each performance of Into the Woods. There is a lot of symbolism in the choices that the directors of each show had made, and now as I'm in the creative director's role, I have to add my own twist, which would be through the use of typography.

I was thinking of using passages from the brothers grimm's fairytales in their costume design, as the storyline of the musical is based of the brothers grimm retellings of the tales. This also means that the costumes should be strong and bold, as people usually think of fairytales as light and airy, but the grimm's retellings are anything but! Eyes getting plucked out by birds, falling into a patch of briar and being blinded or being outcast in the desert by your mother due to having an unexpected encounter with a guy... Not family friendly, but gets the point across. I have to reflect these themes in the costume designs.

So, in my project proposal, I stated that I will fully realize a single costume. I was thinking of treating myself. Which means I think I will create the baker's costume for myself, and if I'm allowed to, wear it around the graduate exhibition.

The baker the the main character of the story and is from the Rapunzel storyline, though he isn't referenced (the one referenced in the book is his father) ; all he wants is a child, but has to go on a journey to collect certain items for a witch due to his father stealing magic beans from her garden. Optimistic in the first act, reaching for a reason to live in the second, he goes though a lot of different emotions and inner dialogue and is a very complex character. Once I get the script of the show, I will go more in depth with my character analysis, but as I cant think of lines off the top of my head, it's time to end the post.