ARKITYPO

Posted by Jennie Spiller

Arkitypo is a typographic collaboration between design studio – Johnson Banks and digital media university – Ravensbourne.

Taking obsession over typography to a new level, they have produced a stunning alphabet of conceptual sculptures. The idea for each sculpture stems from the typeface chosen, which always starts with the same letter. For example A is “Akzidenz Grotesk” – designed in 1896, and forerunner to Helvetica, Akzidenz was part of a family of early sans-serifs called ‘grotesques’. It comes in a range of weights and styles: for this design a condensed weight is ‘fractalised’, turning a grotesque into a thing of beauty.

Its definitely worth all having a look through the whole alphabet and reading more here. They form some lovely sculptures, and you’ll learn a good amount about the history of typefaces.

The project took over six months to complete. Johnson banks first researched each letter, and then developed drawings, maquettes, and simple 3D renders before transferring the imagery and ideas to the team at Ravensbourne. There, designers further developed the 3D models, collaborating virtually with johnson banks, before beginning the first test prints. Some ideas worked immediately; others required refining in order to not fall apart. Some letters took as long as eight hours to print.

The collection is currently being exhibited at Pengiun Pool in London.
“The exhibition itself is only on for a short amount of time – it’s open today (Monday) then until the 8th this week, 9.00am to 6.00pm daily.”

Posted on Monday, February 6th, 2012 at 6:25 pm by Jennie Spiller. Filed under MISC. Follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.