Type Making Workshop & Thoughts on Competitions

Hi Creative Adventurers, First of all, I'm really surprised and also very happy that my post about Fred Deakin's workshop on Monday during Design Manchester 2015 has been seen by him on twitter. Wow to social media. I thought I might never be able to say thank you to him for his workshop. But here you go, I don't know how he found it but I'm glad and hope it can help other students who are still considering to visit one of his workshops to really give it a try.

It is a nice feeling that all this effort of writing a post doesn't just merely serve my own self-reflection but can hopefully also inspire others. Good, onto the other things today ...

TYPE MAKING workshop & Competition

Back to university and "Visual Communication"-class. It came as a surprise that we were asked to participate in a (small?) competition for experimental typography. Originally we were supposed to present our Science Week Photo responses (which has kept me busy the whole week and especially yesterday) but well, it seems that this course is indeed very ... flexible. However, I'm glad that we are not just bound to a strict schedule and can respond to spontaneous opportunities like this. Thank you Salford Uni.

The purpose of the competition has been kept quite secret. I overheard that it has something to do with the Media Department but our tutors said we shouldn't be influenced by that - mysterious.

The task

Everyone was given a few A4 sheets with a word in a different font. I chose "Development", "Zoom" and "Question". You can see my experiments here.

I absolutely LOVED this exercise. Everything had to be done by the end of the session (~ 2h time) but I didn't feel pressure and everything developed quite by itself. Maybe also because I'm not so focused on the competition but more on the process of creating and experimenting.

Is it just about winning a prize?

Just my thoughts but ... isn't that what a competition should be for? To foster and develop your creativity to create awesome and different work? Competitions usually give certain restraints like time, medium, theme etc. and this can spark new creative expressions that you might have not thought about. Sometimes I feel that competitions are too much about prizes and too little about acknowledging our own development.

Of course I'd like to win (I don't even know if there is any prize in fact) but I think that's normal. Who doesn't want his or her work to be appreciated and maybe even published? However, I guess I felt so free while creating because it wasn't my focus. I wanted to try new things and it was such a good experience to see how easily you can use an existing typeface and completely manipulate it with a few easy tools.

I enjoyed it so much that I'm now considering to make another class on skillshare about experimental type making. I really believe that it helped me to switch on the right side of the brain and to release my creativity. If I do make a class, I will let you know on my blog.

Have you worked with type and ever tried Experimental Typography? What are your thoughts on competitions? Share your thoughts and links to your work in the comments below.

Have a wonderful day,

Romica :)

Google & Material Design

https://design.google.com/videos/making-material-design/

Google Design

A short video about their exploration of material design. I find it fascinating how they try to create a more organic feeling of space and depth on digital devices through actual shadows on paper.

What do you think and have you heard of this before?

Do you have a Creative Bucket List?

Romica: Hey Creative Adventurers, how are you doing?

You: Hey, I'm great. It has been a while, what have you been up to?

Romica: Well, I'm working on a secret project. That's why I have been more quiet recently but great things are to come, so stay tuned. One of the things on my creative bucket list will be ticked off soon. Quite frankly speaking, I'm excited!

What is a Creative Bucket List?

Have you ever heard of a creative bucket list? Basically, it's a list of creative goals you want to achieve before you pass on, turn 30 or any other milestone you set for yourself. So what it does is taking the concept of a Bucket List and combines it with a focus on creative goals. So, same concept, with a special focus.

Why do I need a Creative Bucket List?

Ever wanted to do a creative project really badly but haven't come around to it? Maybe it's because you haven't set yourself a clear goal + deadline. Creative Bucket Lists help you to stay focused & evaluate your creative projects.

Many of your projects will stay dreams until you give them:

• a clear goal (purpose) and
• a deadline (time restriction).

I have been guilty of this as well. I had and have many creative dreams and for some "that year" or "that day" has long passed and nothing has manifested - yet. So why do I believe they work? Because I have tried it. You could maybe also call this more professionally "Project management for Designers/Creatives" but I prefer the Creative Bucket List.

Disclaimer: Try it if you wish - this is not a bullet proof approach but it worked for me and I hope it will work for you. If not, everyone is different and works differently and maybe there is a better method for you out there. Good Luck :)

How to make your own Creative Bucket List

So what creative project has been on your mind for a long time?

• Writing & publishing your own book?
• Sharing your skills and teaching people what you have learned?
• Creating your very own font?

These are some of my creative milestones I want to achieve.

Maybe you have dreamed of something completely different. Whatever it is, try this process and let me know what has happened

1. Give it a WHY - Give it a PURPOSEThings that are important to us get done and things that aren't our priority usually don't. Find an answer to the question WHY!Why do you want to do it? Why is it important for you and or other people? Why does it move your heart?
2. Give it a WHAT - Give it a clear goal & write it down!Most of the time you already know the answer to this. You know what project you want to do ... BUT have you written it down? Anywhere where you would remember it? No, well then ... Write it down! No? You have an incredible memory and don't need physical lists? Ok, and you know what ... I created my physical list AFTER I'm almost done with the first point. This was possible because my WHY was so strong, that I couldn't get it out of my mind anymore.For some people, writing it down, is optional. And I think point 1 and 3 are the most important but it helps if you know exactly what you want to achieve and if you can come back to it on paper.
3. Give it a WHEN - Give it a deadlineI know, I know ... who really likes deadlines? They put us under pressure, they can make us feel awkward etc. I still believe if you don't give yourself a deadline it's less likely to achieve what you want.I don't say you have to set it in stone and it can't be moved at all. But it really helps to have a definite restricted time period to work with and a specific date to work towards. For me it was the birthday of a person, who is very important to me. And this doesn't move to my liking, so I thought it was a very good time restriction.

Conclusion

I'd really love to see what your creative bucket lists are and how you work towards them. Maybe some points on your list will need to "ripen", to really have the strong WHY to move you forward. That's fine. In the end you are in charge of your life and maybe you want it all to develop naturally. However, I found this method very helpful in achieving my first creative bucket list project that I just always wanted to do but have never done - until now.

Disclaimer again: I'm glad that you read through the whole post, ... just to remind you again: Try it if you wish - this is not a bullet proof approach but it worked for me and I hope it will work for you. If not, everyone is different and works differently and maybe there is a better method for you out there. Good Luck :)

PS: If you want to know what is on my creative bucket list at the moment and why, check out my future posts.