Alphabet Soup Crit

The class was given a typographical brief to produce a set or series of 10 letters that explored various visual variations of the same letter. We all had to explore and communicate an interpretation of a word that we picked from a randomiser pot. The class were restricted to working with an existing letter form and a format of 15x15 centremetre square. We also had to work to the strict colour scheme of black and white.


In the final crit all the class's work were seperated into groups of the same word for example my word was "Extract." We all placed our sets on the same table and then swopped with the opposite of our word which was "Expand." We then went on to crit the opposite's group anonymously. 


At first we discussed the work on the table in general but then went onto a deeper discussion about what works and what doesnt communicate the word the letters were trying to illustrate. We discussed what sets works because people designed there letters to work as a series of 10, however we also had to mark the crafting of the letters individually. This meant that some letters were not as strong as others and the message was less clear.


As a group we talked about what criteria we should mark the letterforms on and the whole class discussed this with our tutors. The next task was to narrow all the sets down to 5 of the strongest letter forms that communicate their word. The whole class all agreed that this was a harsh way of criting because some peoples sets were eliminated straight away. Despite this we thought the elminination process worked because the 5 that were left worked really well and those who kept their ideas simple were the most successful.


Towards the end of the crit each group got up and presented their final 5 letters and discussed to the class why they chose them. Some letters worked under different criteria for example one letter may be the most legible but another may have been the most creative.


The work I created in response to the brief was a range of different ideas exloring the word "extract." I managed to get one of my letters up on the final board despite me thinking it was my weakest and less successful idea. The group that presented it said it was simple and very legible. This made me think that sometimes the similiar the better!