Not Your Typical Type

I stumbled upon custom chalk letterer Dana Tanamachi a little while ago, but I still enjoy looking at her work and process. She currently works for Louise Fili. I am mostly impressed with the way she manages to incorporate an unusual and time-consuming process into a beautiful and elegant design. Her work exhibits a modern feeling yet the chalk material adds an older charisma that probably brings back childhood memories to most of us. The relationship between vintage and modern is explored through her layouts and styling of letters, and I feel that her pieces are noteworthy of establishing this balance which is present throughout all of her work. You can view more of her work and publications which employ her lettering athttp://www.danatanamachi.com

I also looked at artist Vladimir Koncar, from Croatia, for inspiration about unusual and unconventional type. Koncar really pushes his materials outside the box. In fact, none of his explorations here were done through the computer. I feel like this is important to see because too often these days, designers limit themselves to what they can do from their desk, instead of getting out and looking for other opportunities that may suit their designs better. I think his soil type is especially fascinating, because it deals with living/changing forms. His statements at the bottom are interesting because of the solid relationship of message and medium. They relate the idea he is expressing to the type, just as designers relate their type to the ideas they are trying to get across, but Koncar does it in a much different, and stronger way. While his typography may not work for most projects, I think it is important to keep in mind the endless forms letters can take on, instead of being manipulated solely on the computer.