Gallery Descriptions
Welcome to the Typography part of projecteducate's DeviantART Gallery Descriptions Month!
Today I will explain both the traditional and digital typography galleries on DA and I start off with Digital Typography. And I start off with the Traditional Gallery!
If you are interested into the background of typography, I recomment you read A Brief History of Typography, an article I wrote for a previous week at projecteducate.
When it comes to typography, you should be aware that it is everywhere around you all the time. There is bad Typography and there is good Typography. Unfortunately less of the latter and more of random thoughtless Typography around these days.
Typography is more relevant to Design than it is to Art, but that does not mean it cannot be Art!
I want to bring Typography to people's attention, make them aware of how important it is. We all want people to hear us, we want to be understood. And no matter how important your message, bad Typography can ruin it!
And Typography is ooooold. Like… Ancient. Literally. Ancient Rome has left us with some amazing remains of culture, including Typography. There is a lot of history in Typography, from Calligraphy and Scripts, over the Letterpress up to the Digital Age. But just because we are living in the Digital Age, it does not mean Traditional Typography is dead. Oh it's quite the opposite! It is more alive than not in a long time and the DeviantART galleries are living proof of it!
So, let's dive in
Traditional Art > Typography
Traditional Art
Work that is primarily created with traditional media and physical materials.
Editing colors and contrast and removing dust or noise, any general light retouching, and cropping photographs or scans of traditional art does not turn it into digital art!
Only if you massively alter the appearance of your traditional work or add more materials* to the mix, does it stop being traditional art.
* Photographs, textures, digital painting, vector elements, 3D etc.
Only if you massively alter the appearance of your traditional work or add more materials* to the mix, does it stop being traditional art.
* Photographs, textures, digital painting, vector elements, 3D etc.
Typography
Images created using traditional means where the subject matter is text using a variety of typeface styles.
If the main focus of your work is words and letters, you should probably submit it to typography.
Of course if there is 80% drawing and 20% typography in your work, it would be fine not to post there. "There is a letter, that's typography" is bullshit
.
Of course if there is 80% drawing and 20% typography in your work, it would be fine not to post there. "There is a letter, that's typography" is bullshit
.Calligraphy
Calligraphic characters or signs depicted in an artistic and skilful manner.
This is a millenia old artform, refined through the years and still as relevant nowadays as in the Middle Ages. There are many many forms to it, the common remainder is probably that is is a form of writing that requires a certain flow to your brush or nib.
It is not hand-writing, but it is also not the fine craft of lettering. It is somewhere in between. Even though the lines are often very thing and blurry between these three.
The two biggest fractions of Calligraphy are Western and Eastern, or Latin and Non-Latin. In Europe Calligraphy is traditionally created with a nib, in Asia it is more likely to be applied with a brush. Nibs and brushes can vary immensely in shape and size and thus can create an amazing number of different styles in Calligraphy.
Typographic Stencil Art
Typography created with the use of a stencil.
This is a very clear and strict gallery, that requires you to have used a stencil to create your work. It does not have to be graffiti, you can also use brushes or sponges to apply through a stencil, but you might as well use loose materials such as sand, and apply them with a stencil.
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Other
This category does not really have a description, essentially anything that does not fit into the other two should go here. This can sculptural works of typography as well as ones created with uncommon traditional materials. Typographic collages, typewriter works, drawn and painted typography, letterings, etchings, stamps and so on and on. The list is really endless, any traditional medium can be used to create typography.
In doubt … submit to Other!
It may not be a shiny fancy gallery name, but it would be a shame for the other two galleries if they were spammed with works that don't belong there. Thank you
It may not be a shiny fancy gallery name, but it would be a shame for the other two galleries if they were spammed with works that don't belong there. Thank you
Naturally this small gallery tree leaves room for improvements
This is not forgotten and it is being worked on. Times change, art changes, galleries can change!
Questions for the reader
- Have you ever traditionally created Typography?
- Would you want to learn Traditional Typography?
- What are challenges for Traditional Typography?
