PRIMARY TOOLS & MATERIALS:
PEN, PROJECTOR

Additional Tools & Materials: pencil, paper, tracing paper, scanner, Adobe Photoshop, drinking glasses, bottles

This letter study is inspired by the work of Herb Lubalin, a pioneer in phototypesetting techniques. This study is the combination of writing tools and light technology. The two I chose to work with were pen and a digital projector. I thought projecting a letter drawn by hand was an appropriate way to honor the advances in typography that phototypesetting - placing type negatives onto photo-sensitive paper - brought to the profession of graphic design. This letter represents the customized, creative typefaces that emerged once designers were no longer restricted by what kinds of typefaces could practically be created for metal typesetting.

I began this letter with pencil and paper, then duplicated my final design onto tracing paper with a Micron pen. I then scanned it into Photoshop, where I could correct some small imperfections and adjust contrast. To project this letter, I isolated it so I could experiment with the letter in its original black-on-white form, and reversed to white-on-black. I projected it onto a wall and photographed the projection, which gives the image a fuzzy appearance. 

The distorted images are all images of the same letter U projected on the wall, but with various transparent objects placed between the projector and the wall, such as wine glasses, glass coasters, and even a bottle of bourbon. Each object distorted the letter in a different way, which led to complex patterns and disorienting refraction. The process of searching for objects that would distort the letter but not render it illegible was challenging, and often led to surprising results.