PRIMARY TOOLS & MATERIALS:
CUTTING TOOLS, LIGHT TABLE

Additional Tools & Materials: printer paper, ruler, pencil, tape, camera

This letter is the combination of hand cutting and a light table. Using a ruler, I created a symmetrical block letter V, then cut it away from a sheet of white printer paper. Then I placed another sheet of paper under the first, and cut away an organic, free-hand letter V. I repeated this three more times, then taped all the layers together. I chose to use text weight printer paper for its semi-opaque quality; while the letter looks interesting in full light (see image 4) it really comes alive when it's placed on the light table. Each layer of paper adds another degree of opacity, and the bluish LED light from the light table filters through the white paper to create a purple glow. This, combined with the letter's organic shape makes it look almost like water, or an island. It also achieves a sort of optical illusion; it's hard to tell whether the brightest layer is the highest or lowest level of the shape. If you don't know this is lit from beneath, it could easily be a stack of different colored purple shapes, with that lightest layer on top. 

Using light in unexpected ways is a great way to experiment in typography. We're all used to reading the written word on a page. But taking special measures to craft this letter in a way that activates it by light makes it more sculptural and meaningful.