Studio Brief 1 - To Kill a Mockingbird - Typographic Experimentation

Typography

By rearranging the typography within the title visual elements from the story have been included.

Layering the words one above each other has allowed the stems of letters to be connected to create different elements. The top design plays with the image of the swing that the children have in their garden. This is created by using the T as a branch which the swing 'hangs' from and the O as the 'tyre'. The second design uses the idea of a gun sight which is targeted on the Mockingbird, making reference to Tom being shot. By extending the stems of the letters above and in the 'I' in Bird this is supposed to draw the eye towards the 'target'. Using internal lines within the O was supposed to  emphasis the idea of focusing in on the target more, however this looks a little clumsy and bulky because of the use of similarly thick lines to the type. The third design plays with the concept of race with the black O representing Tom amongst a white majority. By using the O, which is quite central this evokes the sense that 'Tom' is surrounded and outnumbered.      

The 'chalk' effect makes reference to the films opening sequence which had the title set within it. This as a concept and visually was very strong. Using a digitally created 'chalk' effect is not very realistic so this could be improved by physically experimenting with mark making and scanning the image in. Placing the black 'A Mockingbird' on the white is effective however it is difficult to place the 'To Kill' without it overlapping onto the background, in which case it makes it difficult to find a colour that stands out enough on both but that ties with an aspect of the book. Adding the gun sight marks to the black O in the top right design looks too obvious and out of place. The bottom right design is effective on the grey background which reflects the colour of the Mockingbird. The red letters in the design are supposed to mimic the the lines on a gun sight again, whilst also emphasising danger through the use of red.

Cutting the type so its split black and white is possible too obvious a response to the racial theme within the book.The same can be said for the use of red in the bottom right design which suggests a death within the book . The top left design uses hand generated mark making in response to previous experimentation, which is much more authentic, however there are still problems with the placing of the text on the texture. 

In the top left design the swing is created very simply within the text layout which stands out amongst the white letters. By extending the T in the middle left design this creates more of an impression of the T being a tree branch. In the top right design the two Os are linked which is supposed to signify the unity between Atticus and Tom which are represented through black and white and connected by a grey strand.