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So this is what sparked my development of my blender typography. As at this point I knew I wanted my collage moving video, as well ad overlapping text that is saying and suggesting something completely different to Hanoi's Hannahs speech.
representing the confusion of manipulation, and sparking the confusion feeling within the exhibition as you have the choice to listen to Hanoi Hannah words, or read the text that is saying something completely different. .
I looked into Vietnamese propaganda which has been an ongoing investigation throughout this project, as my concept revolves around war. ( other research manly in Padlet ). These are a couple examples of posters they created throughout the Vietnamese war.
Above are some of my favourite compositions partnered with a effective typography. I say effective with a pinch of salt as this was used to control citizens, so bold text, easily readable typography is important and was a common thread throughout the propaganda posters. Above shows an array of different typographic fonts, so I had freedom in the one I chose for my installation., however it gives me touch points : Bold, capital lettering, readable
Typography examples like the one to the left I really liked the unique shape of the typography, and the " old timey " appearance. I think there is common characteristics between text elements of the examples above to this one.
However, to touch back to my concept : creating a confusing installation : typography like this is perfect for if I were to create propaganda posters. I am taking inspiration rather, and to make this element of the installation fit in with the rest, there needs to be an element of distress and confusion.
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I then wanted to experiment and research into more distorted typography. Still readable but at less ease. The project above I found on Behance, "experimental typography posters" and was created by multiple owners : Aleksey Zabrodin, Daria Dyachenko, Konstantin Frolov and Jane Dorfman just to mention a few.
I really liked the overall aesthetic of the work above. It almost feels like the typography has been done in one swift motion per peace, with little attention to precision. This is the benefits mediums like paint can provide. Due to the Tetxures, unique shapes and composition of elements the text is more of a journey to read,. its not a simple one line absorption of letters. This is something I want to try and capture within my typography
Then I delved into google fonts to select the fonts I thought would work best for this project and the experimentation to follow after.
experiments with Hanoi Hannahs speech with paint as the medium - can find in earlier developmental pages
The text that really stood out to me and I felt would be perfect for remaining readable even with distortions over the top, or physically distorting the typography was
Be Vietnam was made to compliment the essence of our beloved Tiếng Việt ( native language of the Vietnamese (Kinh) people) and was lucky enough to be adopted by many millions of users around the globe. The typeface inherits the spirit of the original Be Vietnam and takes it to the next level. Google fonts refined Vietnamese letterforms with diacritics adaptive forms for specific use cases. We engineered them for better readability; and much more improvements.
The Tiếng Việt in Vietnam pro
click on the image to see larger
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After researching and gaining inspiration again from Behance the work to the left : artists : Alex Ortiga, csenge sain, Student Works - Media & Design Institute, EKKE University, Eger, Hungary.
I really liked the warped typography, on Alex Ortigas work : ( white background with the most text ) : and the overlapping effect he has over the typography.
I knew this Is something I wanted to experiment into
I then created this overlapping piece. With vietnam pro as the typography and the Tiếng Việt symbols overlapping in the same font - pulling together my inspiration and research : still confusing but legible.
above are experimentations of how I am incoperating moving image into the font I created above.. I edited these on photoshop then brought them to photomosh, and then lastly aftereffects to get these moving effects. I decided to experiment with plainly white text and then rainbow ( incorporating the colour palette based on the manipulation cycle ). Even though I like how much the white stands out, the rainbow text is more encompassing of my colour scheme and bringing in manipulation through propaganda.
After conducting these experiments I really enjoyed distorting the typography, and the confusion idea and the extended time of reading is strong. However, I feel like my distortions above are too similar to my inspiration example by Ortiga, and I want to make my typography to stand apart.
so I started with changing the distortions
Again using vietnam pro as my typography, I used symbols and motifs from the Tiếng Việt and placed this over there letter in there alphabet - then applied a distort - twirl - filter on photoshop
I love the final typeface that came out of this method. Each letter I would try many different layouts and then settle on the most visually appealing but also taking into consideration the balance between distortion and readability
: I called it VietUSA to represent the conflict of the distortion and non distortion of the letters relating it back to the conflict of the Vietnamese and American countries in the Vietnamese war. Having to coexist in the same country whilst fighting each other.
After asking friends and family if they liked my typography and understood the message of confusion and distortion I want to convey : similar to what happens to the mind within manipulation / propaganda
- I began to make these three-dimensional
why 3d? because If I choose to go down the route of presenting parts of Hanoi Hannah's speech in typography I want it to stand out from the moving image in the background
I want to state that words in manipulation / propaganda hurt and are very detrimental and scarring. Therefore a 3D letter intensifies the words and makes them louder, harder to not see
Tiếng Việt distortions
these were made on nomad sculpt
After placing a text layer, and applying vietnam pro in the font section of blender, I extruded, subdivision modified, subdivided, and smoothed out the text. Then went on to experiment with lighting and colour. I settled with the darker lighting to make the colours and text stand out more. Each letter I played around with the placement of the distorted Tiếng Việt.
I am extremely happy with the final renders and I am glad I have expanded my skills in blender a little more through producing this work. This was the first time I have ever created typography, and brought in Obj. files into blender from Nomad. These are two skills I will most definitely continue to use in my future projects. Even though I think this wasn't neccasry and possibly extra work load to place on myself, blender is a program I want to continue to get better and better at so therefore I think it was well worth my time. The only thing I would change if I had longer and learnt the skill is know how to animate these, so I could seamlessly place them into my moving image. However at this moment I don't know how to do this, so I will further animate on aftereffects and photomosh.