Monday, 19 February 2018

OUGD405 - Cell Phone Symphony - Initial Ideas

OUGD405 - Cell Phone Symphony - Initial Ideas

Poster 1

This poster aims to achieve a contemporary aesthetic while still retaining visual links to the year Levin performed Cell Phone Symphony - 2001. It utilises both physical and digital processes. The background image shows the numbers 0-9 which vary in size and colour. These 2 visual factors were determined by the frequency in which each number occurred within 10 different phones numbers; the largest number being the one which occurred the most frequently. This image was then printed and distorted in a scanner in order to visually communicate sound waves.

Two different fonts from the ‘Lo-Res’ typeface are used in this poster in an effort to reference the more basic technology used when Cell Phone Symphony was performed in 2001, which they do this fairly successfully with their pixelated letterforms. The typography is arranged non linearly; individual characters are varying sizes, some have been modified ( e.g. the descenders of the p’s have been extended) and all the type is arranged around the structure of the background image to achieve an unconventional and informal  layout which when paired with the visual references to the technology of the early 2000’s, gives the poster a visual style reminiscent of David Carson.



Poster 2

The background image of this poster was created using practical collage methods on an image of the numbers 0-9. Similarly to the first poster, each number has a visual factor changed in direct proportion to the frequency that it appeared in 10 random phone numbers, in this instance it was the vertical length of each number. This image was then cut up in a modular grid and the squares of the grid were then changed around in order to examine the relationship between the basic forms that remained.

The typography used on this poster is fairly unrefined and is definitely the weakest part of the composition. Typography in Helvetica, Source Code and Lo-Res is sporadically applied to blank areas left by the background image in various fluorescent colours in order to visually communicate the idea of various sounds from different phones coming from different places. Feedback from a group critique suggested the background image and the rationale behind the process used to create it was successful, however if this poster were to be developed, the typography would have to be changed. One challenge with designing this poster is the hierarchy between the type and such an intricate background.



Poster 3

Displaying a similar harmony as Poster 1 between contemporary design and referencing older technology, this poster design uses an image of an old Nokia phone which has been warped on a scanner. Square sections of this image are used on a modular grid in irrational arrangement. 

Each bright manipulated letterform of the Helvetica heading type has a drop shadow in an inverted colour, creating 3d characters with vibrating boundaries separated by white outlines, reminiscent of early word art on Microsoft Word, however retaining a modern style. The body text of the poster is presented in Lo-Res, again denoting to early technology. The most successful part of this design is the heading typography and if this poster were to be developed further, the body text and the structure of the background images could be elaborated in order to create a hierarchy which compliments the main typography of the poster.



Poster 4

This minimal poster design focuses purely on typography; The main type of the poster lies in a square modular grid towards the top of the composition where ‘Cell Phone Symphony’ is presented with each letter in a section of the 4 by 4 grid. The majority of the letterforms which are in DIN Alternative Bold are rearranged within their squares; rotated, overlapped or reflected. This echoes Wolfgang Weingart’s very own ‘Swiss Punk Typography’ style.

The body text of the poster is presented in Abolition and is centred logically going across the page. However what’s illogical about the arrangement of this type is that various letterforms have been off centred, subtly rotated or even reflected. Both the choice of typography and it’s arrangement attempt to replicate a vintage moveable type sign which one would see outside a shop, church or cinema. This design decision was made to depict the theatricality and gravitas of Golan Levin’s Cell Phone Symphony.



Poster 5

This poster successfully depicts musical and auditory experiences through classic music notation in both imagery and typography. The imagery of the poster shows a phone line tower with the cables turning into the lines on sheet music, which is emphasised by the use of musical notes and onomatopoeic ‘rings’. 


While the heading type appears in DIN Condensed Bold on this poster, the first initial of each word of the title is derived from the form of a treble clef. The type is arranged in capitals, different colours, some outlined and some not and with an element of spontaneity and disorder on the page. This is to firstly make it bold, secondly to represent contrasting and conflicting sounds much like those heard in Cell Phone Symphony and thirdly to echo the sentiments of designers such as Carson and Weingart. Feedback from a group critique dictated that some of the design ideas put forward in this poster are very strong, however to develop the design further, the colours could be changed and the general design could be simplified and stripped back; removing the orange banner from the centre and leaving the background as a block colour could achieve this. Also changing the typeface and arrangement of the body text could impart a higher aesthetic value on this design. 



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