Icon Process

the original ideas for aspects of hindu, shinto, and buddhist beliefs

i initially put together these sketch ideas for simple, one-color hand drawn symbols, before combining them with images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and this attempt at logos for the various belief systems, heavily abstracted to the point where you may not even guess their meaning at first glance, or second. It mimics hundreds of years of abstraction of a pictogram, such as the evolution of Chinese symbology for words.

The goal was to minimize the illustrative elements.

The combination produced this grid of concepts for new symbols by methodically blending two of each for each religion.

combinations
A: abstract symbol P: photo H: handrawn image

From there, we picked our favorite three, and vectorized them.

the new three symbols: Shinto, Hinduism, Buddhism. Heavily abstracted, in logo form.

I liked the symbols, but they needed to be more fully explored, so each was done in 30 iterations, making a total of 90 new experimental symbols.

Img Meth Project 2

Concept:

I would like to call my typeface Pent Up (*I have since changed its title to On Edge). I think razors are a very striking and visceral image, and i would like to use them to reference various types of emotional pain, though not just the suicidal, as razors might first imply, but using a quiet voice. Ideally, i hope to use lowercase, soft letters, contrasting the harsh medium of the razors.

Names: razor blades, razors, square razors, single-edged razor blades

Common Uses: Though razors like these are mostly used by mounting them into a handle to cut cardboard and other softer substances for construction purposes, in popular media they are usually shown as a tool of choice for suicide by wrist cutting.

Properties: gray, light, smooth, metallic (taste and smell), small, geometric, steel, threatening, sharp (on one side), blunt (on the others)

How It’s Made: The blades are made by forming and pressing steel into a thin sheet, which is then cut into a rectangular shape, and sealed with more metal on one side.

 

Img Meth Excercise 2

Photographs of impromptu sculptures based on the elements: