GDES Portfolio | Mary Counts VISU Portfolio

by mcounts2 - August 4, 2013March 30, 2015

Graduation Speech Pamphlet

For this booklet design, we were given a commencement speech and asked to set it in a booklet form. The booklet was to have page numbers as well as spreads designed with a quote we picked on one page and regular spreads.

I worked with a partner to ensure the booklet was legible and attractive. We pulled basic lines through the entire design to create continuity. In order to get an even number of pages that would bind together nicely, we added an about the author page at the end of the booklet. I think that solution worked well because it made sense with the design and created a functional book in our desired type size and spacing. All of the type is justified, and we reviewed each page to check for typos, widows, and orphans in each paragraph. That process was definitely the most challenging because of the attention to so much detail.

I carefully cut and bound multiple copies of the booklet to achieve the best alignment and page size. I used staples to bind the book, and used a blue paper to connect the booklet to the website which made use of the same blue color. However I am proud of how well the final booklet turned out.

by mcounts2 - August 3, 2013March 31, 2015

Typography I: Typographic Poster

For this assignment, we were given another student’s typeface and asked to make a series of three posters- one displaying the entire font, one showcasing one characters, and the final poster showing the quote that inspired the font. All of these were to be in one color, including white.

I created each of these posters to enhance one of the features of the font. I chose a dark blue which seemed most fitting for the ocean theme of the quote and the swirling nature of the descenders in the font.

In the first poster I displayed the entire font in the blue on a white background. I think this made the curly shapes in the round letters and descenders stand out.

In the second poster, I chose to bring out the wave-like curl of the descenders in this font by enlarging two of the Ks and putting their descenders in the center of the poster.

In the last poster I decided to highlight the intricate assembly of the letters by using a dark background so that the ground will stand out against the white text and reveal the dots and circles the text is made of. It was also interesting to use the descenders of words like ‘rivers’ to nest other words underneath it. This was the most experimental of the posters.

by mcounts2 - October 25, 2012March 31, 2015

Typeface Design

This is the type specimen I designed for the display font I created using FontStruct in Typography I. It was inspired by the quote “And it occurred to me that these must be holographic viral projections from an autonomous continuum that was somehow intersecting my own.”

The hardest, but most fulfilling part of this process was modulating the font design by creating identical pieces which could be in each letter. For example, I standardized the vertical strokes to all be the same thickness and have a notch in the top. I did the same with the descenders, horizontal strokes, and diagonal strokes. Once I was able to integrate that in all of my characters the designing went much smoother.

I decided that this font should have a rather tall x-height, to enforce the very meta and above-it-all ideas in the quote. I also took inspiration from the wire connections of computer chips in the horizontal strokes. The color choice of this specimen is my favorite part, because when printed, the complimentary colors create an interesting “ghost” version of the type when the viewer’s eyes shift. I think this adds a lot to the total design and brings in the holographic concept of the quote.

I decided to call the font Viral because the quote suggested to me a futuristic, other worldly and maybe dangerous looking visual, such as a kind of viral infection or virus on a computer.