This was a typographic project I completed during college. Our tutor was inspired by Marian Bantjes, a Canadian typographer, in creating the brief. The aim was to create a highly decorative piece of typography that we could make up off the top of our heads. I had no idea what I was drawing or writing as I began. Typically, when I am doodling, I end up writing my name or an initial, as I think many designers or doodlers would do. So naturally enough, the letter “s” was the first thing to appear.
Because of the the swirling and looping nature of what I had just drawn, I was reminded of smoke. And so, my phrase became “Smoke & Mirrors”. I choose the ampersand because it complimented what I was already drawing. I drew the phrase and painted it so as to make it clearer before I brought it onto my computer so I could tidy and adjust it.
So I scanned my image and adjusted it in Adobe Illustrator. I created a template out of my phrase and added brush effects behind it to play up the smokey aspect of the lettering. I layered the effects to build them like a cloud behind the words. The ‘aim’ for the typographic piece was that it would be wall art or a mural of some sort. Then we had to design a promotional materials for the hypothetical wall art. I decided my image would be wall art ‘hung’ outside The Academy as part of a promotion for a new club night and my print materials consisted of a poster as seen above and a flyer.
I like how the words are less decipherable than the original drawing. It brings the air of mystery back to the phrase “Smoke & Mirrors”. In the poster, I reflected the image under the information to link back to the mirror facet of the design.
It's All Bright 