Project. Type/Color: Figure/Ground
Purpose. Today too much design is
created directly on the computer; this project allows first-year
students to combine the traditional skills of working by hand with
their computer skills. The purpose of this project is to explore
the relationships between the color of the type with the color
of the background (figure/ground).
Assignment. Using
watercolors (acrylic polymer emulsion opaque colors ) the student
creates five color
schemes with the word "COLORS" in the order listed below.
Each letter is placed in a rectangle of 4 cm by 5 cm aligned horizontally.
Next the student decides which colors to use for each letter (figure)
and each rectangle (ground), subject to the following instructions.
All five color schemes are created on a B3 format white paper.
First line: Use the three primary colors, Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta.
Second line: Choose a series of similar colors
from one hue or two proximate hues (dark red, reddish orange, etc.)
Third line: Choose any color.
Fourth line: Choose colors of dark tone with
equal (or almost equal) brightness from different hues.
Fifth line: Choose colors of light tone with
equal (or almost equal) brightness from different hues.
Using the on-line simulation system, the student
experiments with various color schemes on the computer screen before
actually applying
the colors on paper. Because the computer offers a limited range
of colors to choose
from, and the student cannot mix or create a color, the on-line
system alone cannot provide
a good color exercise. In the case of watercolors, since the student
can actually mix
and make the colors, the possibilities are infinite; thus it inspires
the student's imagination and creativity.
This project, based on
an exercise which my teacher Moritz Zwimpfer applied at the Basel
School of Design in the 1990's, is one of
a series of exercises for typographic studies called the "Hyper
Typography Project" which
I co-developed after my Basel days.
Visit: http://www.htypo.net/nid/color/colors.html
Format. B3 format, white paper (51.5
cm by 36.4 cm)
Time. 3 weeks
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