Blog 6: Jessa G. and Andreea M.

Blog 6 | Kate + Lindsay

Concept 1 Typography

Wabi Sabi - Japanese – Much has been written on this Japanese concept, but in a sentence, one might be able to understand it as “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.” 

The type will be reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy which is typically done with a brush. It will be distressed and weathered so that it goes along with the theme in Wabi Sabi which is the idea of a beautiful decay. The type itself will be placed on a sleeves of the kimono-style dress, one word on each sleeve. All of the elements used relate back to the Japanese culture.

Concept 2 Typography

L'appel du vide - French – “The call of the void” is this French expression’s literal translation, but more significantly it’s used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places.

The type was designed to give the sense of a downward fall. It is made up of a series of strokes and it leaves this "void" between the letter forms themselves, further emphasising the theme. It will be placed on the train of the dress, showcasing and dramatising the idea of "jumping" into a void. 

Blog 6 Concept 1- Katie&Liz

CONCEPT 1: NEVER HIDE

-       OUR CONCEPT IS ABOUT A SELF-CONFIDENT WOMAN WHO STANDS OUT AND LETS HER INNER SELF/INNER GLOW BE SHOWN. WE WANT TO USE PAPER FOR BOTH OF OUR CONCEPTS.  THIS DRESS WILL BE ALL WHITE AND USE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PAPERS.  THE BODICE WILL HAVE FABRIC UNDERNEATH (PROBABLY A THICK MUSLIN) FOR STRUCTURE, THEN WE WILL SEW ROLLED TISSUE ON TOP IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS TO CREATE AN INTERESTING PATTERN.  “NEVER HIDE” WILL BE MADE OF TISSUE AS WELL AND BLEND WITH THE TOP.  THE SKIRT WILL BE SEPARATE AND HAVE WIRING WITH FABRIC UNDERNEATH AS WELL.  WE WILL DECORATE IT WITH LARGE TISSUE PAPER FLOWERS, AND HOPEFULLY ADD LIGHTING UNDERNEATH FOR A GLOWING EFFECT. 

CONCEPT 2: IN THE SHADOWS

-       THIS CONCEPT IS THE OPPOSITE OF OUR FIRST ONE.  IT’S ABOUT A WOMAN LACKING ANY CONFIDENCE OR SELF-ESTEEM.  WE ORIGINALLY WANTED A SPIDERWEB LOOK TO THIS DRESS, BUT NOW ARE FOCUSING MORE ON A DECAYING/DE-STRUCTURED THEME.  THE DECAYING IDEA RELATES MORE TO THE IDEA THAT THIS WOMAN HAS NO SELF WORTH AND IS MENTALLY/EMOTIONALLY FALLING APART.  WE WILL BE USING RIPPED AND DYED PAPERS LIKE TISSUE, TYPING PAPER, TISSUE PAPER, AND WHATEVER ELSE GIVES OFF A CRUMPLED AND DECAYING LOOK.  THE LETTERS WILL BE SLIGHTLY HIDDEN IN THE BACK OF THE DRESS.  THEY WILL BE CUT OUT OF FOAM BOARD TO HAVE A 3D APPEARANCE.  THE TOP IS STILL TBD.  WE WILL EXPERIMENT WITH A VARIETY OF FABRICS AND PAPERS TO GIVE OFF A RIPPED/DRAMATIC TOP, WHICH ALSO GIVES A SLIGHT SPIDERWEB LOOK WITHOUT BEING TOO LITERAL. 

Blog 6 | Concept 2 | LeAna L. & Sara M.

Concept 2: “Hard to Read” or “Hard Read”

The concept of “Hard to Read” is inspired by a Roy Lichtenstein painting with the phrase: “What? Why did you ask that?  What do you know about my image duplicator?”  From that, we edited it down to “What? What do you know about my image?”  Feeling that it related more to our concept of taking a deeper look to find out what someone is really about before you judge them.  For the front of the dress, we’re considering using the typeface Whimcircle that is composed of circles on top of circles; harboring the qualities of illegibility or “hard to read” and the stippling effect Lichtenstein used in his paintings.  We will spell out the quote several times to make it confusing to look at.  The back, however, we are considering a simple, clean, san serif typeface such as Futura that’s extremely legible and gets the point across.  The quote will only be written once on the back so the audience knows exactly what we’re trying to say.

The silhouette will be a slimming, ode-to-mod garment pieced together with panels.  In the panels on the front will be the Whimcircle typeface and Futura on the back.  The silhouette has a nonchalant, I-don’t-care, easy-going attitude about it, which we feel Whimcircle and Futura have.

The scale of the Whimcircle typeface will be small, similar to the size Lichtenstein utilized and Futura will be large across the back.  We’re still not completely certain about color, but something with high contrast, i.e. yellow on black, orange on black, etc.

Roy Lichtenstein painting

Blog 6 | Concept 1 | LeAna L. & Sara M.

Concept 1: “Negativity Is Nonsense”

For the Rwandan concept, our theme is “Negativity Is Nonsense”.  We’re using the Rwandan genocide as a basis for all negativity being rubbish and extremely hurtful.  Our typeface will be based off the typeface South Afirkas (a typeface found on dafont.com), which draws influence from Africa with it’s hand-rendered quality; which is what we’re aiming for.  The hand-rendered quality feels more personal, authentic and imperfect.

The silhouette will still retain militaristic influences, but lose some of its embellishments to keep to the Rwandan theme.  The Rwandans tend to wear whatever they can find and have looser garments because of the climate.  For our garment, a stronger, authoritarian silhouette seemed more appropriate for the message we’re trying to convey; that negativity is nonsense as well as the Tutsis being responsible for their own survival.  This garment will showcase their ability to overcome their obstacles. 

The type will be large in scale so it’s legible from far away.  The layout will start at the shoulder, pass over the breast and make a detour at the hip to the back.  This layout will provoke an immediate response because of its color (we’re thinking the colors of the Rwandan flag: blue, yellow and green) and placement.

Rwandan flag

Blog 6 -- Nadine Bauthamy and Andrew McGinley

"The Bag Lady"


We are going to interview a "bag lady" that carries her belongings in a shopping cart or in a collection of bags, and we will be using her story to create this garment. The words that she says to us, the images she might show us, or the images that we create in our own minds from what she tells us. She might have a sign on the cardboard we can use, or maybe she writes something for us to use in this project. Most likely it will be something handwritten using a material she would use to write (marker, chalk...), our type choices may also be inspired by street graffiti because this is part of her street environment.

We will combine all of these types, and prints into the form of a collage/patchwork, that is intended to represent her life out of a shopping cart. As far as a silhouette is concerned, it will be baggy, might be stiff if she complains about the cold, it maybe dark if her personality is dark, or include lighter colors, for example pink, if she dreams of being a little princess, we let her tell us her story. We expect patchwork from this design.

"Missing Generation"


The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. According to different sources, between 9,000 to 30,000 people were killed or "disappeared” in Argentina during this period under Videla's dictatorship. This is the inspiration behind our design.

Our print/type might just be limited to graphic representations as opposed to actual fonts or images. We want to find a visual way to represent that missing generation (those 9,000-30,000 missing people). The silhouette will be inspired by the Argentine Tango and the military uniform as the tango revolution (Tango Nuevo) lead by Astor Piazzolla was taking place during those years. If we were to use actual words we will use a "revolutionary font" examples: Stencilia, Boston Traffic, Disparador Stencil, and a brushstroke-like font with a red shadowing.

We will limit our color palette to black and white as well as some red highlights (to represent the blood of the victims and the ties to the tango theme). There will also be a light blue symbolizing the colors of Argentina thus the government in place, which was a military dictatorship.

Blog 6: Penny Dress Concept, Alex and Cliff

For the Penny Dress concept we are going with a hand drawn typeface that we will construct out of pennies. The front side will have dark pennies for the dollar symbol with light pennies all around it. The back will be this design as well but with the tones of the pennies reversed. Scroll down for a penny test we did in class to show how this will look. 

We thought a hand done approach was appropriate because we can completely control where the curves of the symbol fall on the body to accentuate the form of the dress. I also like how the double lines through the center break that form and allow your eye to keep moving around the design.