Workshops are an effective method to introduce students to new insights, knowledge and visual enquiry. And I would say most year one students would not have encountered modular letterforms before. Once again an experiential, tactile task enables the opportunity to broaden knowledge and plant the idea that geometric shape can be typefaces too.
I begin these sessions with a short tour through history, from Mondrian, De stijl, Josef Albers to post-war visionaries such as Wim Crouwel, Jurriaan Schroder and Ken Garland; to the present day example of Hamish Muir. All are gateways to new places for research to enrich their creative development.
Now to set the task: take large sheets of paper and select the following shapes of foam board.
And trace. Create your own modular typeface. Visualise A, B, C or better still, spell out the names of the heroes mentioned previously.
Two hours later, the results are encouraging. Students are asked to post the results on twitter and instagram with the #nuamodular. Here are a few examples:
The task gives them plenty to reflect upon. Future possibilities to create their own typeface or bespoke letterforms for a logo.