Fat Script: An Exploration in Cyrillic and Latin Script
We are experimenting with Cyrillic in my lettering class with Ken Barber of House Industries this week. We have to make a bilingual hang tag for some manner of plush toy in the spirit of Moomins, Cheburashka, etc. I decided after some sketching to try and handle both the latin and the cyrillic in some super-fat(phat) script lettering reminiscent of a chunky shoelace or some squeezed out toothpaste.
I haven’t hashed out the application yet, but I figured I would throw up one of my ideas. Let me know what you think. (its a two-sided ka-jigger)
Oh, and if someone knows how to read cyrillic please feel free to let me know how legible/illegible that is. I really have no clue.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
8 Comments
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Hey Andy,
I think the “plush” execution is pretty solid! The Cyrillic is totally getting there but the “ПЛЮ” becomes a little hard to make out. Perhaps it is just that I am so wired to recognize Latin characters, but it kind of looks like it says “NMO.” I think the major thing is the loopy stroke that connects the “П” and the “Л.” It looks like the should-be-lead-in stroke is more a part of the “П” than of the “Л.” I think the other thing that is making me see an “M” is that the bends of those strokes are more squared off than any others in your system.
I hope that helps! Sorry for the crit-as-comment thing going on here, I hope it’s cool to use this space for that! See you in class next week.
– Robin
I like this! Though, even though I’ve been seeing the same 4 letters for the past few weeks, the Cyrillic was tough for me to make out. Looks like RMOW to me I think the main problem is the Л. The first part looks like it’s part of the П, and the last part looks like it’s a part of the Ю. I think the problem is that it looks like it’s behind the characters, making it seem more like a connecting stroke than a letter.
The “plush” is very nice and legible, though.
@Robin – Don’t be sorry for the crit-as-comment, I always appreciate constructive critique more than anything. I hear what you are saying and perhaps I should experiment a little more. The reason I am having trouble deciding how far to take the abstraction is simply because I do not read the language; none of us do. I feel like there is very similar abstraction of form happening in “plush”, though we are all able to read it in the context of the other letters. I would really like to find someone that reads cyrillic fluently, outside of the bubble of this project, and show them just that lockup and see if they are able to decipher it.
@Colin – The second character is certainly in the most need of help and I have gotten that feedback a number of times now. Looks like I may have to tweak some things…
Thanks, both of you!
Hey Andy
The Latin is very nice and legible, the Cyrillic on the other hand, is a little bit of a challenge to read. I would get rid of the loop on the right side of «п», which will get the «л» more readable (at the moment it’s hiding behind the «п». More importantly, the «ш» looks more like a latin «w»; I think pointing that tail slightly upwards could fix it.
P.S. Your name in Cyrillic: Энди Манголд (or Мангольд, or Мэнголд, or Мэнгольд, depending on which English accent you choose to read it out with)
@Alexey: Thank you so much! I appreciate the feedback from a native speaker of the language. The feedback on the second character has been pretty universal, so I am definitely going to have to revisit that one. The feedback on the “ш” is something I had no foreseen, so thank you for that as well!
I will fix my name as well!
I understand the plush Cyrillic lettering but the Latin lettering, was over on style. I couldn’t understand the words on it.
Cyrillic Script is very interesting from a graphic point of view. Was thre a commercial interest in xdeveloping this or just for the typographical pleasure?
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