Those quirky fonts, funky colors and cool props that you see in print ads may have an unusual flair in its design that makes you take a second look. Designers often experiment with different design elements and interfaces to make a piece come alive or really stand out. Their creative applications are a little of what designers use to play with in order to get an idea of what is intriguing and aesthetically appealing.
Experimenting with Flair
In experimental photography, designers may creatively apply different designs with altered shapes and lighting positions to find what works best. Their “experiments” are really a test to see if something works, or what would work best on a design.
Give It Some Space
One of the key components of experimental typography is in the letter spacing and form spacing. It’s difficult for the eye to focus on too many words or concepts in a piece, which is why spacing is so important. Who would ever think that something so simple could make such an impact? However, if you notice on advertising or printed work that is visually appealing, the letter spacing contains enough “white space” to make it attractive and to catch and hold your eye, if only for a moment.
It is sometimes the space that is in the piece that is the attention-getter. Pieces that are too colorful or crowded are a distraction. Designers try to focus on clean lines and definite shapes in their work to give their pieces character and personality.
Typographers cleverly use the white space and a combination of various-sized fonts and font sizes to make a great looking campaign. They also use designs that stack letters vertically and horizontally, colors, symbols, and other design props to give the piece look like there’s a lot more going on than just words. Experimental typography encourages flexibility and quite well to the creative mind, which is what makes it appealing.
Digital Art Experimentation
One of the things that makes experimental typography so engaging is the evolution of typography in digital art form. There is so much that can be done with the resource that involves complex lighting and the manipulation of various letters and shapes which all work cohesively together to form a flowing design.
Testing out these applications is always a work in progress for the designer. If it’s not acceptable, he scraps it and starts again. But, each work of art in the design of the piece absolutely stretches the piece to its limit and a beautiful, functional, and engaging masterpiece is the result!
Textures, Tones, and Tenacity
Experimental photography also uses different textures, depths, and tones to construct surfaces, often giving pieces that 3-D appearance.
All of these components can be manipulated to create various forms of the same piece, or by removing or layering the components to intensify its effects. Designers often work diligently until they find what works well. Experimentation with designs and the tools of typography are very engaging and spark endless creativity!
