User:Hans.Schuttenbeld Tools of the Trade

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

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Introduction

Craft:

Handwriting

Theme:

The perfect script

(waarom? & wat draagt het bij aan het ambacht?)

Motivation:

Because I was that annoying kid at school I always had to write "strafwerk" And besides annoying I was also lazy. So I searched the whole web for scriptfonts that I could use. But the teachers were always able to see the similarity in two characters.

That frustration is still some kind of trauma and is the reason why I started this project.

Concept:

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it. That's what Dali once said. True. I guess. Unless you let the technology help making your end result. The possibility of reaching perfection is optional with the use of technology.

Inspiration

Interesting projects:

A23D - A 3D printed letterpress font using 3D printing to reach a higher detail in letterpress printing. [1]

Liza Pro - A intelligent script font trying to approach human handwriting LIZA PRO

Drawing Machine - A simple plotter with a high level of imperfection which makes the end results very interesting. [2]

To Do - A machines which writes an endless to do list for you. Good example of a appromximation of handwriting. [3]

Interactive calligraphy + dance performance - A combination of human movement and Chinese calligraphy. I never figured out how it exactly works (maybe because it's so hard to read Chinese) but it looks cool! [4]

Human Hands & Machine Brains - A combination of 2 very interesting elements. [5]

Storyboards

VIDEO 1 - How this tool changed my practice

It raised the question how designers need to get skilled. Learn a craft or learn programming. The gap between those two opponents did grow even bigger than today. On the one hand a huge amount of sign painter, calligraphers and other hand crafters did come up. On the other hand, the design academies changed more into programming schools which results in interesting discussions about design and its modernity.

VIDEO 2 - The cultural context

For the larger cultural context, it's not only about my tool anymore. It's about the movement of designers experimenting with the humanity of technology. Where there first was a kind of fear for technology has now become a huge interest. Proving the positive sides of technology instead of highlighting the dark sides.

VIDEO 3 - The walk through (how it's been build)

to be continued…

Proces

The idea.

Working on the "perfect" script.

The vector including a preview how I hope it will work out.

Here is my first lowercase alphabet shown in AG TypoStation. Ready to print!