1.3
Take one of the examples and manipulate it visually to a point just before illegibility. Use only analogue methods. Document the stages of your manipulation.

My idea of destruction : the kitchen.

First, draw an “A”.

Then, grab a knife. A big one.

Cut it up. Medium size pieces are the best.

Add olive oil to a pan. Heat to HIGH.

Drop the pieces in the hot oil.

Cook until browned.

Lay on a paper towel.

Good luck trying to find which goes where…ugh…

And there we have it. Fried A. And in the end it only vaguely resembles the original.

I choose “A“.

The letter A is at the beginning of many things. Many alphabets use a variant of the letter A to start.
Greek uses alpha, Hebrew uses aleph. The phoenicians also used letterforms of a similar shape to represent the ox. The name of the first man started with “A”, and the AAAAA sound is just about the easiest phonem to produce vocally.

I have a personal affinity with the letterform A because I have written it innumerable times. It starts my name.

Here is a document I prepared on the letter A across the ages, taken from the book…

A, a short history

As we were asked to do, here are the results of my Hunt for the letterform A.

The weird chair

A weird chair I found around my appartment. Conviniently, it is shaped like a very straight A.

The ripped screen door

This was also found near my appartment! The rip in the screen door was there before I took the picture. A very stylized A.

The overkill taxi ad

This was found on the placemat of a bad restaurant I won’t even mention, in Drummondville. This shows how the letterform A is directly related to inspiring quality and trust.

Yes, even architechture

Even the Eiffel Tower has the shape of a vertically elongated A.

Hockey anyone?

Logo of the Colorado Avalanches.

Or Canadian Football?

Logo of the Montreal Alouettes.

So that’s it for my short presentation of live and recorded appearences of the letterform A.

Prior to doing any work at all, I always do the readings.
Why? Helps me get better focus of what I might need to do. Also is good for inspiration.

I’m a programmer at heart. All of the very technical information related to fonts make me feel right at home.
Honestly.
The thing that stresses me is blending the two. Will any of the two get neglected in the process?

Other than that faraway issue, I believe that this course will be a wild ride. I had no idea what it was about before Mr. Lewis told the class. I like to keep things spiced up a bit.

The next 3 posts will include all the instances of the letterform I have chosen, its massacre as well as the three typographic treatments brought to a poem.

Until then, out.

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