This spring semester I have been taking a really interesting class on Type Design. We basically have one main assignment the entire semester, which logically would be to design one typeface. Week after week, we look at tiny details of letterforms and try to figure out how they all fit together to form the personality of a typeface. With every line or shape you draw, you have to consider how it speaks to the rest of the shapes on the page.

For my typeface, (which I am calling Chorus) I was inspired by Haruki Murakami’s books. Murakami often uses music as a motif in his writings. His musical references give tone, atmosphere, and a fifth element to his stories. He said in interviews that music stimulates his imagination and when he writes, he has some music (classical  or jazz) in the background on a low setting.  The following is an excerpt from an interview Murakami had with the New York Times:

“Whether in music or in fiction, the most basic thing is rhythm. Your style needs to have good, natural, steady rhythm, or people won’t keep reading your work. I learned the importance of rhythm from music — and mainly from jazz. Next comes melody — which, in literature, means the appropriate arrangement of the words to match the rhythm. If the way the words fit the rhythm is smooth and beautiful, you can’t ask for anything more. Next is harmony — the internal mental sounds that support the words. Then comes the part I like best: free improvisation.”

I became interested in the musicality and rhythm of a text, so my typeface is designed for his books. Here are some of my process works.

Posters for the show!

Some process works and assignments

Joomchi paper works

My final work titled Journeys. It represents the journeys people take and combines them together to try to make a universal story. The piece is entirely made of yarns, and the different colored paths roughly match up as they travel down the piece. I was interested in making a cumulative narrative from smaller journeys.

Me with a close-up of the work. I’m also wearing a purple pojagi made for the show.

Our class at the end of the show! Congrats to all!
(And time for rest!)

The project focused on creating an identity and package design for an imaginary German-style bakery in Boston. The bakery’s name, Kaffee & Kuchen comes from a German tradition of enjoying afternoon coffee and cake around 4 PM, and suggests a cozy and warm gathering with friends. The bakery would sell traditional German cakes, cookies, and offer seasonal baked goods for holidays. In addition, there is a cafe corner inside the store so that visitors may take a break from their busy day and enjoy afternoon coffee and pastries.

For the project I created three types of cookie packages. The largest is a gift box that holds an assortment of cookies. The smaller box with a tapered top would hold individual types of cookies baked fresh in the morning that would then be packaged and sold the same day. The third package would be a small cardboard shopping bag to fill up with any mix of cookies and sweets a customer would choose from behind the counter.