Week 32: Mercredi
Lots of feelings. So many feelings.
Happy Friday y’all!
I needed a little break this week so I’m giving you my revival project from my first term at Type West. It’s a French typeface from the Fonderie Turlot. I found it in a book about the French Revolution. It’s meant for text but still looks interesting in display settings. I also included scans and bitmaps of the marbling that was on the cover of the book.
The reason I am giving myself a week off is because I’m going through something that I’m sure some of you can relate to. I am experiencing pretty severe design burnout. I have been working as a graphic designer since graduating college and have grown to resent it. I hate that most of it revolves around capitalism and selling something for a client. I hate how competitive it can be and how some people take it way too seriously. On the flip side, I love making visual art. I love playing with color and composition. I like that I can take a big mess of information and then make it easy to digest. I want to return to a place where it feels like it did in college — experimental, challenging, and based on an artistic perspective (not a client perspective).
The frustrating part for me, is that I am still maintaining a purely creative practice in other ways. I make clothes, art for my home, and can knit until the cows come home. Lately, when it comes to making things on the computer, I feel this intense resistance. At first I thought it was laziness or a failure on my part, but I think that design has lost its luster for me. I can still play the part of the artist but when it comes time to translate it into a digital space, it can feel excruciating.
However, I am not a quitter. I refuse to let my past experiences taint the creative practice that I want so badly to work and feel good. I am going to take the path of least internal resistance and do everything analog. Sketch everything. Play with inks and paint to make letters. Experiment wherever possible. I want to make collages and zines again. I even drafted this email on my old typewriter, like a saucy little newspaper columnist from the 50s. Going forward, I am only going to use my computer to translate my work into a digital space.
Of course, there will still be fonts every week and images that celebrate them but I am going to spend the next 20 weeks reconnecting with my design practice. It might feel a little naive and gritty for a while. Admittedly, I am a little excited about it.
Thanks for listening — you all feel like my own personal type/design therapists. I’d love to hear your experiences if any of you have gone through the same thing! How did you start to like designing things again? Is there a part of graphic design that you find really inspiring, creative, or refreshing? Tell me, tell me. <3
5 Songs I Like This Week Because I Don’t Have Anything Else To Recommend:
7 AM by Jacqueline Taieb
Treat Her Right by Roy Head & The Traits
Devil Town by Daniel Johnston
Part Time Punks by Television Personalities
The album Fugitive Light and Themes of Consolation by Andrew Wasylyk
xoxo,
Libbie