project one

Futura Gs from part 2 

The Futura font has an element of perfectness to it, coming from its mechanical and geometric connotations. This perfectness is seen in many of the letters - the lowercase a contains a perfect circle and so on - so when one looks at a letter, the connotation built into the typeface automatically makes you think the letter is likely perfect. However, upon closer inspection, one can discover that this isn't always the case. The G, which looks like a perfect circle with a cut and terminal added, is not made out of a perfect circle. The shape is slightly asymmetrical. In this part of the project, I chose to fix this, but also comment on the idea of something being perfect. I aimed to be as precise as possible with the making of the first G. After cutting that one out, I traced it six times for six more G's and used three of the negatives. They were then placed on the wall in a geometric-esque shape, in line with the geometric form of Futura. However, because of human nature, these G's aren't actually perfect. It's impossible to achieve with the hand. At a first glance, any given G might look perfect, but upon closer inspection, none of them are, just as the original Futura G.

For the final part of the project, I decided to use the uppercase G again, to name parts of the letter. Still using the idea of the font being 'perfect' but not actually being able to achieve that quality, I made a G using the same process I did for the first G on part two. Therefore, the G is slightly altered from what the actual Futura G letterform is, but not so much in a way that it becomes unrecognizable in its anatomy. To label each part, I traced the part name from my laptop screen, from words set in the Futura typeface. After tracing an outline, they were filled in with black Sharpie marker. Finally, they were cut out using a straight-edge and xacto knife, and place on the wall in position corresponding to the G.

I wanted to continue the idea of perfectness can be a thought, but in reality, is never achievable in this portion of the project. There is a precision to the making of each part of the piece, but there is a human quality about each part that gives away the imperfections, which is something that I find enjoyable.