For my final outcome, I stuck with the monotone colour scheme, as well as made the combination of letters and punctuation feel more like a family, integrating them together. Although I do like the way the white on black looks as is interesting for smaller pieces of text, I prefer the black on white as is easier to read, and easier to see details. I decided to call my alphabet 'Cattitude' due to the unusual and dynamic attitude of the shapes of the alphabet, as well as the obvious pun. 

All in all, I am happy with the way my final alphabet turned out, looking interesting with unusual shapes, yet at the same time, is still readable. If I were to do this again, I would experiment with more poses as for some letters I found it more difficult to come up with a solution than others. With that said, I am pleased with the result, and my have begun to display them as individual letters ready for the next task. 

Following on from last week I began refining my alphabet and lining them up into a composition I liked the look of. Having the Z on it's own would come in handy later on as I wanted to find a way around including the punctuation without it appearing so structured and linear. 

However, one thing I decided early on was that I wanted to keep my poster in black and white, as adding colour to the background would take away from the silhouettes and the stamp like quality to the individual letters. 

As for the numbers, these were something that I had to get more creative with, as numbers such as four and five were ones that required more dynamic poses to ensure that they were easily readable, and too hold the cat's silhouette. These numbers turned out thicker than the letters, and yet I think they work well together as a family, whist still being in different groups. With exceptions of the number eight, I only tidied up the numbers, happy with the way they turned out and their unusual shapes. 

Tackling punctuation was something I had to think about for a while, as trying to include cats in the smaller pieces of punctuation such as speech marks and hyphens wouldn't work well due to their small size. Instead I decided to think away from cats, and instead to things associated with them to make up the smaller details to create a contrast between the size of the cats and the accessories. 

I believe this worked well, as it created some variation, but kept the theme cohesive and the simplicity of the punctuation worked well against the more complex shapes of the majority of the letters and numbers. 

For this weeks lesson task, we were asked to create different combinations with typefaces, using opposites as a starting point. I generally found this task to be interesting and creative despite the simplicity of the brief, and once I ended up getting into it properly, began to make outcomes I was both proud of and found interesting. 

For the second part of today's task, we were tasked with making nine composition squares using different typefaces to create patterns and designs. I enjoyed doing this task, as the outcomes were unusual, and impactful due to the different fonts and the simplicity of the monotone colours and the repeating patterns. Some were more impactful than others, for example, I really like the Bauhaus 93 squares due to the negative space used to slice up the bulkier letters and punctuation.  

Overall, I think this Alphabet worked well together, conveying the theme of the Sewing Kit strongly. However, I wish I had a little more to work with as the buttons got a little repetitive, and so I had to think of other ways around it. Removing the background would help it feel more cohesive. I am unsure whether I will go ahead with this alphabet as I do much prefer the drawn ones, as they are more flexible to work with. 

Following my feedback session this week, it was clear that the Alphabet I should begin to refine was that of my cat alphabet due to the cohesiveness of is, as well as the playfulness of the shapes as a whole. Coming away from the feedback session I began by redrawing the initial alphabet so I could begin to polish things up, as well as tweak ideas of some of the letters to make sure they looked better as a whole group as opposed to individuals. 

Sizing proved to be a little bit of an issue when it came to placing the letters side by side, as although they were the same height, some of the cats' shadows made them look larger or smaller than others. This is something I will fix at the end when I save each file individually, as it would be easier to see them side by side, and more so when I begin to spell things out. 

From here forth, I repeated the process for each letter, attempting to work out what was best, as some cats had larger and bolder features and some smaller and lighter to make the most of the letter shape and ensure every letter was readable. 

Having pinned down most of the alphabet, I decided to try and tackle numbers this week too, as was something else I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out. More so, I didn't want numbers to feel too similar to the letters as would grow confusing. For this problem, I attempted to make my numbers a little thicker, and feel more weighted as opposed to the slim letters. This would separate the two groups enough that they looked different and readable, but still part of one family. Additionally, the shapes or the numbers were more odd, and flexible so made for some unusual poses unlike the alphabet that could be easily repeated. 

Overall, I am happy with the outcome. If I were to do things differently, I think I would use different materials as it became stressful when trying to cut out the individual letters, specifically in the word 'dreamt'. With that said, I do like the more 3D feel to this piece. 

I'm also happy with the way the typefaces turned out as well as being able to convey the meaning of the saying to the best of my ability, making the words stand out with the majority of the saying being in black and white with dashes of colour. Similarly, I like the contrast between the more playful text, and the more blocky text when it comes to the more important words to make them stand out. I do believe, balancing out the top with the bottom part of the text would be something I would work on if I were to do it again. 

From there forth, I scanned my sketches and drew them out digitally, yet switched them up as to have the letters be shadows as opposed to outline. This proved to be more effective as when zooming out, they were clearer than those that that were just an outline. 

For the most part, this idea works as the silhouettes are able to convey the shapes of the letters better than the outline, and for some letters, it was easily repeated. However, that didn't mean there weren't issues along the way, particularly with the letter 'H' and 'I'. One was more complex to work around, and the other was simpler than the letters that had come before. With my initial ideas for those letters laid out digitally, I decided that I didn't like the look of them, and tried to think of another way around it. 

The issue was they looked to repetitive, and the letter 'H' being two cats instead worked against the group, as this letter (and the letter 'M', that was changed earlier on) was the only one that was made up of two cats, and seemed like an easy way out.  I much preferred the second outcome, as although the letter 'H' was a little more odd in regards to the shadow, it did look better than the previous idea, as well as being less confusing too.  

Having worked with the whole alphabet in the end, this idea is one that could be taken forwards to be my final outcome with a little bit of tweaking. Numbers shouldn't be too much of an issue as the shapes that are present in the letters can be replicated into numbers with some tweaking. As for punctuation, I believe I'd have to incoropatate things that are associated with cats to make the most of their smaller scale. 

Working on from last week, I began by looking at how my Koi fish could be used in the form of shadows instead of vibrant coloured fish, as the brief said the final lettering was to be done in black and white, and translating it from colour into black and white would not have the same effect. This alphabet proved difficult to work with at first, yet, I do like the way it looks, even if it has more parts than my cat alphabet. Whether I will take this further, I am unsure as I do prefer the cat alphabet more given its flexibility. 

One of the reasons I like to include cats in a lot of my work is due to their flexibility and playful nature, something I thought would be useful to translate into a type face. Unlike my initial Letter Selfie, I wanted the form of the cats to be the base of the letters as opposed to simply being inside a bulky letter. 

This idea did prove to be effective, more effective than using another animal as for more difficult stapes like that of an A, it was easier to adapt and come up with a pose given the flexibility of cats and the poses they can bend into. It was the letters that should have been easier, such as the T that proved more difficult, going against the flexibility seen in the other letters. 

Whilst exploring the Cat idea, I thought about what other animals would be flexible enough to make some of the more complex shapes of some letters, sure as the curves or the straight lines - enough to create a variety. It was then I explored the idea of using Koi fish, being large enough to make a letter with one or two fish, but interesting enough to be visually appealing - hence why I used Koi fish as opposed to something basic like goldfish. 

I did like this idea and how some of the letters looked, especially the O, as it was clear what it was meant to read. However, I think some of the letters would be harder to create, such as the K, it became hard to read and so I had to rethink and redraw my idea a few times until I came out with something that was easier to read. 

​​Campton - It was the simplicity of this font that drew me to it, as I liked the unusual use of two simple lines to make up the Ampersand as opposed to the more complex decorative fonts in the following examples. This makes it easier to read, and even easier to follow. 

​Chino Display - This Ampersand stood out to me simply because of how unusual it was, with curvy lines making it look playful, yet still legible, creating a balance between the two aspects. Although it is unique, it was also clear what it was meant to be.  

​Poor Richard - In this example, the font made the Ampersand look more traditionally decorative and cursive, but is able to make it decorative without overcomplicating it too much. It was particularly the tail of the Ampersand that drew me to this example.

​Baskerville Italic - Unlike 'Poor Richard' this font made the Ampersand look softer with its more curvaceous shapes, giving it more of an Art Nouveau feel to it, and feeling more nature inspired. 

​Avia - Unlike the decorative and curvy shapes that have come before, it was the use of negative space that drew me to this font, as it made the most of both negative space, and the use of tailing off of line width to make up the Ampersand. 

​Bretna Bold Italic - I chose this font due to the simplicity of the Ampersand, looking more reminiscent of what is usually used in texts, yet, giving it a little bit of variation in the tail and overlap of the lines that made it stand out against the others. 

​Carousel - Finally, this font made the most of a few of the aspects from the other Ampersands, making the most of line width, fancy tail and overlapping of shapes, and for this reason, is one of my favourite out of the line up. 

 For the second part of our task we were asked to chose from a variety of themes and fonts to design and create out own Ampersands. 

​For my first Ampersand I saw the opportunity in using Bauhaus and the block like layout, and was able to split it into two simple shapes. Using the theme of 'Christmas' I came up with the following idea. However simple, it proved to be effective, more so given the base font that was used. 

My second Ampersand was something that I initially struggled with, particularly on how to make the most of the theme whilst not just using the animals as I believed that was too much like my Selfie Letter from last week. However, once I got into using the inside of a rats cage such as a wheel and a hut, it became easier to tackle. Ironically enough it did turn out that the animals were the focus of the piece with the strongest part of my idea was using the rats tail as the Ampersand's tail too. 

For my final Ampersand, I decided to stick with one colour to see how well that would work against the more colourful ideas that had come prior, and I believe it worked out fairly well as allowed me to clearly communicate the idea of Winter, in a different way than the other two. In contrast, the main focus point of this Ampersand was the contrast in line width, and the overlapping part of the character as opposed to the tail. I also believe it was the addition of white details that made this Ampersand work best. 

My first drawn letters were as simple as I could think, though gave them a little bit of personality and colour through the striped patterns and eyes of the worms. However simple they were they worked well, reminiscent of the alphabets printed and pinned up in classrooms for younger ages to encourage learning. 

Building upon the materials used in the sewing kit, Pasta had a familiar theme running throughout, with different shapes and colours building up individual shapes. Once again, I believe this idea would be effecting in running as a theme and a group, working better together than alone. 

​It turned out using materials like this, the simpler, the better, for the shape could be clearly visible and readable - once again, the simpler the better, with many letters doubling up to make another with a little tweak, though it was clear which letter was which at a glance. 

Some ideas were far malleable than others, and for this reason, covering the first three letters proved to be enough due to the combination of straight lines and curves. Keeping them fairly basic, once again was key, as in placing designs on the side of the letters ensured they were still legible yet also interesting. 

I decided to use the letter 'S' simply because it allowed me to create a more flowing design, as opposed to trying to cram a design into a letter that was only made up of straight lines, such as the letter 'A'. It was a little bit of a rush to get the design done in the time frame, hence why it's on the messier side, but at least I was able to get something down. 

Afterwards, I scanned in the letter to quickly give it better colours and cleaner lines digitally, as well as to mess around with the colour scheme, seeing what it would have looked like if I hadn't used colours at all, and instead created a monotone piece. The white on black made an interesting outcome, something that would have been difficult to achieve effectively traditionally 

Additionally, before we began on exploring our own DIY Alphabets, we were asked to complete a quick Typeface Quiz, with my answers being as follows;