Advanced Typography Final

I forgot how much I like typography.  My first typography class was 8 years ago (yikes!) and I'm taking the Advanced class now.  It's been very fun though, I didn't have to worry too much about my learning curve.

So now we have our Final Project to work on:  create your own typeface.  I was completely lost at first, but this is the sketch I came up with:

I wanted to do a Western theme, and as I researched most of the typefaces are bold serifs.  I went with a script typeface, but I wasn't sure how to make it work with the Western theme.  What I came up with here is a metal dipping, similar to the bold typeface Cast Iron, and the crosshatching or black part of the sketch will be Victorian lace of some sort.  The filigree portions will be metal as well.

My goal is to get the Western male and female aspects into one typeface.  I thought of one of those well dressed ladies toting a lil gun in her garter :)  Hopefully this translates well as I scan and work on it with Illustrator.  I'll post the final product soon.

Life Drawing Tool

Well well, I came across this useful tool while researching for my Interactive Media class:

Zygote Body

I'm using Google Chrome to view the link.  Zygote Body is a web app that uses HTML5 and WebGL, and shows the anatomy of the human body in 3D.  You can search for certain parts, too.  This would have been so damn handy to have while I was in Drawing and Anatomy.

What I like in particular is the muscle view.  As you move the slider you can see where different muscles fit into others, or where they attach to the bone.  This gives you a better understanding of what muscles tuck in where, which greatly helps with drawing the human body accurately.

Drawing and Anatomy was my favorite life drawing class.  Knowing your muscles and understanding how they work definitely gave me an edge in drawing figures to look more realistic.  It helped me think in volume rather than just outlines and shades.

Life drawing has always held my interest, and I'm happy to have this web app around for reference. :)