LETTERING & MODULARITY
LETTERING • TYPE DESIGN • FINE ART • ART DIRECTION
These images are typified by the presence of a grid system that is revealed or implied by the forms – sometimes curvilinear, often isometric and angled, creating an innate dynamism that is drawn out on top.
I developed a variety of geometric, unit-based typefaces that fit cleanly into these grids so that they line up tightly with the other elements, and these typefaces became the basis for several wordmarks and custom type styles for clients and ourselves.
My personal typographic explorations are informed by a few lifelong interests – the physiology of the eye and brain, and how we fill in the blanks to create meaning; the philosophy of aesthetics and what is essential for a letter to be a letter; and rule-based system design in the vein of Sol LeWitt, Gyorgy Kepes, and others.
These explorations have typically taken the form of large paintings or graphics for apparel, exploring the relationship between the evocative meaning of a phrase and its rendering. Themes of obscurity, complexity, and emergence connect these explorations.
DIMENSIONAL & PHYSICAL TYPE
Working with my partner Ryan Dunn, we added a tangible element to these type form by creating them out of wood and other solid forms. Bringing these shapes into the real world adds a new ruleset that adds depth and interest. Between laser cutting and Ryan’s skillful use of the scroll saw, we added handcraft to our digital forms to create a new sensibility.
RISD ADMISSIONS POSTER & DIGITAL MARK
This admissions poster for our alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, adapted some of the adventurous forms into a physical sculpture made of wood and string that expressed tensegrity and balance.
The vector version of this wordmark was adopted by the university as an alternative logo for its digital presence, appearing in a number of places before the 2023 redesign.
AIGA MOVE CONFERENCE IDENTITY
The AIGA NY’S Move: Stories in Motion conference identity was a project from the beginning of my freelance career that synthesized many of my nascent design interests. Working with partner Ryan Dunn, we created a design language that blended the flat and the physical through photography and graphics. I created a grid-based typeface that we cut out of wood, painting and photographing against a variety of surfaces. These photos became part of the motion identity for the conference as well as the parts of the poster.
It also felt like a coup to have your first typeface (wildly unfinished) blasted across an entire AIGA conference identity (supported by Akzidenz Grotesk). What a blast.
HERMAN MILLER + EAMES
DIGITAL ‘TOY"‘
This modularity also extended to some of our client projects. One dream assignment was creating a ‘digital toy’ to honor the relationship between the Eames studio (a huge influence on the Labour studio model) and Herman Miller. I created a language of modular units that mixed visual devices pulled from various Eames projects, and brought them to life through motion. In the toy, visitors could move, rescale, and toggle through items to create a sort of sculptural space. After 10 or 20 seconds, small animated visitors would enter the space and engage with the stacked graphics.
This project was coded by Sanctuary Computer.
‘VISAGE’ TYPEFACE AND APPLICATIONS
Another modular approach to type was Visage, a deconstructed typeface I created after a conversation with my brother, a professor of philosophy (pictured here) where he was asking what essential elements were needed for a letter A to be a letter A – and at what point does it cease to be a letter A?
Cognitive science has shown us that we read letter shape before we read individual letter, so I wanted to create a typeface where individual letters couldn’t necessarily be read on their own in isolation, but which snapped into focus through context. This typeface was applied to a series of shirts and cashmere pieces through Gingham by 2K, and we also used it for a seasonal calendar for the Yale University Art Gallery, along with other prospective personal projects.
APPAREL & EARLY WORK
From 2004 to 2009, I was creating lots of work exploring grids and playing with optics, and these translated to apparel, painted work, and title screens. This was a ripe time for exploration and was also very much of the zeitgeist.