On the Urban Typography workshop

http://www.mediamatic.net/id/29791 2009-10-17T01:48:57+02:00 On the Urban Typography workshop fabbing communication

Urban Typography: what does your city say to you and what do you say to your city? This workshop encouraged participants to express themselves through words and text in their urban environments through the use of Mediamatic's Fab Lab.

The Urban Typography workshop took place at Mediamatic over two days. Participants were encouraged to form groups for collaboration. Ideas, inspiration, and brainstorming were the focus of day one, while day two focused on putting ideas in practice on the machinery of the <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/artefact-19580-en.html">Fab Lab</a>. A Fab Lab is a space where computer controlled machines allow one to build just about anything. The focus of the Urban Typography theme helped reign in the participants to create works using the Fab Lab that shout, scream and engage others using text in an urban environment. <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/631/29832-400-267.jpg" height="267" width="400" alt="" title="These letters will be used in a stop motion video by one of the participants in a project about Amsterdam Noord."/> <a title="Click to get a larger image - These letters will be used in a stop motion video by one of the participants in a project about Amsterdam Noord. - Mediamatic.net" href="/page/29832/en">These letters will be used in a stop motion video by one of the participants in a project about Amsterdam Noord.</a> The workshop started out with some engaging presentations by visual artist Mirthe Blusse, street artist and graphic designer ZEDZ, and architect Jack Bakker from Zwarts en Jansma Architects. Participants then were encouraged to brainstorm, share ideas, and form pairs and teams for their projects. Day two was strictly hands-on as the participants put their ideas into practice with the help of <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/person-18431-en.html">Bernardo</a>. Some participants chose to focus on one larger project, while others used their time to pursue more than one computer-controlled medium. By far the biggest challenge was vectorizing all of the design files to work with the various driver software systems for the machines. If you attend a workshop, be sure to familiarize yourself with vectorization ahead of time and come prepared with your designs in a compatible vectorized format. All in all the two-day workshop was a success for each participant. The Fab Lab made text pop seamlessly from dream into an urban environment-- whether in the form of an interesting object, or lettering on a sticker to place on a building, or words for a stop motion video. <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/493/29799-400-267.jpg" height="267" width="400" alt="" title="A piece of paper cut like lace as textural inspiration."/> <a title="Click to get a larger image - A piece of paper cut like lace as textural inspiration. - Mediamatic.net" href="/page/29799/en">A piece of paper cut like lace as textural inspiration.</a> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/022/29798-400-267.jpg" height="267" width="400" alt="" title="An example from Zwarts en Jansma architects showing how to construct 3D pieces with 2D paper cut by a laser."/> <a title="Click to get a larger image - An example from Zwarts en Jansma architects showing how to construct 3D pieces with 2D paper cut by a laser. - Mediamatic.net" href="/page/29798/en">An example from Zwarts en Jansma architects showing how to construct 3D pieces with 2D paper cut by a laser.</a> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/084/29802-400-267.jpg" height="267" width="400" alt="" title="Participants are discussing in front of a red mural by one of the inspirational speakers, street artist ZEDZ."/> <a title="Click to get a larger image - Participants are discussing in front of a red mural by one of the inspirational speakers, street artist ZEDZ. - Mediamatic.net" href="/page/29802/en">Participants are discussing in front of a red mural by one of the inspirational speakers, street artist ZEDZ.</a> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/818/29800-400-267.jpg" height="267" width="400" alt="" title="Some laser cut pieces to inspire the participants and get the creative juices flowing."/> <a title="Click to get a larger image - Some laser cut pieces to inspire the participants and get the creative juices flowing. - Mediamatic.net" href="/page/29800/en">Some laser cut pieces to inspire the participants and get the creative juices flowing.</a> Fabienne Serriere http://www.mediamatic.net/id/5237 ARTICLE review 1