I love letters. Love their form and plasticity – arising from inspiration rather than rigid rules. I sometimes invent alphabets of my own, and then put them to good use. These are often interpreted as part of the illustration. However, I have got some inquisitive students who decipher my writings. As of late, I have been teaching design students at Higher School of Economics and Contemporary Art Institute; have participated in numerous poster exhibitions.
Dmitri Makonnen EST/RUS
Wild letters
Trash lettering is perfect for posters, providing an interesting emotional accent. Wild letters, hand drawn letters, pseudo-calligraphy, calligraphy. I brought along 112 posters made by myself since 1999. Made for various purposes: political actions, commercial advertising, social and artistic campaigns. The emotional and wild trash lettering is equally suitable for fun-filled activities as well as serious business.
Workshops: My wild alphabet & typographic poster
Morning session 10:00–13:30 My wild alphabet
Using brushes, ink and bold marker, we draw letters, work with the mass of lines and empty space. We devise an original (unorthodox) shape for a letter and then develop a whole alphabet out of this one letter. This requires an analysis of the basic elements of letter anatomy, thickness of lines and aspects of the technique. Each letter should end up with at least four variations. In the next (parallel) workshop the handwritten alphabet can be converted into a digital typeface.
Afternoon session 14:30–18:00 Wild, wild typographic poster
Experiments with lettering. The clumsy instrument and atypical hand movements lead to unexpected and thrilling results. Next we take some proverbs and use them to build the poster’s composition. We also work with trivial, everyday phrases. We finish the workshop off with contraform. Outcome of the workshop: a whole collection of hand lettered posters.
