Assignment
To have a closer view of typography in a city space, in this case the different areas of
New York City. To show the character of the local typographic environment, its personality
along with its shortcomings. Emphasis was placed on the expressive potential of typography. How the form of the written letter affects meaning was studied experimentally. The emphasis was on design elements from the perspective of history, psychology, and artistic interpretation executed with digital tools. The goal was also to study designing within constraints such as using duotones and tritones; thus, experimenting with the two color printing process and prepress preparation.

Approach:
1. Walk, research, and photograph samples of typography as found in a specific neighborhood area of the city. Anything typographic can be documented.

2. With the images found, design a double sided poster showcasing the neighborhood you visited. The front of the poster should give us a hint of where you were and the on the back of the poster you will attempt to recognize the typefaces and/or the style of lettering you found.

3. Write a statement about the sources or backgrounds of the local lettering and other
collected material. This information will also go on the back of your poster

3. Create a small infographic map about the area of the neighborhood you walked in. This map will also be featured on the back of the poster.

4. Produce a two-color poster using only duotones or tritones of typography/signage you have photographed.

Neighborhoods
Think about diverse neighborhoods that are located throughout the 5 boroughs of
the city. Don’t limit yourself to the island of Manhattan, nor to the very gentrified
neighborhoods that have lost all of their identity. Try to seek out something new—
someplace you have never been before.

Results:
Students had a lot of freedom in their approach to this project. They were able to choose the neighborhoods they wanted to explore and the materials they wanted to photograph. Each student made critical decisions on how they were going to tell the story of the neighborhood they chose. There was a critical investment in the outcome of the poster because of the time they spent in this new environment. This was also a design approach that most had not experienced before. Using only found type, markings, signage and making it work into a story was a unique experience, as was the constraints of using only duotones and tritones. In the end, we were all excited to see what everyone produced and each student enjoyed the freedom and experimentation in the class