Alphabet by Amy Koller
To be honest, I’m not completely sure what I want to do for my alphabet yet. However, I decided to try out at least one design for the time being. For my text I wanted to use a Christmas song. When I browse through Christmas designs, I usually see serif fonts or fancy cursive letters. I thought that I should make something more original and do a block sans-serif alphabet that looks like it’s lit up. With my song, I think of festivities and lights which is what gave me the idea to put the circles inside the block letters. I’m using a Modular Method with this alphabet that I’m currently experimenting with. With that in mind, I decided to make my rules as follow.
1. Use the grid system to make sure my alphabet is evenly distributed and organized.
2. Have a high cap height.
3. Make the letters have the same height (here it’s about 1″ by 1″).
4. Use smaller circles evenly throughout the typeface to create unity and to brighten up the alphabet.
Some other designs I have considered is burning letters into wood and using magazine paper to create letters. I’m still exploring different design possibilities and might update my rules.
Kristin Becker's DTC Classes at WSU 
Amy: It is a nice challenge to come up with a holiday/christmas typeface that is more unexpected. Obviously this could change drastically if you switch to a materials-based method. If you do switch, make sure you pick a specific material and use a specific reference. Best of all, use the material itself to make sure the letters and dictate their construction. The limits you are starting to set for a modular model are also working: Just make sure you are specific about the fixed element(s) you’re using and the way they may be combined in a larger structure. For what you have here, it appears that units in a grid may be black, white, or divided half black-half white using a diagonal line. Additionally, each full black unit has a white circle in it. The A and O seem to be built on a 4 unit wide x 8 unit tall grid. The P seems to be 3 x 8. Be this specific as you define your rules, but also revise as you go (though still be consistent) to create the visual effect you desire for your text.
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