For my Alphabet Design, I was inspired by by an alarm clock in my room. I realized, while getting woken up by it every morning, that every number is made up of 7 lines of the same length, making up the shape of an 8. I looked more into this font and other similar ones. I thought about if you can create every number out of the number 8, why not the alphabet? I want my alphabet to be composed of the same whole shape, but missing certain pieces. This makes every letter appear visually the same when completed as the whole shape. This also gives a technological, slightly futuristic feel to it. After this thought, I was looking for something that made up the shape of an 8, and then thought of can tabs. The can tabs make up the shape of an 8 and I loved the metallic texture of them as well.
My alphabet will be materials-based and be composed of nothing but the can tabs. The first step will be to find 26 different can tabs. From there, I will construct the 26 letters in each of them to have one tab per every letter. While constructing my alphabet, I will have to follow a few certain rules to keep the letters construction consistent. I’ll have to find 26 of the same type of can tabs. While cutting and constructing them, I’ll have to consistently keep one of the shorter sides down when in shorter side down, and another when it stands tall.
After completing all the different forms of letters, I’ll bring them to the CDSC to be scanned. I will also use a single piece of white paper to have as a background for the can tabs, creating a stronger contrast. I will use primarily Illustrator for the post-scan, finalizing the letters in my alphabet.
