OUGD502 - Studio Brief 1 - Barry Spencer

Barry Spencer - Speculative Type Designer

Research about Barry Spencer 

Barry Spencer is based in Melbourne Australia, he is a lecturer and freelance designer. He conducts research into type, more specifically Latin letterforms, and experiments with these and their form. He describes himself as a speculative type designer and 'often makes letters that may or may not look like letters'. 

In his 100 days of spontaneous, he created a grid a day for 100 days. This series of grids were then put into a series of sketchbooks for people to create type, experiment with and colour etc. He creates typefaces, with some purely based on his grid systems and others taking a theme, concept or constraint which is then applied and considered to the whole typeface. 

He has recently released Speculatype which documents his research into type.

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/100daysofspontaneous/

http://barryspencerdesign.com.au/

Interesting things about Barry Spencers work:

- The use of restrictions and concepts within the type lead to varied and experimental approaches to their construction, creating original outcomes.

- Taking away parts of a letterform or considering it from a different angle pushes the legibility of the letters and questioning their functionality.

- The way the type is constructed and the concepts behind them creates outcomes that become abstract exploring the relationship between type and image. 

- Barry Spencers grid systems act as a creative tool for people to experiment with the construction of type. This interactive format allows this aspect of design to be accessible to whoever is interested and encourages experimentation which is interesting.

Questions for Barry Spencer 

1. Could you talk a little about your education and creative background. What did you study and what were you like as a creative at university / college?

2. What drew you to your research into type and your experiments with type?

3. Can you explain some of the processes you go through and influences you draw from when creating your typefaces?

4. What has been your biggest achievement so far?

5. What for you is the most difficult part of creating a typeface?

6. Do you have any advice for developing experimental typefaces?