typographic poster series: eruptions of identity “i am”
To create a series of posters with a cohesive visual system integrating typography as the main focal element. To represent three poets across three different cultural backgrounds—Gwendolyn Brooks, Monica Youn, Javier Zamora—and promote their poetic paths to exploring justice.
OBJECTIVE—
INITIAL RESEARCH
To design a cohesive series of posters, I first had to identify key characteristics and themes surrounding each poet while researching lines of similarities connecting them together.
Following the exploration of each poets desire for writing, I found that identity and the human experience are prevailing themes that continuously resurface throughout their poetry. I began to ask the question:
“ _______ is a poet because _______ ”
BRAINSTORMING + WRITING
Gwendolyn Brooks is a poet because she explores themes of resistance, empowerment, and most importantly the pride surrounding Black identity. As the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize, Brooks reveals the depth and honesty surrounding the Black experience in America.
Monica Youn is a poet because she reflects the importance of sticking true to one’s cultural roots. As a Korean American poet and former lawyer, Youn highlights the complexities of racial identity regarding the Asian American experience from an intellectually rigorous perspective.
Javier Zamora is a poet because he encapsulates identity as a unifying characteristic among migrants in the United States. As a Salvadoran American who embarked on a 3,000 mile journey to America, Zamora centers his poetry around cultural appreciation and personal expression.
CONCEPT SKETCHES
Sketches + concept directions surrounding my initial research:
DESIGN EXPERIMENTATION
Experimenting with typographic freeplay:
DESIGN PROCESS
From freeplay to digital development.
i·den·ti·ty
noun
the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
CONCEPT: ERUPTIONS OF IDENTITY “I AM”
The eruption, where a forceful outburst of pent-up energy is released, can be applied to all three poets. Each poet and their respective work represents an eruption of identity from a certain perspective relating to one’s inner self.
“I think, therefore I am,” a phrase coined by French philosopher René Descartes influences the certainty of individuality through the act of thought. Each poster contains a phrase beginning with “I am” which signifies the importance of self-existence throughout poetry.
Gwendolyn Brooks
In her poem We Real Cool, Brooks reveals the pride surrounding living freely amidst the oppression during the civil rights era.
Monica Youn
Through From From, Youn explores how cultural assimilation and stereotypes limit the beauty of self identity.
Javier Zamora
In Unaccompanied, Zamora writes from his own experience the displacement that migrants face in search for the American dream.
TYPOGRAPHY
The VTC Martin font family, used in Gwendolyn Brooks’ poster, preserves protest in letterform, with each character derived from the letterpress "I AM A MAN" placards carried during Martin Luther King's April 8, 1968, memorial march in Memphis. VTC Martin transforms ephemeral resistance into a living communication tool.
Noto Sans, used in Monica Youn’s poster, is a global font collection that supports writing in all modern and ancient language systems. Noto Sans is one of the only digital fonts originally designed to cover written languages such as Japanese and Korean. In our modern world, a font like Noto Sans is a cultural connector.
VTC RUBEN, used in Javier Zamora’s poster, is a font inspired by journalist Rubén Salazar and remnants of the 1970 National Chicano Moratorium Movement in Los Angeles. Rúben Salazar, a journalist and crusader for Latino rights — especially against law enforcement — was killed by Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies when peacefully protesting. No one was ever arrested for his death.
