Doing My Nut In...

The second brief I have chosen is called 'Doing My Nut In...'. It is a past brief from ISTD 2008.

‘… whenever people begin to talk about their own language, they all have something to offer – favourite words or sayings, dialect anecdotes and observations, usage likes and dislikes.’ David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language, Second Edition, 2003

This project is a further celebration – of language in its local forms. It is a theme that we regularly return to as a fundamental typographic focus – how we use words to communicate. You may consider the vernacular, the slang, the argot of a specific location, area or group and typographically express the meanings and, if possible, the derivation of the phrases. Similarly it may interest you to consider how phrases are interpreted in different languages. Is there, for instance, a Spanish or Dutch equivalent to ‘it’s doing my nut in’? Maybe we are using translations of phrases that originated in other languages, without knowing their provenance. We use a saying that translates into English from its original Arabic as ‘The straw that broke the camel’s back. With interesting variations it translates into:

Spanish: la gota que colma el vaso
the drop that spills over the glass.
Dutch: de druppel die de emmer overloop maakt
the drop that makes the bucket overflow
German: der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt
the drop that makes the barrel overflow

Extend this research and you could examine the variations in punctuation between languages and the impact on typographic usage. Whatever approach you adopt must visually stimulate and inform the reader.

*Local could be where you live – Barcelona, Bournemouth, Belfast, Brisbane, Bloemfontein, Beirut...

The Brief
Design a publication or screen-based piece that uses at least six examples of your chosen area of language usage and typographically interprets – and celebrates – their richness. Incorporate informative text with each example or combine these as a summary that covers all examples. This must express a typographic hierarchy and continuity through layout. The format is your choice – book, broadsheet(s), website, DVD… but must reflect a consideration of production opportunities.

Target Audience
Designers, design students and lovers of language