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36 Days of Type 2019

• may 2019

36DOT-SketchesHeader

36 Days of Type 2019

Illo-0

process + showcase of my 36 days of type!
finishing this project completes my fourth year participating
—a total of 144 letterforms.

 

here’s a look at my color palette this year:

36DOT-Colors

sketch to final:

Sketches-36DOT-4
Sketches-36DOT-5
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not all sketches are perfect reflections of finals. because this is a self-driven project and a time challenge, often sketches were very loose or digitally assembled from multiple drawings:

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36DOT-PencilSketches

concept variants

taking time to play with variants is one way i avoid burnout—especially on demanding projects like 36 Days of Type.
a fun skelly variant next to it’s official letter post:

36Days_All_GRAM-PAGES-2
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warmups

warmup sketches help me work faster and figure out direction. you warmup to work out, why wouldn’t you warmup to draw?

36DOT-Warmups

color testing, the final (usually) fun step:

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Illo-V-3
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the full set:

36DOT-Full-Set

files files files

36Days-Process-Layout

finally, you know i want to talk about file prep. my smol structure includes:

  • a naming structure for files. mine is “36DOT19_” + letter or number
  • a base file with my main layers (a fully masked color layer + a background layer)
  • folders set to catch sketches from my intellectually-challenged scanner, and an export folder to catch final files (@ 12, 2, or 3 AM when i have one single working brain cell.) i also like to keep ani files separated.

this is my most useful set-up to date, but i still have some artboard/export naming that could be streamlined. ah, next year…

36DOT-Logo

36 Days of Type is a design challenge that occurs every year, involving designers, illustrators, type lovers and creatives from all around the globe.
many thanks to Nina Sans and Rafa Goicoechea for starting this event, and to the channel for featuring my ‘S’ this year:

The letter S (dropcap) illustrated for a spellbook typography highlight.-S