The project brief was to consider how the evolution of type and cultural influences can affect the creation of swear words. The task was to invent a swear word for the future and design a typeface inspired by that word with three variations.
I began this project by researching the origins of a few swearwords to get an idea of where they originated from, how they existed within their time and how some words loose impact and become outdated. Then I embarked on creating a brainstorm which eventually lead me to generate my final swear word ‘Soggy Breadstick’ which means ‘A food critic who always finds flaws in good food’. Its context is set in a fictitious world where Australian TV is now dominated by cooking shows. So much so that the importance of restaurants have skyrocketed and has affected society in such a way that being a food critic is a prestigious job. When attending a restaurant, on every table there’s a review by an acclaimed food critic that may influence your choice. People group these critics into three categories; Sweet Soufflés (Positive), Alright Hollandaise (Average) and Soggy Breadsticks (Negative).
Using this rich backstory as my platform I experimented with some styles for my font but ended up sticking with a sans serif font because of its modernity and easy readability, especially since it’ll be displayed 50 years into the future. I chose to keep my font with one stroke to keep true to the form of a singular breadstick and eliminated any slant because I feel symmetry and perfection would be essential to someone called a ‘Soggy Breadstick'. The warm coloured and smooth texture of my font resembles a warm toasty soggy breadstick.
All three variations were created from this base font and all symbolise different aspects of a person who is described as a ‘Soggy Breadstick’.
The Priggish Panettone variation conveys a slice of panettone bread through its firm and defined crust shown by the 3D effect, the priggishness comes from the tall and slender letters that symbolises a posh and seemingly superior person.
The Crusty Crouton variation conveys both of the words describing it. The adjective is shown through the hard solid bits of toasted bread while the crouton part is displayed through the compactness of the texture as this bread is small, dry and compact.
The Vicious Vienna variation conveys the texture of the bread which is soft, best served toasted and personally very delicious. The vicious part is shown through the deep aggressive bite marks left from the chunks torn from the letters leaving behind crumb residue.