This is a continuation of the series of designs based on the alphabet from our Creative team. Each post will include their designs and a peek into their process. Here’s a look inside Pablo’s process. Enjoy!
For the letter, “W,” I wanted to create a drawing that would play off the letter’s straight and symmetric design without simplifying it. I initially played with patterns and negative space but felt the design was boring and not worthy of such an interesting letter.
Integration of W
After a couple of hours of doodling, I stumbled on the idea of integrating the letter into architectural plans. Following some research into such designs, there was no doubt the style would be a great compliment to letter’s strong, straight and edgy look.
Becoming an architect was in fact my first dream as a profession when I was younger. So why not have fun with it and take a stab at coming up with my own apartment on paper?
The Architectural Plan
My first step was to analyze the different elements that help put together an architectural plan — solid/dashed strokes, legends, all-caps type, consistent spacing, etc.
The second step was to find a bold and stylish serif type with minimal breaks in it, so I could easily use it to create a somewhat livable structure in and around the body of the letter. I then printed the basic outline and began sketching on top of it with a ballpoint pen.
Not long into sketching by hand, I had a better idea of how the design would play out. So I decided to stop wasting time and I moved over to Illustrator to draw the plans as a vector.
Illustrating My Vision
It took about four hours of drawing, using only a mouse and keyboard shortcuts to complete my awesome, “W,” shaped apartment and I am very happy with the outcome. I think it is a unique take to JP’s Type Tuesday series and the letter is an exciting design that plays between being intricate yet minimal.
DISCLAIMER: Do not try to actually build out these plans. As cool as they look, there is no way the apartment could withstand even a gentle gust of wind, let alone pass any cities building code and regulations.
Cheers!
–Pablo Ruiz De Chavez, Web Developer
