speed hump
soooo… i’ve been working on some road signs - yes, sticking with that theme currently — and have been putting off documenting the process because… i don’t have a reason. not a good one at least. i think i was adding things to the overall project, and made myself believe that i shouldn’t post anything about it until it was buttoned up and polished.
hold on a sec…
lemme make sure this thing is plugged in…
*ahem*…
process is what you came here for!
ok? future me?! hope you remember that! or remember to come back here and refresh yourself. refresh yourself!
without further ado, or pomp, or verbose word vomit to vamp around my discomfort documenting something that isn’t finished (i’m working on it…), here are a few pieces that i’ve been working on over the last few weeks:
from left there’s the “winding road”, “hairpin curve”, and “added lane” ahead signs.
i’ve been using the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to reference design standards and sign usage. i hadn’t seen the design standards before getting into the making of the three signs above in illustrator, but am now incorporating the standards into future explorations. i’m not about to mass produce road signs, so i’m adhering loosely. nevertheless, the standards provide a helpful touchstone for composition and color.
started out looking at the “warning signs” which are classically yellow with black text or graphics. big fan of the color yellow, why resist it?
a good mess
the first iteration: solid yellow base with black cut-out glued over top
and the second: black loops cut from yellow.
i prematurely decided while making the recursive hairpin loops that i didn’t like the way the second iteration was going. so i got sloppy when i was gluing and ripped the yellow paper in a few places. looking at it now, i don’t dislike it as much as i had convinced myself in the making of, but i still like the first iteration better. i like the detail of the narrow strip around the border. i also cut it and remember how delicate i had to be to not rip the thin ring of construction paper.
i’ve been using run-of-the-mill construction paper. keeping that barrier to entry low, things aren’t as precious as they may be if i was using “nice” paper. i really like construction paper, actually. the cheapy, inexpensive stuff that litters elementary school classrooms. it’s no fuss and after being handled it starts to take on characteristics similar to fabric. i like that it has texture and character. i like it.
this exploration has also encouraged me to look at color using these simplified road sign graphics. that’s why i wanted to get a color wheel the other day. color is daunting, so i’m starting small.
using colors as close as i can get them from my pack of construction paper to explore color theory.
like i said at the top, i was putting this off after convincing myself i needed to have all of the pieces of this project completed, or nearly so, in order to document it. then, late last night, i opened an email from The CrafsMan and saw that he too was working on warning signs of his own. i felt excited seeing a creator i admire exploring something similar to what i had been. and with precision timing my anxiety walked through the door to let me know that i was un-original and anything i shared after-the-fact would be seen as a rip-off.
my head can be a mean place…
took a bit to shake those feelings away, but i have, and will continue to. this is just a pit stop along the way. a snapshot on the road trip. a whole host of other metaphors and similes and analogies that i don’t know or have the energy to corral.
alrighty, off for a morning walk to coffee and breakfast. back to the drawing board later.
fun after-the-fact: i used the phrase“without further adieu” when i first wrote this. thought it read strangely using the french word for goodbye. turns out i correctly identified my incorectness. the saying is actually “without further ado.” not this time, eggcorn!
