My Adventures in Creating a Type-Specimen Book

It all began on a stormy Monday afternoon. Ray announced a new assignment, and it sounded like a difficult one. We were to put together an entire 12 page book about five typefaces! My first reaction was a mixture of "Ooh, sounds exciting!" and "How on earth am I going to do this?!"

My start on the project was rough. I experimented with typefaces and layouts, but just couldn't seem to come up with a good concept.  Now matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't seem to find an idea that fit my book. As time passed, I became increasingly troubled.

Then one morning, while doing my make-up, I gazed at my Pantone Sephora palette. I saw colored squares perfectly organized with clean numeric labels. The organization of pure hues had a beautifully aesthetic quality to them. An epiphany struck me. This could be my inspiration for my book! This organization of swatches that allowed a person to choose a color was similar to type-specimen books that allowed a person to choose a typeface. In a frenzy, I madly researched anything related to color swatches: Sephora palettes, Pantone chips, and wall paint chips.

I started to organize layouts based on what I saw. My earliest rounds included layouts inspired by makeup palettes, with eye-shadow color schemes and large colored squares. As my project progresses I moved away from makeup and towards paint chips. I raided Home Depot of various samples and brochures about paint chips. I noticed the way they structured their colored squares and language, and began interpreting that into my book.

I noticed that most wall paint brochures include images of rooms painted in the advertised colors. I wondered, "What would it look like if I used pictures of painted walls, but instead of furniture in the room, use actual letter forms?" This sounded impossible in theory, but soon began a journey to various craft stores to figure out how to accomplish it. I eventually constructed tiny 3-sided rooms out of foam core and spray painted them each a different color.


I had the rooms. Now I needed some letters. I followed Ray and my fellow students to the mysterious laser-cutting room, hidden in the depths of the art building.  After much frustration we discovered how to create type from sheets of acrylic. With my new letter-forms I was able to photograph them in their little rooms, and add them to my book.




With my imagery done, my book was finally coming together. Further refinements including adding tabs to show all the colors in succession, and adding language similar that that used in paint chip brochures.

Lastly, came the construction. I played with various methods, from string, to Modge Podge, to Rubber Cement.  Frustration grew as I managed to damage every mock-up I made. Glue spilled onto pages, rulers slipped just as I cut across them,  smudges and wrinkles seemed to appear on the pages out of thin air. Finally, after many mock-ups and sweat and tears, my book came to fruition: