More refined version of the landscape.

Another aspect of the work I have been thinking of quite a bit is form. From the beginning I had imagined symbols on wooden blocks but wasn't entirely convinced by the idea. Now i'm revising that perspective and looking at urban elements of stone. Concrete, flag stone, etc. I have already found sizable chunks fallen from buildings, knocked off the corner of stairs, etc. I'm going to experiment etching into these surfaces. If it proves effective I will likely pursue this route.

A quick example of a landscape created from the elements i'm working with. Tone may become a necessity as a way to better communicate. The system moves further away from blisssymbolics as time goes on and more into the space of aesthetics not function. I'm no longer interested in making a script and set of symbols to be written like text. That idea is limited and derivative. I'm pursuing the usage of space to identify characters and relationships as well as developing the negative space.

This is an experiment with a form I might end up using to describe earth/land. I'm considering moving away from previous forms to a more unified and abstract system. I may make two versions. One more pictorial and one that must be learned to be understood. I have a desire to make something more interesting visually. Also something mysterious.

Just an update and a few revisions. I'm working on making modular symbols that can be strung together to create more interesting super-elements. With the updated symbol for land for instance, I can make large areas that are defined as "land" read as "land" but are more than simply a baseline. They can become more pictorial/graphic in addition to functioning as an idea.

Revisions

These are my original digital versions. Mainly digital sketches so I could see how I felt about them on the screen. John had mentioned them getting too literal and "cute". I agreed as I was feeling they lost a lot of their character in the digital transition and so I went about simplifying and revising.


I came to these forms after a bit of playing around and was also able to create some additional symbols to expand the vocabulary and give a greater sense of their interaction and the creation of words and ideas. I like the forms now, they resemble letter-forms even more while still retaining the feeling and visual expression I was looking for; a good compromise.

A Few Sketches

Some sketches that illustrate the ideas i'm working on and with. Similarities between bliss symbolics but also the desire to communicate to a greater degree and with grammar and a more complex sense of relationships between symbols.

Omniglot

Wonderful resource i've been using to take a look at a variety of alphabets, syllabaries and other visual systems in order to gain some perspective and establish a point or origin.

www.omniglot.com

I have on major internal conflict at this point; aesthetics vs function. I want to create a set of symbols that are understandable without specific cultural knowledge. A system that doesn't use the sort of cultural shorthand we often use day to day. However i'd also like to create a system that looks appealing and consistent. I do not wish to simply recreate images in order to communicate. Looking at many written forms of languages from around the world i've been inspired but also disheartened. These written forms can be so simple and beautiful because they must only communicate a sound, not an idea.

I still believe it possible, it will just take a good bit of work figuring out what makes sense and what doesn't when things are simplified. When does a stick figure become unrecognizable as a human.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/signwriting.htm - this is the page on signwriting, something that has obvious application to what i'm working on but also makes apparent how such a system can become overcomplicated. It is also pretty ugly and i'd like to make something much more elegant.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lontara.htm - I find Lontara to be wonderful. the forms are striking and when combined they make for a beautiful and rhythmic line.

These are in a sense the extremes i'm looking at, finding a happy medium will be the main objective.