Creativity - sometimes it takes time!

Yesterday I wrote about how creativity can flow; and today I find myself contemplating the flip side. Not the complete flip side when there is nothing happening; just a semi-flip side where creativity gives way to design and involves a lot of steps, planning and testing.

I have begun pondering my new alphabet for a letter a week 2011 and have started to play around with a few ideas. We have set parameters for one alphabet of being ' black and white and a touch of...' and I thought I would start with this one.

We are working with 7cm squares again and I saw in my mind's eye layering of black-inked letters on white, against a black background, with a dash of colour thrown in somewhere. So I began to test it. I'm afraid you get to see it warts and all this time.

I drew up some 7cm x 7cm squares, grabbed some nibs and started writing. Worked out early the big nib was toooo big - the 'a' and 'c' were fine, but anything with ascenders (like 'd' and 'b') wouldn't fit; nor would anything with descenders (like 'p' and q''). I did like the way the letters kind of danced together. Wrote notes to self on the page.

I tested out a few plain letters and size - all looking a bit ugly at this point with poorly formed letters to boot.

I got the nib size right here - one that would work for all letters within the 7cm frame, and began over-writing with different nib styles and sizes. Trying to work out which direction the letters should go in in order to create a balanced look. A few diamonds of colour appeared here as well - testing what the 'touch of...' would be for me.

Beginning to simplify and clarify what's going on; but was suddenly faced with the thought - should the over-written letters just be randomly placed, or should I follow some sort of pattern/order?  The top row is random; the bottom row is planned (except for the massive thick blob that appeared in the fine five-line nib's 'a'!!). More notes to self on the page.

I had chosen to write on a 10cm x 10cm piece of Fabriano Rosapina paper, so that letters would bleed off the page and be cut off etc - I like that look rather than all fitting neatly in a box. So I cut out a frame so that I could see what might be left when I chopped it back to 7cm a 7cm.

I then cut a couple out and stuck them onto a 10cmx10cm piece of black paper. (I folded them before I photographed them, hence the wobbly appearance)

Then I folded them properly and joined them in a lotus flower sort of fold.

So with that prototype under my belt, I think I'm on track to actually start making my letters. I am yet to decide on the random versus organised layout of the letters and which colour to add (red or gold). I'll ponder that a bit more! As a first step I have cut all my white pages and traced the 7cm x 7cm frame onto them whilst the black pages are still waiting for the chop.