Chekal
Oleksiy
December
7–11
Year
2020
Working time: 5 days, 6 hours a day on-line × 9 parallel groups of 10–20 participants per group.
Geometric Ligature Calligraphy (Vyaz) in graphic design between East and West (Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic)
About the workshop
The course explores and offers practical exercises on the principles of ligatures construction and complex decorative inscriptions in different written traditions of the East and West. Students will learn how letters hug and fight, how to construct a monogram, or use graphic techniques to reduce the size of the lettering. The course will include many presentations with historical examples from different eras and languages. In the classroom, students will learn who Ludwig Traube is, what sacred names and their graphic images are in different religions, how to make figurative calligraphy in a circle or in a square, and not lose the meaning of what is written. The course introduces students to the possibilities of using paleographic research in modern design and type experiments.
Objectives
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students study the principles of working with complex ligatures inscriptions in the context of modern design tasks.
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students will learn about the peculiarities of decorative and figurative inscriptions both in the historical context and in the realities of modern visual culture.
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students are trained to work between calligraphy and digital technology.
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students explore new possibilities in combining the plasticity of letters from different scripts culture and obtaining new graphic and font effects.
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students develop the ability to work with historical references and feel free to choose the style and techniques for the most accurate solution to the graphic problem.
Course content
The content of the course will be presented in the form of classroom lectures combined with practical exercises. Students will be given copybooks based on fragments of Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic calligraphy related to the topic of this course. There will also be backs for combining calligraphy and graphic design, lettering, and type design.
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viewing/studying the class and discussing the relevant material on the selected topics presented in the lectures and case studies.
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discussion in the classroom of the content of educational portfolios created by students. and criticism of student-generated content
Portfolio / outcomes
The result of the master class will be several intermediate and one final task. Intermediate tasks will consist of:
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Exercises and calligraphy of different alphabets
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Creating monograms and ligatures
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Inscription in Greek (Between the Tattoo
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and the Orthodox Icon)
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Cyrillic inscription (Fences extending to the sky
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or rhythmic drilling of letters)
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Latin inscription with Eastern influences (Between popes’ scrolls and stone Kufic inscriptions)
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Final task – figurative lettering for a modern design project
Tools / materials / equipment / software
Students need wide nibs such as automatic pen, parallel pen, or any flat nibs from 2 to 6 mm, small flat brushes can also come in handy. Ink, paper, pencil, eraser, ruler, compasses.
At the end of the course, you will need a computer with Adobe Illustrator or (FontLab / Glyphs) installed to work with vector files.
Workshop description
Schedule
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Monday
Theory: General principles of building connections between letters. History of ligatures and monograms. Greek monumental writing and sacred inscriptions.
Practice: Calligraphy exercises, creating monograms and names based on the directions given. Greek calligraphy exercises for ornamental lettering. Creation of an inscription in Greek.
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Tuesday
Theory: Cyrillic decorative script: features and history
Practice: Cyrillic calligraphy exercises. Creating a Cyrillic inscription in a circle
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Wednesday
Theory: Latin decorative lettering, Arabic kufi, and Turkish calligraphy (similarities and differences)
Practice: Latin calligraphy exercises. Create a squared label
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Thursday
Theory: General principles of lettering development in modern design in the context of multicultural and ethnic-national problems. Features of working with calligraphic sketches on the computer.
Practice: Creating the final lettering of the student’s choice. Calligraphic sketch, vector adaptation for a design project.
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Friday
Completion of final works and preparation for present viewing and review outcomes.
Oleksiy Chekal
Oleksiy Chekal is a graphic designer, calligrapher, and art historian. He specializes in complex cross-cultural and cross-language design tasks in the field of cultural, museum, scientific and religious projects. (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and other scripts of the Middle East). He also has experience in creating fonts, logos, and posters, including book design, brand design, and packaging design, monumental calligraffiti. Works in any historical style for projects related to different faiths and religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) and for scientific conferences and publications. Oleksii is experimenting in the field of typographic art of letterpress and handmade technology. He is research interests are related to the art history of typefaces, as well as the history of the early Christian and medieval art of Byzantium, the Middle East, and Europe. Now I am also enrolled as a Visiting Professor at the Florence Classical Arts Academy (Italy).