Introduction
For this project, we'll make a series of posters that says WELCOME TO GRAPHIC DESIGN. Think about someone arriving in our part of the building. What would you want them to encounter? What can the letters themselves communicate about being here?
You'll make the letterforms, use them across the posters, and then make the rest of the alphabet. The posters should work together as one large piece, approximately 10 feet across.
Objective(s)
- Develop an alphabet from your own letterform experiments.
- Work with composition across multiple printed sheets.
- Use layers to build an image, with the possibility of risograph printing.
Your Task
Begin with the letters
Draw, build, photograph, scan, or otherwise make some letters. Try a few approaches before deciding what you want to continue with. Consider what makes the letters feel related, and what happens when that approach has to work for an awkward letter like an S or a G.
Make the whole phrase
Use your letters to make WELCOME TO GRAPHIC DESIGN across a series of 11 × 17 in. posters. You decide how the phrase divides between sheets. A sheet can contain several letters, and a letter can continue across more than one sheet.
Seven landscape sheets placed side by side would be 9 ft. 11 in. across before adding any space between them. This is a straightforward way to get to our approximate 10-foot scale. If you'd like a different arrangement, show how the sheets fit together.
Finish the alphabet
Make the letters that aren't in the phrase, so that you have a complete uppercase A–Z alphabet. Show the alphabet together on a separate specimen sheet, and save the artwork for each letter individually, at a consistent scale and with the layers preserved. I will make the font from your alphabet.
Requirements
- The complete series must read “WELCOME TO GRAPHIC DESIGN.” Consider the order of the sheets and whether someone can read the phrase from a distance.
- Each poster must be 11 × 17 in. The assembled piece should be approximately 10 feet across.
- You must make your own letterforms. An existing digital font cannot be the finished lettering. You can work from drawings, photographs, scans, found materials, or other experiments.
- You must complete at least the uppercase alphabet, A–Z. The letters should feel like they belong to the same alphabet.
- Your letterforms must have at least two designed layers. These should be separate image or color passes that combine in the finished letters and posters. The blank paper does not count as a layer. Keep the layers separate in both your alphabet artwork and poster files.
- Risograph printing is optional. If you choose it, prepare a separate grayscale file for each ink layer and test how the layers print together. Other printing methods are fine.
- Record your process. Save your letter experiments, sketches, drafts, and print tests in your project folder.
Final Submission
- The complete printed poster series, ready to arrange for critique.
- A specimen showing your complete uppercase alphabet.
- A PDF of all the posters at their actual size, with one poster per page, plus your editable files with the layers preserved.
- Individual letter artwork for the complete alphabet, clearly named A through Z, for me to use in making the font.
- A photograph of the complete series arranged together, and your process documentation in the project folder.
Considerations/Potentially-related work
Kelsey Elder — Gravity Racer && Go-Kart
Kelsey Elder's Gravity Racer includes letterforms designed to layer in different colors. Look at how the color becomes part of the letters. His Go-Kart uses circles, squares, and triangles to construct a related set of letters. Consider how a few decisions can carry through an entire alphabet.
Novo Typo — Typewood / Bixa
Typewood, by Mark van Wageningen / Novo Typo, takes a digital color typeface into wood type and letterpress printing. Each letter is built from four color passes. Look at what the separate parts contribute to the letter, and what happens where the colors overlap.
MuirMcNeil — Generator Poster
MuirMcNeil made two custom typefaces for the Generator exhibition poster, printed in overlapping neon orange and violet. Look at how the repeated forms build both the letters and the larger composition.
Grading
| Criterion | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Letterform development and consistency across the complete alphabet | 35% |
| Composition, use of layers, and how the posters work together | 35% |
| Print execution and documentation of the process | 30% |
Relevant Dates
Week 08 (10/13/2026)
Introduction. Begin letter experiments and consider how the phrase could divide across the sheets.
HW → For 10/20: Bring at least two different approaches to the lettering, using enough letters to show how each approach works. Bring small sketches of the complete poster arrangement.
Week 09 (10/20/2026)
Review letter experiments and poster sketches. Choose an approach to develop.
HW → For 10/27: Complete a first pass of the uppercase alphabet and a digital draft of every poster, showing both layers. Upload before class so these are ready to review alongside the workshop schedule.
Week 10 (10/27/2026)
Alphabet and complete poster drafts due. Workshop with Sarah Elawad.
HW → For 11/03: Revise the alphabet and poster series. Make at least one full-size 11 × 17 in. print test to check the letters, composition, and layers at their actual size.
Week 11 (11/03/2026)
No class: Election Day. Upload your revised poster series, alphabet specimen, and a photograph of the full-size print test to your project folder by this date.
HW → Complete and print the series for 11/10. Use the test to address any printing or legibility issues before making the full set.
Week 12 (11/10/2026)
Final project due at the beginning of class. Bring the complete printed series and alphabet specimen for critique. Upload the final files and process documentation by class; add the photograph of the assembled series after critique.