This by Burwash Calligrapher
I loved teaching European medieval history in middle school. It always seemed as though time suspended and our units drew out longer and longer. Castles and siege, chivalry and heraldry, mystery and monasticism, an era hanging on the verge of enlightenment, scholarship, creativity, art, science and exploration. I could expend weeks delving into this period and too often did and made infrequent reference to the today and now.
And now, after coming across examples of digitally created Illuminated Texts, I wish I was still teaching 7th grade because then I would have a way of connecting the beauty of typography past and present, the nuances of text structure and art, and the way civilization still combines visual imagery and story and song.
Have you seen the examples from the National Writing Project’s Digital IS collection? Nicole Scott’s Toothpick Ocean is indeed breathtaking, and was inspired by Jenny Lee’s rendering of Hemingway’s Cat in the Rain. Take a look for yourself.
Question? Exclamation!
Kinetic type, this style of text illumination, is a relevant manner of writing. It appears in advertising, music video, movies, movie credits, and animations. Kinetic typography is often produced using standard animation programs, including Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects, and Apple Motion. However, it can also be created using PowerPoint and Keynote.
Another text illumination application I have been playing with on my iPad is Type Drawing by Hansol Huh. Type Drawing is like finger painting with words. You can select any font style, color and/or size. A number of functions increase the dramatic effects like shadowing, opacity, variegated color, and speed control. This app could be used in the classroom of any content area in just about any grade level. For $2.99, this app is a real treat.
