i grew up in a family of 8. mom, dad, 5 girls, 1 boy. 3 dogs. texas. the suburbs. at the end of a cul-de-sac. black. middle-class. upper-middle class white neighborhood. it always begins and ends the same...out there. in the burbs. round-and-round the cul-de-sac.
ask yourself, what would you do while no one's watching? behind 4 walls? within an enclosed circle? round-and-round in the cul-de-sac. under chlorine? in a tree? over the garden wall? does time ever change here? move forward? stop.
to me the suburbs is looking out the window, watching the neighbors. laying on the couch watching your older sibling play video games. sitting at the kitchen counter watching tv. it's a lot of idle time, observing, thinking about nothing or daydreaming about what else is out there. dreaming the undreamed. the undreamed technologies. suburban technologies for family software made from black hardware.
my typeface suburbia is just that (other times referred to as suburbia black, given the context). a celebration of life as a reflection of the past, of memories. nostalgic summers in the suburbs, ice cream dripping down a child's hand in the middle of a heatwave.
sold by many foundries, under different names.
registered by Berthold in 1895 as Regina-Kursiv, accompanied by a lighter style, Hansa-Kursiv (Berthold, 1895). Hansa-Kursiv is the style i decided to draw for my typeface.
Regina-Kursiv and Hansa-Kursiv were sold by AG für Schriftgießerei, B. Krebs, Blackfriars, Lettergieterij Amsterdam, Pavyers & Bullens, Stevens Shanks, Lehmann, Gutenberg, Orgelbranda.
this typeface was used for the purposes of my thesis video ultra-sound. a semi-autobiographical exploration of the black family unit, adolescence, love, technology, family, video-making, dreams, memories, sleep, imagination, nature, survival, resilience and growth. observing non-linear time and memory through suburban technology. a creation of voyeuristic self-discovery through a loop of past reflections.
this is a test to see if i can say my name. my name. my name is Avery, but you can call me AvA.
These student typeface designs created at Yale School of Art are noncommercial academic projects, commonly revivals or reinterpretations of historical typefaces. Read more about this typeface design course at Yale School of Art.
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