Psychedelic Lettering

We’ll explore what makes this genre of interesting, beautiful, and an important part of the history of graphic design. The famous Fillmore poster designers of the past (Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoco, Rick Griffin, and others) left their mark on the world, creating elaborate designs that could make you feel stoned even if you weren't (but you probably were). By gaining an understanding of the driving forces behind their decisions, we can couple their ideas and techniques with principles of lettering, and apply it to a modern landscape. Rather than simply aping work of the past, we'll be focussed on a recipe that is personal, adaptable, and unmistakably contemporary.

On Sunday afternoon, Victor Moscoso will join the class giving critiques, pointers and stories. Psychedelic posters and their sources of inspiration will be pulled from Letterform Archive's collection for view.

Required Materials:

• pens (microns, sharpies, broad nibs, brush pens–bring whatever you have)
• pencils
• erasers
• white out
• marker or tracing paper (preferably marker paper)
• Optional: a laptop with Adobe Illustrator or a font editor
• Optional: some markers in psychedelic colors (complementary colors)

A workshop offered by Type@Cooper West, a collaboration between Letterform Archive and The Cooper Union Continuing Education Department, and held in the Monotype Classroom at Letterform Archive.