Project
Year
Software
Client
Dune System
2021
Glyphs
Personal
Inspired by promotional imagery from Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’, I set out to create type based on the visual representations of Arrakis. Influence was drawn from both John Schoenherr’s illustrated edition of Frank Herbert’s novel ‘Dune’ (1965) and the aforementioned film, Dune (Villeneuve, 2021), for guidance regarding the forms that would be used in the type.
Preliminary sketches were derived from the imagined shapes of the tunnel systems laid by the sandworms of Arrakis. Although unused due to their complexity, these laid the framework for the remainder of the typeface, which was redrawn and simplified, initially on paper, and later in Glyphs.
The letterforms were guided by the flow of the sandworms, providing a consistent voice throughout the typeface, allowing individual forms to vary without appearing inconsistent.
References
Step-by-step
Outcome
Objective: Experimentation in Glyphs with fluid forms.
Research and Inspiration: John Schoenherr’s and Denis Villeneuve’s interpretations of sandworms.
Technique: Sketched abstract forms, guided by tunnels and worm itself. Initial drafts discarded.
Refinement: Type built each day, creating wild but simple characters within existing system.
Medium: Printed and scanned, mimicking an Arrakian document.
