Everyone has something ephemeral that they like to collect. For me, I enjoy collecting any sort of ticket that I get, whether that be a movie ticket, an admissions ticket, or even a wristband. Although these items aren’t meant to be kept around for long, something inside us wants to collect them anyways. With this in mind, Typegeist was a project where I was tasked to design a collectible takeaway for a mock exhibition in relation to a themed category of typography found in the world. To start this project, I took pictures of typography that interested me, which consisted of a lot of food packaging. To categorize my findings, I decided that the idea of groceries would be fitting, which eventually developed into the idea of grocery shopping. When thinking about items that are related to grocery shopping, my mind landed on how receipts are a common piece of design that gets disregarded at the end of many peoples’ shopping trips, so I decided to create a receipt that was “too beautiful” to be thrown away. Using excerpts from “Typegeist” by Michael Rock and quotes from Jonathan Hoefler, I designed a receipt that was beautifully designed in terms of typography. Using the images I took of found typography, I created an exhibition logo as well as a collage to place on the back of the receipts. All quotes and excerpts are free as a nod to the idea that knowledge is free. Other subtle details include Jonathan Hoefler as the cashier, the date the MOMA was founded, the number of MOMA’s visitors in 2022, as well as its coordinates.
Although I created a receipt that was “too beautiful” to throw away, a part of the exhibition I had in mind was for the audience to crumple up the receipts and throw them away. This idea was also carried into the entrance wall that I designed for the mock exhibition that paired with the receipt designs. Like a sort of performance art, as I was in class critique for this project, I handed out different copies of the collection of receipts and asked everyone to throw them away. It felt like the wrong thing to do, but I enjoyed seeing the reactions of my peers as they participated in the performance!
