The inspiration for the Type Is … series is the immense beauty and mystery of typographic form. One day, while studying graphic design in college, my preconception of using type only as a communication device was shattered. As we sliced and diced cut-out letters from fashion magazines, trying to create something dynamic on our paste-boards, I finally began to realize that there’s so much more to typographic characters than kerning them together to achieve their ultimate utilitarian purpose. From that moment on I was forever enchanted with the witchery of stems, bowls, terminals and finals.
My typographic art started as something purely explorative and playful, but quickly graduated back to the subject matter that was precious to me throughout the early years of painting on canvas: the cryptic, unexpected, seemingly incongruous fusion of elements and pattern often with no preconceived notion of a finished product. My medium of choice has changed, yet my subconscious, my conduit for unspoken feelings and desires, has remained exactly the same.
Although Type Is … is digital in nature, every character, every shoulder, stem and serif is thoughtfully interconnected by hand and treated with utmost regard. There are no letters or fragments randomly or accidentally set together. Everything has its specific place and purpose — to create a visually pleasing relationship between each character, keeping in mind, respecting and being true to its unique shape. The flow of every painting is meant to challenge the viewer’s eye — encouraging it to travel around the image on an endless adventure, thus discovering it piece by piece. In each nook and crevice, the viewer acquires new appreciation for the form and the beauty of the typographic character.
Type is Beautiful: Crafted with Times New Roman.
Type is Omniscient: Crafted with ITC Galliard.
Type is Allusive: Crafted with Snell Roundhand.
Type is Playful: Crafted with Florens LP.
Type is Intricate: Crafted with Adobe Caslon Pro.
Type is Mythic: Crafted with Futura Std.
Type is Seductive: Crafted with Helvetica.
EUGENE LVOVSKY is an Estonian-born, Russian-Canadian graphic designer from Toronto who completed his first post-secondary arts education in Saint Petersburg, Russia as a porcelain and wood artist. Later, Eugene and his family immigrated to Canada, where he graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2000. Having worked for a number of companies, he now works freelance so that more time and energy can go towards his own art. Visit his website and connect with him through Bēhance, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.
