by Frodo7
Download disabled
The designer of this FontStruction has chosen not to make it available for download from this website by choosing an “All Rights Reserved" license.
Please respect their decision and desist from requesting license changes in the comments.
If you would like to use the FontStruction for a specific project, you may be able to contact the designer directly about obtaining a license.
This is a supplement for the font Hasta Siempre: my Fontstruct rendering of the iconic photograph of Che Guevara by Alberto Korda.
23 Comments
To assemble the picture type the following sequence:
ABCDE
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXY
Z0123.
Adjust the line spacing so as to get a continuous pattern without any horizontal gaps.
Che was the most complete human being of our age.
(by Jean-Paul Sartre)
Che's life is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom. We will always honor his memory.
(by Nelson Mandela)
Sorry for my english, it was not easy for me to explain here, hope you have understood.
By the way, I'm in full agreement with Nelson Mandela on this one.
@neurone error: Well, that sounds very tempting to believe this Che portrait is photorealistic, but it's not. And I'm very happy with the imperfections, the rough polygonal look, and the small deviations from the original I've consciously made. The reason you think it's close to the photo, that it is easily one of the most ubiquitous, famous portrait, you probably knew the original, and you mind simply completes and corrects the small flaws.
@meek: Thank you for your comment. I've tried the sample text too. I put tiny dots to some otherwise empty glyphs to enable the sample text feature. Since it was produced using simple bricks and no fancy advanced techniques, it is a proof of concept to use Fontstruct to design/prototype large scale artworks for murals or floors with tiles.
@elmoyenique: Thank you very much for your praising words. If you really interested in this kind of technique, I tell you here briefly how I've made it. It's called tracing, and I've used the same grid paper method as Bat Country by loboarches. The other example is a bit different using transparent windows for tracing: FIGURE COLLECTION Part 1 by kix. Both were very inspirational to my project. Follow the links to find the info you need. Apart from the technical settings (size of the grid, magnification, contrast of the original pic, etc.), the result depends on your decisions brick-by-brick to best approximate the original. As for this particular case, I started with the right eye. I thought the glint was the most important detail to be faithfully reproduced. Without that the whole portrait would be soulless. I tweaked the parameters until I got it right. In general, it is a good practice to start with the most challenging part. Then Bob's your uncle.
@p2pnut: I'm always happy to have your comments. The quote by Nelson Mandela - I was lucky to find it. His endorsement of Che made a huge difference to me. I've learned a lot of things about his quest, and the modern history of Latin America, all because of this project.
@afrojet: Thank you very much for the special mention. Though I've invested significant amount time, thought, and effort, I never really hoped for such recognition. It comes as an icing on the cake.
He adds the following (above) 'Disclaimer: Ernesto Che Guevara remains to be a controversial figure, and only history will tell a final, unbiased judgment upon his merits. This work of mine is by no means to endorse his political views or deeds attributed to him.'
In this (as always) Frodo7 shows himself to be fair, unbiased and motivated by a deep, educated and fair-minded approach to the aesthetics of design.
You would do well to emulate Frodo7's example and leave your prejudice behind when visiting this site.
The reality is more complicated than to be fit in a short comment. It has many aspects, insufficiently considered by those who accuse him. I encourage you to be always open minded, see the same thing from different angles, and study history more vigorously, so as to understand it better.
"Why does Fontstruct allow such left-extremist stuff?" (What do you suggest, censorship?) FontShop USA, owned by FontShop International, is based in San Francisco, CA. In 2008 they launched FontStruct. In case the operation of FontStruct falls under US jurisdiction, the First Amendment to the US. Constitution applies. Freedom of speech is protected on many levels of state constitutions, and state and federal laws. In 1997 the US Supreme Court extended the full protection of the First Amendment to materials published on the Internet (see Reno vs ACLU). In Europe similar constitutional and legal rights apply in all signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
What "left-extremist stuff" are you talking about? My work is more about his image in the popular culture. It transcended the actual person he was, and the actual history he was part of. It is viewed by many as an icon of revolution, a generic symbol of the idealist, the iconoclast, the hero. It is easily the most reproduced photograph in history, the most ubiquitous face around the world. Andy Warhol could use it for artistic expression, and so could I.
Even if Frodo7 had made an image of Hitler, Charles Manson, or the Countess Bathory, that would not change a thing. Art is not only an affair of subject, it is also, and i would say mainly, an affair of treatment. I remember a significant interview of the post industrial music band Laibach when they were in their "divided states" tour in USA, the interviewer asked them about the nazi imagery of their plakards, where a military man in uniform was treated as in an uneasying propaganda feeling; The member of Laibach answered : _Yes, but do you know what is this uniform ? look a bit closer : it is a genuine uniform of a contemporary american military officer ! What seemed to be an apology of a fascist ideology of the past, was on the contrary pointing subtlely and cleverly the hidden violence of our polished democracies.
What frodo made is directly linked to Pop Art and its assimilation of icones, the real thing is not what is important, it's its impact on popular masses, the subject would be Mickey Mouse, a Hot Dog, a movie star or a serial killer, Warhol made a large series on that subject, it's always the same, it has become an idea of an object, and the work is on this idea, no more on the object. that's why Pop Art, despite its seductive and colourful appeal, led to the radical austerity of conceptualism, After having exhibited Warhol or Lichtenstein, Leo castelli will show the conceptualist Lawrence Wiener in a perfect continuity.
The image of Alberto Korda has become an icon telling much more the global feeling of a certain youth of the seventies than being an apology of the revolutionary political man who is the subject. The romantism of this hippie youth was destroyed by the nihilist desillusioned punk youth that succeeded, but maybe the rave techno party movement of the 90s mixed both in an unexpected way : these concepts who marked history for their opposition were unified in a postmodernist way.
That's why the treatment is the most important : if i had a small reproach to make to Frodo7 on this one, it would be more on the treatment, never on the subject : Frodo, i think you were too much humble and fair to Korda and Warhol in these works, as if you were too shy to have a more personal approach, that's why i prefer the Elmoyenique variation, who dared to go beyond the simple hommage.
It is not the first time you are so fairly close to the works that inspire you that sometimes i say to myself : how well made and technically terrific these things are, but what is the ultimate point of these hard and successful efforts when we already have the originals somewhere ? You also proved sometimes that you could have your personal world, don't be so shy even if you feel that Escher and others are Masters, let flow and why not explode your deep inner world of creation, i'm sure we'll all love it !
You are also right to point out I didn't go far enough with my interpretation of Che's image. At the beginning I thought about using it in a fractal pattern, but I didn't like the results. Then I opted for something very modest. The primary purpose of this work was to supplement my Hasta Siempre font.
Mark Titan 658
this font giv me heart attack
Please sign in to comment.