Noorah's Cavern

Picture this, you start out your journey with Barely 20’s 2026 Edition, Labelled ‘Group 11’ and sectioned off alongside peers you never really familiarized yourself with throughout your 3 years as media & communications Major. “Well, what now?” sounds about right.

We took on the role of developing and designing ‘The Games, Puzzles & Quizzes’ page, I personally requested for the leadership position. I did this mostly to push myself into being more proactive with task organization and completion, while also taking this as an opportunity to assess every team member’s work ethic and responsiveness to group activities.

Week 2 was mostly spent brainstorming game Ideas and Page structure/ format. This task in particular was definitely a fun start to the project, conceptualizing visual directions and illustrations, especially considering the amount of creative freedom we were given due to the nature of our topic. By now, you would have realized that I’m a Visual Communications design major.

As for background research, I dwelled into design inspiration websites to explore game design on editorial layouts. This sort of a design was a new challenge since I hadn’t worked on a ‘game, Puzzles and quizzes’ section previously. I essentially developed a mood board with different Games that would interest university students and art styles that could potentially fit into the design style provided by the Leadership team, to present to my group in our next meeting.

By the time our 3rd lecture rolled in, we started sharing Ideas for potential games to include in our Section: Crossword, Snakes & Ladders, Mystery case games, Hidden objects, UOWD/ Personality Quizzes, Spot the differences, the list goes on. The 2 possible approaches to our section’s structure was either, One elaborate game that takes up both pages OR multiple smaller games. We opted for the latter considering how it would provide more scope for group contribution & shared workload.

Each of the finalized games: Crossword, Hidden Objects and Brain teaser (Based on group preferences) were distributed into sub teams. Being the leader and designer, I’d taken on developing the timeline as well as scheduling necessary meetings with the group in order to keep each other updated on our progress while creating polished visual elements to propose an Initial rough draft. Furthermore, I worked towards creating a Short storyline to the game section in an attempt to develop a progressive narrative and well rounded theme around all the games. ‘Willow’s Adventure’ centered around a wallaby who goes about her day through the course of our 3 games. An additional note I consistently communicated amongst my team members was our need to “always relate back to UOWD, our campus and students.”

In my best efforts of ensuring a streamlined work structure for the team, I constantly compiled meeting notes, shared WIP design pages/ Inspirational references on our group as well as created a simple grid layout for team members to work on rough design drafts of their own.

During Our first Follow-Up meeting, each sub team discussed and showcased their WIP templates, Challenges and next steps for each game. This further allowed us to work on feedback and redirections proactively, especially considering that I was still within the process of developing a cohesive narrative that could fit everyone’s tastes and cater to their own ideas.

In the meantime, I stayed in close contact with my peers in the leadership team, sharing visual and narrative drafts and getting feedback and critique. I additionally felt compelled towards writing to my professor and tutors about our proposal to ensure we had a ‘greenlight’ to work further on the concept and present it Infront of the rest of Barely20’s Amazing team (mostly).

Week 4 finally comes in, I develop a format and distribute tasks for our group presentation, alongside developing the final prototype based on some rough visual concepts provided by each sub team for each game. The Wallabies were specifically edited and customized through the drawing app ‘Krita’.

Unfortunately, through my observations, one member in particular often missed every opportunity to be responsive and collaborative at every step of the way and has yet to contribute to our discussions and game design in any meaningful manner whatsoever, I definitely plan on listening into the concerns of other members being affected, and would be more than willing to take necessary actions incase the situation worsens.

Overall, I’d say we did a good job with the time and resources we were given, and got the opportunity to break the ice and be more confident sharing our ideas and concerns with one another, something I especially feel happy about considering our Initial meetings often felt like I was speaking to a brick wall. Until then, I plan to continue supporting and guiding our group towards a final deliverable that we can all ultimately be proud of.

For our BCM 206 project, My group took on the issue of ‘Sameness Within a Networked World’ particularly relating to the US Film Industry.

The idea for Indie-Go emerged from a growing frustration we as a group experienced as both a viewers and students of media, everything began to feel the same when it came to movies. Scrolling through popular streaming platforms, we’d noticed patterns that were difficult to ignore whether it be recycled storylines, predictable character arcs, typecast actors, and an overwhelming dominance of franchise-based filmmaking.

This sense of sameness is reflected a broader condition of a networked world where cultural production is shaped by algorithms and money hungry studios. Therefore, the development of an indie movie streaming application called Indie-Go, was our attempt to engage critically with this issue and imagine an alternative.

Unfortunately for us, It’s not a coincidence. In an article about the ‘End Of Hollywood’ Anton Vonley claims that “From 2020–2024 only about 12% of new releases were original stories, while a staggering 71% of box office hits were based on comic Books, franchises and presold Ideas.

the project responds to what scholars often describe as Cultural homogenization within networked systems. In the context of the US film industry, this homogenization is driven by large, monopolized studios that prioritize profitability over originality.

Cultural homogenization is the process by which local cultures are transformed or absorbed by a dominant culture, leading to a loss of diversity and the emergence of a more uniform cultural landscape. This often occurs in the context of globalization, where media, technology, and economic forces spread certain cultural norms and values across the globe, influencing local practices and beliefs (Fiveable, 2025)

With massive budgets at stake, studios tend to rely on proven formulas such as movie sequels, reboots, and genre conventions that have already reached commercial success, ulitmately resulting is a narrowing of creative diversity.

As for application design, It is something I individually took upon to develop. This stage started by endless scrolls online for design inspiration to hit in order to create a streaming platform that remained diverse and unique in its own form without straying too far away from the general layout and ‘look’ of a streaming app, to ensure user comfort and familiarity with the UI Interface being created.

Of course the main color scheme revolved around the color ‘indigo’ among others with a dark color palette.

Our application was built around 3 main characteristics,

Indie-Movie Streaming:

• Serves as a platform for Independent + small scale Film studios/ Directors to showcase their projects.

• Starts out Free of fees for both viewers & filmmakers willing to indulge in and share newer projects

Insider Content:

• Provides insider content + cast & crew Information for each project showcased to ensure proper industry exposure.
• Additional content including Behind the scenes content, Audio Commentary from film makers and directors as well as insights on the making of the film.

Indie Streaming Support:

• Support the app through a dedicated social media presence, promoting films, filmmakers & themed collections.

Reflecting on the project, I can see it as a valuable learning experience that went beyond design because It pushed me to think critically about the relationship between technology and power. It really makes one think how digital platforms shape not only what we watch but also how we think about creativity and storytelling.

Although, At the same time the project highlighted the limitations of design as a solution. Indie-Go offers an alternative model, but it operates within the same networked ecosystem that produces sameness. Competing with established platforms would require not only innovative design but also structural changes in the industry.

Ultimately, Indie-Go remains both a critique and a proposition. It critiques the sameness of a networked film industry while proposing a platform that values difference. Whether or not such a platform could succeed in reality remains uncertain, but the process of working on it has deepened my understanding and hope for the challenges and possibilities within contemporary media culture.

References:

For our BCM 300 Game Experience design project, our team worked on a Social Deduction Board game titled ‘whispers Of The Withering Grove’, a world that takes place in a mythical forest threatened by a rampaging disease consuming everything in it’s path.

My personal role included The Visual & Component Designer, focusing on a Visual Theme and atmosphere the game takes place within. A vast majority of our visual concept was built on Inspirations from middle earth, Lord Of The Rings, Narnia and Over The Garden Wall.

My main contributions to the game unfolded through,

Title, Theme and narrative: I worked on developing the initial genre and storyline, a mystical forest called ‘The Withering Grove’ with a disease spreading across the realms, as well as the Idea of multi species team with mythical creatures in an attempt to increase narrative depth and player immersion. These main pointers acted as a doorway that paved as a foundation for the rest of the game to be built on.

I also introduced somewhat of a roleplaying and D&D approach to ensure maximum interest and player association with the progression of the game and their position. Our Team discussions remained productive and enthusiastic throughout the trimester which ultimately allowed me to discuss and incorporate our finalized ideas into the game’s visual design.

Game Design: When the game was initially conceptualized, it was introduced as a circle with plain blocks that were allocated to locations/ positions our avatars would be taking through their course of actions. Though this would make the narrative aspect of our boardgame virtually invisible throughout gameplay, therefore I worked on developing a design that incorporated 4 separate realms of the game world, each with its own perks and debuffs related to specific characters.

Furthermore, an additional concept I introduced included a custom dice design, that showcased realm symbols rather than numbers in order to dictate a player’s course of action, ultimately working towards enriching narrative and player immersion into our final piece.

My deliverables were a vast majority of the visual design content – Including Concept Illustrations as showcased at the beginning of our Video, Game board design, Dice Design and Card layout + Background Designs.

Among the challenges we faced during our team discussions and concept developments, the main issue that seemed impossible to ignore remained the constant shifting of game rules and course of action from those taking on game mechanic roles, which initially made visual development a nightmare, although bringing up those concerns with both the professor and team members helped streamline our intentions with the board game’s goals and reach better conclusions.

Another matter of great concern was constantly catering to the different work ethics and working time of the other visual design team member who’s constant delay of deadlines made it difficult to reach to the conclusion of our visual components in due time.

Although these challenges presented themselves as time consuming and difficult, they were solvable. This can only be traced back to the passion, dedication and respect that the team members shared within the group project’s duration, and I truly am proud to present our final outcome!

Games among mankind have existed across cultures and civilizations throughout history, encouraging the use of skill, strategy and problem solving experienced across different game mechanics, genres and game styles.

This particular Essay explores the past few weeks exploring, researching and of course, playing 3 such boardgames that include Carcassonne, Splendor and Lunch Atop A Skyscraper, as part of our BCM 300: Game Experience design course.

Splendor (2014) was the first game we indulged in as a team, a classic Eurogame or German-style board game that focuses on engine building and resource management. It takes place within the Renaissance period where players pose as gem trading merchants, looking to reap the most benefit of gaining gems and the favour of the Nobles.

The game set overall includes 40 gem tokens made of circular chips, 90 development cards across three levels (categorized by colors green, yellow and blue), and 10 Noble tiles. The core game rules and mechanics came to play through a core game loop – Collect coins, reserve or purchase 3-Tiered gem cards, and earn points based on the cards purchased or the noble’s favours, the first to 15 points takes the win.

The game truly embodies the Eurogame styles, involving less randomness and restricted player actions that produce meaningful constraints. The scarcity of gem colors and card tiers structure competition among players. Decision-making is calculative and low in randomness, aligning with the game’s strategic clarity.

Moreover, Splendor is also widely considered a Gateway game, a design that introduces players to restrictive and strategic mechanics while being easily accessible and understandable to wider audiences. The game is also speculated to be heavily influenced by emerging games around the time including Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne and Catan – all games that Splendor’s mechanics designer Marc Andre enjoyed and later deconstructed to develop the base of the boardgame as we know and love today.

Moving on to Carcassonne (2000), a tile placement game in which the players draw and place tiles featuring a medieval french landscape including kingdoms, roads, churches and more. The main aim of Carcassonne is to develop and claim ‘complete’ structures of such elements on the map in-order to earn points, each structure is claimed by color-coded followers or ‘meeple’ of each respective player.

Like Splendor, The game mechanics of Carcassonne are also heavily based on a strategic loop – draw, place, claim based on spatial negotiation and tactical blocking. Furthermore, it also falls into the category of Gateway games, and the modern eurogame style due to its lack of luck and open information play.

Last but not least, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper. Based on the famous 1932 Photograph, of 11 workers posing with their lunch on a construction site taken on The 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York. In the game, Players pose as photographers competing to complete an assignment for an advertising agency, achieving the perfect photo mimicking ‘Lunch atop a Skyscraper’. Collect Workers through tiles and arrange them to form your image while scoring points through a series of 8 model characteristics.

Unlike Splendor or Carcassonne, The game neither embodies Eurogame styles or Armeritrash styles as it does not provide strategic planning with low randomness OR narrative immersion with dice-driven combat. Moreover, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper was well received as a Mass market and family retail board game capitalizing on a popular event, with a simple and approachable game system over strategic depth.

The Embedded Vlog provides a more In-depth commentary alongside visuals providing my own personal experiences and reviews about the games played.

Citations:

Lunch [atop a Skyscraper], https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/445866/lunch-atop-a-skyscraper.

Carcassonne, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne.

Splendor, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor.

…splendor…, https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/6104/blogpost/153139/splendor.

Pabellano, E 2024, Ameritrash vs Eurogames: What’s the Difference?, https://www.gaminglib.com/blogs/news/eurogames-vs-amerigames?srsltid=AfmBOor3_57cZNNWngP6-zjdy_DnQ5tKXXw77s0hgfq6uJ7GmrbKJecu.

When’s the last time you watched a film on your big TV and thought to yourself, I’ve seen this before, Probably 5 times already? Unfortunately for us, It’s not a coincidence.

Regardless of the vast and virtually unlimited access we have to global film and content, The realm of Films in the US market remains strikingly similar – recurring stories, familiar faces and predictable narratives. Whether it be through sequels, franchises, remakes, and Live-Action adaptations.

For Our BCM 206 Project, the Team dwells into the Challenge ‘Sameness within a networked world’ through Hollywood’s homogenization of the Film Industry in the US as well as the development and completion of our Application, ‘Indie-Go’, An Indie movie streaming Platform reserved for lesser known, Independent and unconventional film projects across the United States that deserve recognition and mainstream reach from Film lovers around the globe.

The Condition of ‘Sameness’ within Hollywood’s major film projects are a result of a wide range of Economic and algorithmic systems that structure and organize the US film Industry. Among them lie two of the most prominent factors that create this almost repetitive film model, otherwise known as ‘Cinematic comfort foods’. These factors are Financial Risk Aversion and Algorithmic promotion.

Risk Aversion pushes studios to prioritize popular sequels, franchises, and reboots because they often come with In-Built Audiences and established fanbases that ensure financial return towards the investment put into such projects. Successful franchises such as Star Wars grossed around 10 Billion in Box Office sales While Marvel’s cinematic universe made over 30 Billion, each Franchise having over 11+ Movie sequels and prequels.

Michael L. Siciliano’s Creative Control: The Ambivalence of Work in the Cultural Industries (2024) argues that capitalist control of creative labor rests on a process of ‘Aesthetic enrolment’ where Workers and film-makers are encouraged to see their creativity, style, and craft as valuable asset purely due to its profitability. This reduces incentive to develop new and more experimental narratives that challenge the old with the new, which in long term may cause a gradual death to the artistry of an industry that’s built on movement and creative breakthroughs.

Algorithmic promotion on the other hand, Relies specifically on Movie streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu and AppleTV. Algorithms tend to play a major role in Modern Day Networks that  influence and shape things like behavior, understanding, beliefs, worldview, and perceptions – through controlling and filtering the visibility and reach of the limitless amount of content available worldwide, ultimately causing streaming platforms to favor content owned by Larger Film studios, repeatedly surfacing familiar formats while sidelining other films, creating what can be described as none other than a monopoly.

“Platforms make the final decision over what gets commodified, retroactively cherrypicking winners. What has emerged is a vertical chasm between a core of elite creators and a large majority of would-be and wannabe creators locked in a hypercompetitive, winner-take-all struggle” (Fraser, 2003, p. 168)

So Why an Indie movie Streaming Application? Essentially due to the reason that our solution eliminates the need to consider Film production and algorithmic promotion that majorly focuses on financial return and profit. Indie-Go rather dives into prioritizing creativity and cinematic artistry beyond the bounds of a ‘Profitable Film model’, providing a spotlight for smaller, more independent film studios, projects and first time directors categorized and showcased in the application, that explore newer themes and narratives while challenging the notion of ‘sameness’ in the film industry.

The platform will also feature themed collections, editor’s picks, and additional content such as essays, interviews, and director’s notes to provide a well rounded and holistic experience for film enthusiasts around the world.

We aim to provide audiences with the opportunity to access diverse social and cultural narratives in film that go beyond reinforcing dominant narratives that marginalize alternative voices and new perspectives in the cinematic world, provided by over 100+ Independent film studios across the United States including Desert Island Studios and Blumhouse Productions.

My role in the project will focus on 2 main areas: UI Design and Feedback generation. I aim to develop the UI Interface for the application through research into existing streaming platforms and developing design drafts on Figma. The design will prioritize a clear and minimalistic interface to optimize the quality of In-app exploration. Furthermore, these design drafts will undergo feedback sessions through surveys that discuss the UI and UX interface of the Application alongside a working prototype in order to gain critique and develop a polished final draft. 

In a networked world, access doesn’t guarantee creativity if systems filter out differences, where ultimately, only the familiar or the same remains. ‘Indie-Go’ acts as a form of rebellion towards such an outcome.

Citations:

Fraser, Nancy (1998) : Social justice in the age of identity politics: Redistribution, recognition, participation, WZB Discussion Paper, No. FS I 98-108,

Harvey, S. (2024). Michael L. Siciliano. Creative Control: The Ambivalence of Work in the Culture Industries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 69(2), NP28-NP30.

Through the beginning of my Experience with BCM 313 Future Of Work, I was completely uncertain about what the subject entailed considering the current discussions of the future among peers, It made me wonder whether the subject was about equipping ourselves with the use of AI in future job positions, though this thought couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, BCM 313 took an unexpected but well-appreciated turn into professional concepts and dealing with change to prepare us for the professional journeys we are to soon embark on.

As the subject began, we dove into concepts such as ‘Absent but implicit’, discerning between expressed experiences and other meaningful experiences that shape the foregrounded expression (Maggie Carey et al. 2009) as well as Re-membering, a special recollection or reaggregation of members of one’s life story, where people can downgrade or elevate the ‘membership’ of these members (Shona Russell et al. 2002) in their ‘Club Of Life’.

These concepts provided aid for us to write our first narrative reflection about a disruption caused within our professional life, I personally scribbled about a sudden lay-off with a previous company I’d worked for. Being given the opportunity to recollect and articulate the situation not only provided a means through which I fully expressed my frustration but also essentially played a major role in helping me take one last look at a problematic situation and understand how I’ve grown from it.

We swiftly moved towards having guest speakers in our lectures who discussed their professional lives guided through interviews with both Dr. Michael and Ms. Negin, who maneuvered through those conversations seamlessly through attentively listening and providing consistent follow-up questions that helped build a structured narrative of the guest speaker’s professional ventures.

Mr. John M. Green in particular caught my interest, his professional journey started from being a lawyer, to investment banking, and then diversifying towards being a proud author of a mystery book series. How does one switch between such vastly different points in their career path and yet maintain their sense of professional stability? How do they measure their success? Did they have help along the way from Industry professionals or is it really just a matter of luck. I’d decided on my dream career when I was 10, and the idea of pursuing anything mildly different from it filled me with complete anxiety and uncertainty, Mr. Green’s story thus gave me a fresh new perspective on what determination and the pursuit of a dream looks like.

furthermore, he went on to talk about his family constantly throughout the speaking session, how they encouraged him to pursue each new venture and how they managed the household within those time periods. It makes you wonder how essential a support system is to one’s success.

Citations:

Carey, M, Walther, S & Russell, S 2009, “The absent but implicit: a map to support therapeutic enquiry,” Family Process, 48(3):319–331, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19702920/.

Russell, S & Carey, M 2002, “Re-membering: responding to commonly asked questions,” The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 45–48, https://dulwichcentre.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Re-membering_-_Responding_to_commonly_asked_questions.pdf.

For this assignment – me and my peers were assigned with the task of interviewing and presenting findings from an Industry Professional, this activity was particularly aimed at identifying and understanding professional values, Conflict at work as well as the future predictions of workplaces and/or industries while also considering how they align with our own professional and academic experiences.

I personally Selected Ms. Passant Sherif while scrolling through my LinkedIn connections, and although I was initially searching for a graphic designer, her creative/art director role immediately caught my interest. Art direction operates on a broader level, shaping the creative vision and ensuring that every visual decision aligns with the brand’s identity and strategic goals, and as someone who absolutely loves having more creative freedom during the Ideation process – this seemed like the perfect role to Interview.

I reached out through LinkedIn personal messages and was immediately met by a quick response with a burst of enthusiasm, She was more than willing to help me out with my assignment through the Interview. We set an Interview timing and I immediately got to work with developing questions. Now the questions were developed through analyzing the assignment outline as well as my own creative curiosities, questions such as “Has your Idea of ‘Good’ creative work changed over the past couple years?” and “What are your thoughts on the rise of AI use in our industry?” were chosen out of personal interest and concerns while others like “What direction do you believe the creative design industry is going in the next 5-10 years?” or “What conflicts do you deal with at work on a daily basis?” were used to meet subject outline requirements.

The Interview Scheduling itself was a dilemma due to constantly reaching out over the weekend, although once finalized the process went smoothly. I began by introducing myself and the assignment, as well a request for consent before getting started.

“This subject is called ‘The future Of work’, Its been essentially created to deep dive into work ethic and professional concepts built to make use work ready! – part of our assignment was reaching out to a professional in the industry to gain insight of industry specific work and values shaped by your experience, we can move forward once you consent to your experience being shared in class with educators and fellow peers”

Honesty is an essential professional value because it facilitates communication, collaboration and trust (Jacob Kaplan, 2022). disclosing all information about the purpose and process of this assignment was essential not only to build more rapport but also allow her to have the choice to continue the Interview and provide answers that would best suit the tone of the conversation. Once our interview ended, we bid each other farewell.

A large part of my presentation was the developed through reading in between the lines of what Passant had shared, including her prioritized work values, challenges and expectations of the future. In order to make the presentation interesting and engaging, I only chose to bounce over the most important aspects of Passant’s career and talking points and dedicated a section to my own professional experiences and how they tied into important professional values highlighted by the creative director herself.

The assignment not only allowed me to delve deeper into the professional life of an amazing creative lead but also gave me the ability to connect, learn more about a dream role and look forward to the future of work.

Citations:

Honesty is a professional behavior – Jacob Kaplan Moss, https://jacobian.org/2022/may/19/honesty/.

In The typographic Field, every stroke and curve of a letter holds significance to its identity and roles, “Snell Roundhand” therefore stands as a testament to the craftsmanship and intentional artistry that type writers employ, created by Charles Snell (1667-1733) in the 17th century.

Snell Roundhand is a Script Typeface developed through copperplate calligraphy writing, The Letterforms therefore excel within the precision and consistency of each stroke, making it uniform and legible.

The Typeface holds Significant cultural and historical relevance, Developed by Mathew Carter  as a means to bridge the gap between traditional Calligraphy and Modern Typography based on the Penmanship of Charles Snell (1667-1733). 

The Font Further provides insight into the typographic trends of the 17th century and the intentions of Snell when producing the Innovative typeface with its distinct characteristics. This Essay aims on analyzing the historical context, Design features and elements as well as the significance of this Old script font.During the late 1600s 2 renowned writing masters, William Banson and John Ayres developed their versions of the French Rhonde which were later popularized as the English Roundhand Style. The Roundhand was further mastered by several wordsmiths including Charles Snell.

Charles Snell was an English writing Master during the 17th Century Working in his humble office in The heart of London. His work included The Art Of Writing In Its Theory And Practice (1712), The Pen Man’s Treasure open’d (1694) and Standard Rules of Round And Round-Text Hands (1715), these served as instruction manuals providing insight on handwriting, calligraphy and Penmanship to calligraphers and wordsmiths across Europe and North America. His expertise and dedication aided in transforming the craft of calligraphy (Carter & Gage, 2021).

Amidst excessively decorative and elaborate Roundhand fonts of “Brother Quills’  who were the leading Calligraphers and writing masters of the time, Snell saw an opportunity for change.  The Snell Roundhand was therefore born from his vision of making elegance and clarity coexist. Snell provided emphasis on the importance of proportion and simplicity, making his Font Easy to write and readable.

The essence of Roundhand script is said to have originated from the Renaissance period (1300s – 1700s) when humanist scholars encouraged clear writing as a form of distributing knowledge to one another. Another Era aligning with Snell’s motivations included the Age of Enlightenment (1600s – 1800s) that advocated for rationalism and scientific research. This movement influenced the art of calligraphy to focus on the idea of accessibility and legibility towards written communication.

The Snell Roundhand is a Formal script font that employs the traditional form of calligraphy in a simplified yet elegant form through consistently flowing and proportionate cursive strokes with connected letterforms. Like most Script fonts, Snell roundhand also includes swashes, defined as the curved flourishes and exaggerated serifs on the letter’s Tail, Terminal or entry Strokes, This element is mostly prominent on Capital letters or the beginning and end of a word enhancing its refined nature.

Snell’s Anatomy displays high contrast between the thickness of its strokes where the ascenders are thin while the descenders are thick. The weight of these strokes merge into eachother through entrances and exit terminals smoothly, enhancing aesthetic appeal. The font also acquires a slanted axis at a forward direction to mimic progressive handwriting and an italic form, typical to traditional calligraphy and formal script fonts.

In comparison to other script fonts of the 17th century such as Kuenstler Script, Snell roundhand chose a more minimalist approach to swashes and exaggerated flourishes, while also having a slightly wider space between each letter; these factors influenced the clarity of the font greatly.

Snell Roundhand was specifically used in the context of written documents that required a tone of elegance and formality. Therefore the script font became widely used in the British empire for diplomatic documents and formal communication between officials, as well as administration and commerce.

Charles Snell himself had used his font inorder to write his intrusion manuals and educational script based on fonts and calligraphy. Wordsmiths from all over Europe and beyond had begun teaching the formal script font to calligraphy students until the end of the 18th century.

The Old script font was then digitized and transformed to cater to printing in the 1900s by Mathew Carter, the font therefore continues Charles Snell’s legacy through its usage in official and personal domains including wedding invitations and advertising posters.

In the 17th Century, The script font was recognized within formal and refined contexts, therefore used in official documents. Calligraphy was further seen as a symbol of mastery and high education, penmans with the ability to create polished strokes within any script fonts at the time were perceived as highly intelligent and talented. Such elements of the font usage created a well established functional and cultural role in society.

Although there are very few extensive informative documentations of critiques during the 17th century, one can predict the variety of reactions that may have risen upon the publishing of the Snell roundhand in contrast to the trends of typographic design during the era.

Critics within the industry who were more inclined towards traditional and conservative calligraphy could have considered Snell roundhand to have deviated from older calligraphic styles or other variants of roundhand that embodied extensive flourishes and swashes, causing Snell to diminish its ornate aesthetic appeal.

During the 17th century period, Artistic integrity was greatly upheld by craftsmen in various fields, the modification of traditional forms of art may have been threatening to the cultural presentation and identity of many writing masters of the time

Furthermore, Snell Roundhand’s usage in formal documentation and written forms of communication due to its simplistic and proportionate characteristics symbolized an extremely different range of responses within the same time period.

While The Script roundhand font has not influenced any particular events or movements within the calligraphic scene, it has led to a deeper appreciation of typography as well as an opportunity to push towards the evolution of traditional penmanship, advocating for the power of change.

Moreover, Fonts like Snell roundhand were an Inspirational trademark when looking into the history of Calligraphy during its revival in the early 21 century, merging modern and traditional design elements into script fonts.

In 1966, Mathew Carter, a typographer working for Linotype published a modern Reincarnation of the typeface fit for use, which also became one of the first original fonts to be created for Mergenthaler Linotype’s phototypesetting machine ‘the Linofilm’. Carter was adamant on creating the font in respect of Charles Snell’s craftsmanship in a way that balanced its original authenticity as well as its current day usability. The modern day Typographer’s ability to develop Snell’s Font has contributed greatly to continuing its relevance in modern design.

Script fonts have been around for centuries, marking their cursive strokes and elegant flourishes into History Itself. As an artist one can only work upon appreciating the origins of such a sophisticated form of typographic design as well as applying it into modern design inorder to truly carry its legacy and bring justice to the hard work of designers that dedicated their lives and careers to perfecting their art. Although Script Font is not used majorly for long texts and documentations as in the previous centuries , its deeply engraved into the design industry in the form of enhancing visual appeal and setting typographic atmospheres, It is therefore used in a wide range of content including formal invitation cards, movie or music album posters, restaurant menus, book and magazine covers etc.

Snell roundhand has remained a timeless exemplar for fonts that embody aesthetic appeal and practicality, surpassing its distinct nature alongside other fonts of its time to become a significant mark upon the world of typography regardless of its creation within a homely office in england. Through its proportionate yet sophisticated design, Snell’s usability has succeeded the test of time, remaining a crowd favourite in both tradition and modern forms of typography.

It has moreover, greatly impacted the educational field of penmanship surpassing borders and enlightening young wordsmiths to carry on the legacy of calligraphy.

While Future potential or prospects for the typeface do not seem to be noteable, the revival of interest within calligraphy while certainly lead back to roundhand as a classic form of script typography, its ability to cater to versatile forms of communication and ensign content will also impact its ensured usage and appreciation in the future of Design. As a testament to calligraphic artistry, Snell Roundhand is an amazing example of how historical script fonts continue to influence modern-day design, admired for its beauty and functionality and therefore forever carving itself into the history and legacy of craftsmanship

Sources :

Aspose (no date) Script fonts knowledge base: Aspose.font, Script Fonts Knowledge Base | Aspose.Font. Available at: https://docs.aspose.com/font/net/what-is-font/script-fonts/#:~:text=Script%20Fonts%2C%20also%20known%20as,with%20elegant%20and%20decorative%20elements. (Accessed: 15 June 2024).

The enlightenment period (article) (no date) Khan Academy. Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/colonial-america/colonial-north-america/a/the-enlightenment#:~:text=The%20Enlightenment%2C%20also%20known%20as,and%20science%20over%20blind%20faith. (Accessed: 15 June 2024).

Gem, F. (no date) Script and cursive styles of typography: A timeless artistry, Font Gem. Available at: https://www.fontgem.com/script-and-cursive-styles-typography (Accessed: 15 June 2024).

Supply, T. (2023) Knowledge about script font, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@typehandsupply/knowledge-about-script-font-32f8c75b68fb (Accessed: 15 June 2024).

An unscripted look at a script type (no date) Newberry Library. Available at: https://www.newberry.org/calendar/an-unscripted-look-at-a-script-type#:~:text=Snell%20Roundhand%20is%20based%20on,and%20flourished%20hands%20he%20deplored. (Accessed: 15 June 2024). 

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.