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Dr. Subtle
Level 3: 289 points
Alltime Score: 2408 points
Last Logged In: May 29th, 2012
BADGE: INTERREGNUM TEAM: PHZero TEAM: The Disorganised Guerilla War On Boredom and Normality TEAM: Run-of-the-mill taskers TEAM: LØVE BART Psychogeographical Association Rank 1: Commuter Biome Rank 1: Hiker Society For Nihilistic Intent And Disruptive Efforts Rank 1: Anti
highscore

retired

25 + 195 points

Font Savant by Dr. Subtle, Beta Orionis

September 1st, 2008 8:29 PM

INSTRUCTIONS: Copy a phrase from the packaging of something you've purchased recently, by hand, in the original font, as closely as possible.

Then write your own word or phrase in the same font using only your hand-drawn copy for reference. Discreetly place your personal message at the establishment where you purchased the original item.

May of 2012 EDIT: I finally got around to uploading the ones I completed between submission and now, nearly FOUR YEARS LATER. As noted in a comment below, a lot of them ended up deviating from the original task as they include no task but play with the round space instead, but I thought I should still include them.


---Original Submission Text----

This didn't start off as a task.

One afternoon, Doctor Subtle and I sat in a Starbucks, passing the time before we were due some place. In lieu of the book I had forgotten, I grabbed some hot drink sleeves from the counter, whipped out my colored pencils and some pens, and began to doodle. At the end, I produced this:


Doctor Subtle thought it was amusing, and sketched one of his own. Originally it was just an inked drawing with the text over the existing logo, but later I fleshed it out with Gesso and colored pencil to produce this:

As an employee, he has some pent up frustrations with picky customers. :)

Before we left, I grabbed a handful of blank sleeves for later.

At home, after looking through SF0 for a while, I remembered this task. Already I had plans to modify the wording, but didn't think about it in terms of fonts. The Starbucks font is simple, but striking, and readily available on the sleeves.

I set to work making a reference card. I grabbed a blank sleeve, one of my smaller sketchpads, and one of Dr Subtle's pens.

The first attempt was not so great. The pen started running out of ink early on, so I was distracted with coverage more than proportion or shape.


It trailed off a little, so to be more precise, I decided I would mimic the logo's circular form.

I grabbed my trusty compass and dialed into the radius, estimating the chin/mouth of the siren as the focal/center point. (That turned out to be nearly spot on)


I drew the small circle next to my existing mimicry, dialed in to the outer circle, and finished off my frame work with estimations as to where the words should end.

I tried to recreate the font again, with minimal improvement.

I made some notes about the lettering, then moved on to creating the whole alphabet, inferring what letters not available (marked with a dot) might look like. Thusly I finished my reference sheet.

I guess the next portion is not exactly true to the task.

Because I was working with a sleeve, although I blocked the other letters or the ones being modified with color/gesso/bits of paper while lettering my words, I had an advantage with the proportions and the visual input during illustration.

I couldn't avoid the font being so fresh in my memory, but I think that the Starbucks logo and font is sufficiently burned into my memory and the memory of others that it didn't feel like cheating. 

I did my best to ignore any unavoidably visible letters, and stuck to the reference sheet. Lettering for each of the sleeves was completed after each illustration.

The results:


They have since been placed back into circulation. Hopefully someone gets a kick out of them. I continue to create more as ideas come to me, and continue to place them back into the public supply.

See media files for video of me leaving one today (Watchmen version.) (Film credits to Dr Subtle)

Soon after, someone discovered it and there which gave to much amusement on the part of customers waiting on their drinks and the barista working at the bar. I was too far away to record the reaction in any way, nor do with whom it left, or even if it was taken at all!

I'll try to capture reactions in the future.

Additionally, I intend to complete this task with a different font(more complicated)/product/message(more personal or unique)/vendor in the near future.


+ larger

3- Clovermonster
1- Pinstripes
starbucks%20logo_cmyk%2004.jpg
First Attempt
Compass!
Dialing in
Small circle
frame
Second attempt
Reference Sheet
2- Steampunk
4- JC
5- DocManhatten
6- Wasp
7- Ninja
MVI_1135.AVI
Washer and Bolt S.png
Teapot S.png
Swiss Army? S.png
Stormdrain cover S.png
Speaker S.png
Skeleton S.png
Scream S.png
Rorschach S.png
Power Button S.png
Penny S.png
Outlet S.png
OpArt S.png
Oouroboros S.png
Octopus S.png
No Smoking S.png
Moon S.png
Mayan Calendar S.png
Hal S.png
Fragile Capped Mushrooms S.png
Egg.png
Davey Jones S.png
Cupcake S.png
Crab S.png
Coffee Lid S.png
Cereal Bowl S.png
Catcula S.png
Cat Eye S.png
Button S.png
Bowling Ball S.png
Bicycle S.png

39 vote(s)


Favorite of:


Terms

everyoneshouldsee, drink, design

26 comment(s)

(no subject)
posted by Darkaardvark on September 1st, 2008 8:55 PM

You win.

(no subject) +1
posted by teucer on September 2nd, 2008 7:54 AM

YOUR POST IS IN ALL
CAPS IN SHORT
COLUMNS! ARE YOU
STEALING MARGIN
BLANKS' SCHTICK?
WELL WHAT DID HE
EVER DO TO YOU?

(no subject)
posted by Lank on September 2nd, 2008 9:43 AM

Yeah. Leave margin blanks alone.

Stunning.
posted by Spidere on September 1st, 2008 8:56 PM

The fact that there are multiple new logos at the end, each well done, creative, and fun, earns this a well-deserved vote from me. Nice work!

You two are AWESOME!
posted by Not Here No More on September 2nd, 2008 12:17 AM

Worth many, many votes.

(no subject)
posted by teucer on September 2nd, 2008 7:54 AM

Yeah. I think my personal favorite is Shuriken Coffee.

(no subject)
posted by Adam on September 2nd, 2008 3:52 AM

You do this so much better than me.

I enjoy changing Starbucks to Starfucks and think I'm hillarious.

(no subject)
posted by Julian Muffinbot on September 2nd, 2008 10:08 AM

my favorite is Starbucks Colony.

(no subject)
posted by Absurdum on September 8th, 2008 4:35 AM

Mine too, though I kept thinking I'd see a Brittania one (by which I mean I was actively looking forward to a Brittania one - the siren is very Brittania-esque). Vote

(no subject)
posted by Beta Orionis on September 2nd, 2008 12:26 PM

oh wow! Thanks for all the votes! I was expecting like.. 3? I thought it was a very small completion!

(no subject)
posted by saille is planting praxis on September 2nd, 2008 6:16 PM

you had me at watchmen.

(no subject)
posted by rongo rongo on September 3rd, 2008 9:04 AM

I especially like how this didn't even start off as deliberate tasking

Random Acts of Awesome
posted by Waldo Cheerio on September 3rd, 2008 11:13 AM

Can we expect any updates showing the lucky customers who received these collectibles? How about an announcement of where these will be distributed so the insane among us can try to hunt these down? Perhaps for your next fontastic effort?

(no subject)
posted by Beta Orionis on September 3rd, 2008 2:06 PM

So far, I haven't been able to successfully capture customer reactions, although I do stick around to see them get taken. I'm piecing out a solution, but once I devise a stealthy plan, I will, indeed, update.

I also plan to add designs as they come into being.

All of the sleeves are distributed in several locations around Pittsburgh, but most sleeves get found within an hour of being left (because there are so few available to customers at a time.) Although I do place them fairly early in the supplies.

That's a really great idea you've got there! I suppose I could mail some to some one in SF to place at the bottom of the stacks or hidden in the merchandise/around the stores, coordinate an announcement, and make it a scavenger hunt? That way I won't post them prior to discovery and players can post pictures of their find here. hmmmmm

DO EET!
posted by Waldo Cheerio on October 8th, 2008 4:19 PM

DO EET NAO!

(no subject)
posted by Beta Orionis on October 8th, 2008 8:25 PM

Maybe we should turn it into a current era task? Like the taking tree. Hide sleeves in trees!

Either way, I've made a few more, and more should be on the way!

Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.
posted by Waldo Cheerio on March 1st, 2010 4:58 PM

483 days. Come on. You are killing me here.

(no subject)
posted by Beta Orionis on March 1st, 2010 5:39 PM

I can't believe you're still watching!! Much has happened in the time elapsed (i.e. 20 days after submission my aunt died suddenly; 1.5 months after submission (a matter of days after the last comment in our exchange, actually) I failed into academic probation and took a year's leave from my university, resulting in a tumultuous relocation to Southern California where Dr. Subtle and I lived with my parents for ~6 months longer than intended etc. etc.) most, experientially and ultimately, for the better, but I have actually picked this project up again. Although, sad news! Well, not necessarily sad. Let me rephrase...

"A CHALLENGER APPROACHES."

Within those 483 (shameful) days, in light of their "commitment to green practices" (by which I mean limited scope recycling efforts,) All the local starbuckses have removed the sleeve trays from the public eye. They're still around, just behind the counter. Meaning I can still acquire blank sleeves, but not really return them to circulation as subtly as I had once hoped. Perhaps this this a good development. I'm thinking I should just attempt to replace the sleeves on a customer's cup if they wander away/use the restroom. Still, I would like very much to capture any following reaction, but the camera with with the tiny clip for this praxis was captured has since broken, leaving me digital-motion-capture-medialess. It's another roadblock I'm trying to work around.

In the meantime, new sleeve creations pile up.

If you're still interested in coordinating something for LA0, I'm sure I can actually accomplish that now!

Sorry. Interesting. Awesome. Definitely. In that order. ~Waldo
posted by Waldo Cheerio on March 2nd, 2010 12:07 AM

I would be more than happy to try to surreptitiously capture the reactions of recipients of new cup-holders. Or something. Or anything really.

I don't have much in the way of new tasks entering my pipeline right now, just the slow process of uploading and writing up long completed tasks. If you are in a better place time-wise around now, I'd love to do something.

FOUR YEARS! +1
posted by Beta Orionis on May 22nd, 2012 10:08 PM

Well, nearly.

I finally got around to updating the task with the ones I've created since submitting the task. A lot of them deviated from the original task (they have no text) but I figured I should share them anyway.

(no subject)
posted by Kattapa on May 22nd, 2012 10:22 PM

Thanks for the update. I hadn't seen this completion before, but now I have and it's absolutely awesome. :)

(no subject)
posted by Beta Orionis on May 22nd, 2012 10:27 PM

Thanks! :)

(no subject)
posted by Lincøln on May 22nd, 2012 10:42 PM

Yeah. I wish everybody would see and vote for this little piece of awesome.

(no subject)
posted by Sam Archer on May 23rd, 2012 2:31 PM

Done and done. Fantastic.

"I guess the next portion is not exactly true to the task."
posted by lara black on September 7th, 2008 8:15 PM

says the creator of this task:

gimme a break!

vote.

(no subject)
posted by susy derkins on September 7th, 2008 10:52 PM

Wow, lara is here!