The Undiscovered Letter
Raise hand who doesn’t like Moleskine notebooks… No candidates?! Well, yeah! I think we all like them… These notebooks are really unique piece of design, functionality and antiquity in one product.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
I’m recharging my batteries for the new season and finishing articles from the previous (excuse me, this ain’t issue of my laziness, but rather connected with some obligations)… I will blog today about design project The Undiscovered Letter (2008) made by Maja Bagic (KO:KE creative farm) and Lina Kovacevic in collaboration with illustrator Danijel Serdarev.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Designed for the contest The Undiscovered Letter which was hosted by Art Directors Club Gallery in New York – Maja, Lina and Danijel have created the non-existed 27th letter in the English alphabet.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Their task was to give the answer on several questions as: What is the 27th letter? How it is written and how does it look like? Has this letter been hidden, stolen or erased? Is it a hybrid letter or just an empty field in the alphabet?
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Their work was selected jointly with 26 authors from around the world that followed the principles of good typography, illustration, animation or photography. The organizer of the contest wanted to explore all possible communication channels through the concept of 27th letter, thus opening the potential of expressiveness through lenses of activism, creativity, opinion making and social awareness.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
They have described their project with following wordz:
‘The 27th letter is not really a letter. And it’s not hidden at all.
It was always there, no matter what language we speak; in every conversation, in a way of expressing yourself, in our personality.
Though we can’t articulate it phonetically, we can read it through every individual’s gesticulation.
Its «form» changes as our moods do and its «kerning» depends on various situations, places and other «letters» we interact with.
To find our individual letters, we documented body language of three different characters while discussing «Where is the hidden letter?» Marking the key body parts we use in daily conversation, we tracked the way one moves and applying simple typographic rules as points and lines, each time we found a different letter. The letter which ads flavor to the way we express.’
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Maja Bagic, Lina Kovacevic and Danijel Serdarev followed the concept of visual embodiment of typography and design gesticulation. Their working process was based on emphasizing the idea of individuality of the person who is making the gesture by creating a new space of abstract meanings.
The last layer added to their idea was Moleskine’s ‘costume’… added as a frame, it perfectly fits the pocket edition for 27th letter.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Maja Bagic (1977, Zagreb) studied Design in Zagreb. She was rewarded on numerous occasions in the fields of design, photography and typography. After several years working for mayor design companies in the region, Maja has settled with her own company KO:KE creative farm. Now, she lives and works between Zagreb and Ljubljana.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Lina Kovacevic (1979, Zagreb) is acclaimed young designer and VJ artist from Croatia. Her artworkz mainly covered cultural scene and human rights fields. Lina is also an internationally awarded visual artist, but as a VJ, she has taken part in many festivals, including Club Transmediale (Berlin), Contact Europe (Vienna), Steierische Herbst in ExitSpace (Graz), Ars Electronica (Linz), Musical biennale, Urban Festival (Zagreb), etc. At the moment attending MA classes at St. Martin’s College in London.
The Undiscovered Letter by M. Bagic, L. Kovacevic and D. Serdarev (c)
Danijel Serdarev graduated in 2007 at the Art Academy in Zagreb. He has participated in more than sixty group and solo exhibitions in Croatia and aboard (New York, Tokyo, Amsterdam, The Hague, Bratislava, Belgrade, Maribor, Leipzig, Bitola, etc.). Lives and works as illustrator in Zagreb.