UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE COUNTY [UMBC] | Aug 2005 May 2011B.A. in Graphic Design

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND [UMD] | Aug 2013 Dec 2016Masters in Architecture

A C A D E M I C C O U R S E SCOMPREHENSIVE STUDIO | Fall 2015Comprehensive building and site design. Course content bridges the gap between design and technology,

between practice and education, in a studio setting. Designed an animation studio for a real client,

Pigmental Studios in connection with Gensler.

GRADUATE STUDIO IV | Spring 2015Concentrates on problems and theories of urbanism and urban design techniques in the context of the city

of Frederick and the State of Maryland. Collaborated with graduate students from Real Estate Development

program to come up with a plan for development of the Monocacy Boulevard site in Frederick, MD.

GRADUATE STUDIO III | Fall 2014Learned classical methods of design to create more comprehensive contemporary spaces and tackled the

issue on how to symmetrize among an asymmetric space. Final project consisted of designing a symphony

hall.

GRADUATE STUDIO II | Spring 2014Focused on promenade and spatial connectivity with abstract projects, teahouse design of an existing

building in the site of Georgetown, DC, and landscape design transformation of a parking lot in

Georgetown. Also collaborated with Environmental Science students to create a vertical green wall system.

GRADUATE STUDIO I | Fall 2013Foundation studio course for the study of architectural design, designed to introduce the student to formal

and spatial concepts explored in two and three dimensions. Emphasis is placed on developing drawing and

model making skills and a concern for craftsmanship.

r e s u m E D U C A T I O N

S O F T W A R EEXPERIENCED IN: Adobe Creative Suite, ArcGIS, AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, RhinocerousEXPOSURE TO: Grasshopper, Sketchup, Revit

E X P E R I E N C ECENTER FOR ART, DESIGN & VISUAL CULTURE [CADVC] GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN | Feb 2011 May 2011Non-profit organization devoted to exhibition, publication, education, and outreach projects that cover

todays social and aesthetic issues. Designed flyers, posters, and postcards for event publicity. Interacted

with artists and professors for design consultations. Installed students work for the Senior Exhibition show.

FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER | May 2011 PresentMy studio focuses on non-profit organizations. Represented clients include Foundation of Children in

Vietnam.

BARTLEBY ARTS EDITOR | Oct 2008 Dec 2010Wrote weekly in-depth reviews of artwork submissions for UMBCs creative arts journal, Bartleby.

Volunteered by creating posters/flyers for fundraising and publicity distribution, and solicited submissions.

MK TILE CONTRACTOR INC. APPRENTICE | Jun 2011 PresentOptimal material utilization: use cost saving techniques of various materials to meet the clients needs,

get best materials for the best environment. Learned the process of tile installation.

A W A R D S & H O N O R SDEANS LIST, 2011HONORABLE MENTION, 2011: Monograph design in the Senior Exhibition show

L A N G U A G E SKOREAN: Native/bilingual prociency SPANISH: ConversationalFRENCH: Elementary prociency

H O B B I E S & I N T E R E S T SAdult ballet dancer

Travelling (exploring cities)

Playing the piano

Reading (architecture, science fiction, non-fiction)

Amateur photographer for engagement photos

a r c h i t e c t u r eC O M P R E H E N S I V E S T U D I OFor my design of the animation studio for

Pigmental Studios, I have chosen the site of

Georgetown, DC in order to establish a cultural

destination in the site. The building was designed

to the challenging slope of the site, which led to

the idea of creating multiple ground levels that

matched the existing layers on the site (Potomac

River, Water Street, Whitehurst Freeway, Francis

Scott Key Bridge, C&O Canal, and M Street).

UP

UP DN

UP DNcamera/equi200 sqft

storage200 sqft copy print area

300 sqft

tech room with space for 10 racks800 sqft

sound studio1000 sqft

audio booth200 sqft

bathroom150 sqft

bathroom150 sqft

screen room1000 sqft

edit suites200 sqft

graphics400 sqft

edit suites200 sqft

edit suites200 sqft

bath

room

150

sqft

soundstage2000 sqft

production control room400 sqft

production control room400 sqft

video production stage3000 sqft

soundstage2000 sqft

bath

room

150

sqft

bath

room

150

sqft

soundstage2000 sqft

production control room400 sqft

production control room400 sqft

video production stage3000 sqft

soundstage2000 sqft

bath

room

150

sqft

small conf.200 sqft

large exec oce240 sqft

storyboard600 sqft

storyboard600 sqft

small conf.200 sqft

small conf.200 sqft

small conf.200 sqft

large exec oce240 sqft

Terrace

Terrace

Terrace

bath

room

150

sqft

bath

room

150

sqft

kitchen1000 sqft

nap/shower200 sqft

massage200 sqft Terrace

bath

room

150

sqft

bath

room

150

sqft

cafe600 sqft

Water Street Level

C&O Canal Level

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8Floor Plans.

Renderings.

Study models.Site model.

12

34

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

121

2

1 Al

ucob

ond

met

al pa

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2 Ty

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l wall

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por B

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oard

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Alum

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Hollo

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tem

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11 S

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ith p

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Con

cret

e co

lumn

910 8 7

Wall

Sec

tion

1 -

1

Plan

view

1 -

1

110

3

Wall section.

12

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5

6

7

8

9

10

11

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2

1 Al

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met

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nel

2 Ty

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3 Va

por B

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um b

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6 Co

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Wall

Sec

tion

1 -

1

Plan

view

1 -

1

110

3

South elevation.

North elevation.

Water Street/Ground

C&O Canal

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8

Longitudinal Section1/16 = 1

Top: Longitudinal section of the animation studio.Bottom: Cross section of the animation studio.

Section cutting through public zone1/16 = 1

Water Street/Ground

C&O Canal

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8

Potomac River

Whitehurst Freeway

Water Street

C&O Canal

M Street

Water Street/Ground

C&O Canal

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8

Longitudinal Section1/16 = 1

Section cutting through public zone1/16 = 1

Water Street/Ground

C&O Canal

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8

Potomac River

Whitehurst Freeway

Water Street

C&O Canal

M Street

G R A D U A T E S T U D I O I VIn this studio, along with my group members, we collaborated with graduate students from

Real Estate Development program to come up with a plan for an urban development of the Monocacy

Boulevard site in Frederick, MD. We designed a master plan and devised traffic calming strategies to make

the site more pedestrian friendly.

Project name: Monocacy Town Square

Team members: Russell Holstine & Meghan Leahy

Above: Aerial render.Opposite page, top: Airport Boulevard render.Opposite page, bottom: Town Square Vista render.

CROSSWALK MONOCACY BLVD.

URBANSTREET

THRESHOLD AIRPORT

CROSSWALK

6422416242310

Pedestrian Trac lane Trac lane Pedestrian

5 642

24

16

24

2310 5

Bike Bike Pedestrian Pedestrian Vegetated

buer Vegetated

buer Left turn lane/Flexible laneTrac lane Trac lane

2% 2%

Monocacy River Existing

Monocacy River Existing

24 241512 12

12 12 12 1215

10

10

12 12 12 1215

20

24 241512 12

12 12 12 1215

10

10

100

Vegetation

Rumble Strips

Parallel Parking

Different Paving Pattern

Vegetation, Rumble Strips,Different Paving Pattern and Parallel Parking

Trafc Circle

20

16 24 5 6 610 5 5 24

CHUR

CH

AVIA

TIO

N

SCHIFFERS TADT

MONROE

MONOCACY

MO

NO

CA

CY

2424

1518 8 8

8 8 18

Complete Street Section

Traffic calming strategies for Monocacy Boulevard.

WEEKEND TRAFFIC ROUTE

WEEKEND TRAFFIC ROUTE

Monocacy Blvd

Monocacy Blvd

Airport Blvd

60 ft

GROCERY&

CAFE40,000 SQFT

SPECIALTY13,500 SQFT

SPORT10,000 SQFT

FOOD8,000 SQFT

LOADING/ SERVICE

BANK13,500 SQFT

FURNITURE18,000 SQFT

AUTO7,000 SQFT

SPECIALTY12,000 SQFT

BABY11,000 SQFT

RETAIL FLOOR 137,000 SQFT

EAST FREDERICK

TOWN SQUARE

OFFICE FLOORS 2-340,000 SQFT

50 ft

OFFICE FLOORS 1-350,000 SQFT

HEALTH&

BEAUTY30,000 SQFT FOOD

3 @ 5,000 SQFT

OFFICE ( FLOORS 1-5)122,000 SQFT

HOTEL ( FLOORS 1-4)AIRPORT ADMIN

( FLOOR 5)122,000 SQFT

150 ft

200 ft

75 ft

165 ft

200 ft

225 ft

AMPITHEATRE

LOADING/ SERVICE

275 SPOTS200 SPOTS

200 SPOTS

100 SPOTS

14 SPOTS

175

ft

AIRPORT BLVD:THE NEW STREET WILL CONNECT RENN FARM AND MONOCACY BLVD TO THE CREATE A GATEWAY TO THE AIRPORT

OUTDOOR MOVIE THEATER:CENTER HAS A RAINWATER COLLECTION FOUNTAIN RUNNING THROUGH IT

LOGGIA FOR FOOD TRUCK/VENDORS :THE OPEN PIAZZA SPACE CAN BE USED AS AN OPEN MARKET SPACE AND HOST FOOD TRUCKS DURING WEEKEND EVENTS OR AIR SHOWS

OUTDOOR MOVIE THEATER:30 MOVIE SCREEN WHICH CAN BE SEEN FROM THE PARKING LOT, DOUBLING AS A DRIVE IN MOVE THEATER.

OFFICE SPACE :THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING FOR THE AIRPORT WILL BE TORN DOWN AND REQUIRE A RELOCATION. THE TOP FLOOR OF THE HOTEL WILL ACT AS THE MAIN OFFICE FOR AIRPORT PROVIDING VIEWS

THEATER OF TREES :THE ROWS OF TREES ALONG THE PROPERTY LINE OF THE SITE WILL ACT AS A THEATER OF TREES TO PROTECT AGAINST NOISE AND PRIVACY

THEATER OF TREES :SECOND GATEWAY INTO THE AIRPORT

HOTEL :THE HOTEL WILL ACT AS A HUB FOR ANYONE UTILIZING THE AIRPORT, AND GUEST A PLACE TO STAY WHILE VISITING FAMILY AT THE RENN FARM DEVELOPMENT

BIOSWALE :BIOSWALES INCORPORATED INTO PARKING LOTS HELP FILTER WATER WHICH FLOWS TO THE RAINWATER COLLECTION AT THE AMPITHEATER

56 SPOTS

N

0 400 800 1200 1600

Renn Farm

GREENWALL :HELPS WITH WATER

RUNOFF FILTRATION AND ACTS AS A

SHELTER BELT ALONG MONOCACY BOULEVARD

60 SPOTSGATEWAY1

GATEWAY2

THRESHOLD

VISTA 2

VISTA 1

PHASE 3

Final phase plan of Monocacy Town Square.

Top: Longitudinal section of Monocacy Town Square.Bottom: Cross section of Monocacy Town Square.

S I T E A N A L Y S I S

kM0 1.15 2.3 3.45

Synthesis Diagram: Corridors and Street Grid Interwoven into Topography and Most Prevalent Soil Type in Rock Creek, District of Columbia and Takoma ParkArch 460 Site Analysis and DesignProfessor VanderGootKaren Kim03/10/15, Draft 02

Source of Soil Types: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

16th

Str

eet N

W

Missouri Avenue NW

Blair Road NW

New

Ham

pshi

re A

ve N

W

Eastern Ave NE

This course approaches site analysis and design from the disciplinary perspectives of architecture,

landscape architecture, ecology, and urban planning. The two primary themes that structure the course

are Site Systems (hydrologic, topographic, vegetative, cultural, and historical systems) and Infrastructure

(energy, waste, mobility, and food).

Left: Energy diagram showing the difference of biomass and energy consumption between D.C., and Maryland.Right: Synthesis diagram of corridors and street grid interwoven into topography and most prevalent soil type in Rock Creek, D.C., and Takoma Park.Opposite page: Hydrology diagram showing water flows and average annual rainfall of Rock Creek, D.C., and Takoma Park.

kM0 1.15 2.3 3.45

Dierence of Biomass Potential and Energy Consumption Between District of Columbia and MarylandArch 460 Site Analysis and DesignProfessor VanderGootKaren Kim05/12/15 and Draft 04

Source of Total Annual Consumption and Biomass Potential: http://www.eia.gov/Btu (British Thermal Unit) is a traditional unit of energy equal to about 1055 joules.

44.21 inches

44 inches39.74 inches

kM0 1.15 2.3 3.45

Hydrology: Directions of Water Flow and Average Annual Rainfall of Rock Creek, District of Columbia and Takoma ParkArch 460 Site Analysis and DesignProfessor VanderGootKaren Kim02/03/15 and Draft 01

Source for Takoma Park Average Rainfall: http://www.idcide.com/weather/md/takoma-park.htmSource for Rock Creek Park Average Rainfall: http://www.explorenaturalcommunities.org/parks-places/rock-creek-park/natural-history/physical-setting/climateSource for Washington D.C. Average Rainfall: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/climate/dca/dcaprecip.txt

S T U D Y A B R O A D : I T A L I AStudy Abroad Italia entailed two classes that involved making analytic drawings of buildings in cities and

a drawing class that honed our visual representation of architecture. We have studied in Florence, Rome,

Vicenza, Venice, and Como.

Piazza del Campidoglio plan and section elevation. Teatro Olimpino details.

Cortile de Santa Maria della Pace bay study and section.Cortile de Santa Maria della Pace plan and section elevation.

This page and opposite page: Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere analytic drawings.

SantIvo di Sapienza plan and section elevation.

San Andrea al Quirinale plan and interior elevation.

SantIvo di Sapienza axonometric drawing.

San Andrea al Quirinale axonometric drawing.

Teatro Olimpico watercolor. Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere watercolor.

Via Margutta watercolor. Arch of Janus watercolor.

An abstract promenade study that required the use of sixteen planes with pieces cut out and using those

subtracted pieces to spatially connect the planes to create procession from beginning to end.

G R A D U A T E S T U D I O I I

Preliminary sketches of the promenade study.

Foundation for the Children of Vietnam (FCVN) is a non-profit organization that supports children in

destitute areas of Vietnam. FCVNs fundraising project, Walk For Wheels, is a five thousand kilometer

run/walk that raised money to buy two hundred mountain bikes to aid the children with their method of

transportation. For this cause, I designed the event t-shirt to promote the charity.

1. To symbolize the goal of donating of mountain

bikes, I used a simple graphic representation of

a bicycle.

2. The bikes were then placed in the shape of the

map of Vietnam.

3. For a realistic view, the final design was rendered

on a red shirt with yellow ink to signify the national

colors of Vietnam. FCVNs slogan, Bringing

Smiles Across the Miles is included.

W A L K F O R W H E E L S

G R A P H I C D E S I G N

Photo credit: FCVNThe members of FCVN visited the children in

Vietnam to provide them with the mountain

bikes and t-shirts.

The Monograph project in Advanced Typography

(ART 430) was constituted from heavy research

about the history of a typeface and its designer.

The subject of my monograph is Alphabet 26,

a monalphabet devised by Bradbury Thompson.

My monograph design gained honorable mention

at the Senior Exhibition Show at UMBC in 2011.

M O N O G R A P H

Alphabet 26

Bradbury Thompson is well known for his creation

of typeface Alphabet 26 (Figure 1). This typeface

was designed when he realized that his son could

not reread the same word due to the inconsistency

between uppercase and lowercase of the first letters.

Alphabet 26 is distinctive from other typefaces

because it incorporates both uppercase and lowercase

letters. Basically, it is and uppercase alphabet with no

ascenders or x-height.

All letters are consistent in serifs and capline (except

the letter i, whose dot starts above the capline). On the

other hand, the baseline of the alphabet is not uniform

because the lowercase letters of the alphabet possess

descenders that run beneath the baseline. These

lowercase characters do not follow a typical x-height.

Instead they begin at the capline of the uppercase

letters.

Alphabet 26 is described as a Transitional typeface,

using the ATypI system. In fact, Alphabet 26 is

Alp

ha

be

t 2

6 T

he M

ona

lpha

bet

| 1

The Anatomy of Bradbury Thompsons Monalphabet

J

J

T

T

Q

Q

Baskerville

Garamond

spurs

spurs

link

wave-like tail

finishing stroke below baseline

Figure 1. Thompsons monalphabet, the Alphabet 26. The letters in black represent the upper-case characters, fuschia letters for lower-case characters, and cyan for just one design that exists for each character.

Alphabet 26 was first

presented in Westvaco

Inspirations in 1950.

It contains only one symbol

for each of the 26 letters

because having 2 lead

to confusion in school

children. Alphabet 26 was

planned based on logic of

consistency.

2 | K

aren Kim

Z

Z

g

g p

pspurs

spurs

open loop

closed loop

flag

flag

composed of the Baskerville typeface, which falls under

the Transitional category. This characteristic is evident

by its vertical axis. Alphabet 26 shares many similarities

with the typeface Garamond. Both are very much alike

in having an upright stress, similar weight and contrast.

Differences exist in the terminal shapes of certain

letters with descenders and types of serifs. Alphabet

26 has more longer and curvilinear qualities whereas

Garamond has shorter and concise terminations. For

example, the capital letter J in Alphabet 26 extends

upward in a rounder manner, but the uppercase

J in Garamond swoops downward, having more

of an oblique curve.

Some flags appear different in both set of fonts.

The lowercase p in Alphabet 26 has a flag that is flat

and descends downwards a bit. Garamonds lowercase

p goes downward as well, but has a slight dip in the

middle of the flag. The same circumstances apply to

every other lowercase letters.

The spurs of both capital T in both Alphabet 26 and

Garamond have serifs, but they are obviously distinctive.

Garamonds capital T has spurs on top of its flags and

the left serif is situated in a slight angle and the right

serif is on a vertical axis. The T of Alphabet 26 has no

spur nor sits at an angle. The same situation goes for

the letter Z. The starting serif of Garamonds capital

Z has a spur and sits slanted.

The lowercase g appears very different in both

typefaces. Although they share the same figure,

Alphabet 26s g has a thinner and curvier link and an

open loop and Garamonds g has a thick link and a

closed loop. Both uppercase Qs share the same vertical

axis but have different tails. Garamonds Q has a tail that

is simple finishing stroke below the baseline, whereas

Alphabet 26s Q has a link and then a wave-like tail.

AlphabetThe Monalphabet

26Bradbury Thompson and the Exploration of Functional Typography

16 | Karen Kim

Figure 6. Hamburgefonstiv set in Primary Sassoon typeface, created by Rosemary Sassoon.

Alp

ha

be

t 2

6 T

he M

onal

phab

et |

15

Question of Functionality

To investigate further into the reason why Thompsons

Alphabet 26 is a little short of being practical, it must

be compared to Rosemary Sassoons font system.

Like Thompson, Sassoon created a solution so that

children will read better, but with a more systematical

and intellectual approach. Whereas Thompson just

simply took the font Baskerville to assemble Alphabet

26, Sassoon constructed her own, the Sassoon Primary

(Figure 6). In comparison, their styles are drastically

different. One has an appearance of a font that was

casted by a metal type, and the other a handwritten

texture. This was indeed Sassoons intention. With her

type, she wanted to portray the accelerating movement

that one gives when writing with a pen. Sassoon was not

satisfied with the fact that typefaces were changing (i.e.,

shortening of ascenders and descenders to fit as many

Primary Sassoon is widely

used for education. Teachers

construct print-outs of the

letters of the alphabet based

from this type face. It is also

used for childrens illustration

books and sign systems

intended for children.

The tactile and handwritten

quality of Primary

Sassoon is what makes it

visually communicative

with children.

Rosemary Sassoon received

a PhD for her research of

handwriting analysis from the

Department of Typography

10 Rosemary Sassoon. Computers and Typography. Oxford: Intellect Books, 1993.11 Rosemary Sassoon. The Designer: Half a Century of Change in Image, Training, and Techniques. (The University Chicago Press, 2008), 75.

Hamburgefonstiv set in Alphabet 26.

Hamburgefonstiv written in general handwriting that compares the style between Primary Sassoon and Alphabet 26 to show that writing in mixture of upper and lower case letters is rather difficult and daunting to momorize.

lines in a page). As a result, it had an impact on

childrens ability to read. The question of functionality

was in concern. When she was asked by a teacher why

her students could read one page and not the other on

the opposite page, Sassoon claimed that it was because

the text was justified. A justified text retains the shape

of a rectangle. Therefore, the last line fails at guiding

the eyes of children over to the next page, since

hanging lines are not present for guidance. Dorothy

Ibbotson, a special needs teacher, began a study to see

which typeface(s) children preferred the most.

The results varied by the level of intelligence. Overall,

it turned out that most children were more partial

to the slanted sans serif. This led Sassoon to invent

a sans serif type that exuded friendliness with ample

spaces between letters.10

Despite Thompsons intention, perhaps the type he

used to present his idea was not successful because

Baskerville was not a suitable font for children to

begin with. Unlike Sassoon Primary, Baskerville does

not possess the high arches and outward strokes that

make it look warm and appealing to children. His

approach would have been effective if he had sought

more underlying problems and work from the bottom.

While Thompson was just influenced by his son to

solve readability, Sassoon directly interacted with

teachers and was able to observe the problems herself,

which gave her more practical ways of deciphering

them. According to Sassoon, it is a designers job to

address the problem with complete understanding

in order to examine the importance of functional and

formal requirements.11

This page and opposite page. Spreads from the monograph.

Alp

ha

be

t 2

6 T

he M

ona

lpha

bet

| 1

7

The Future of Alphabet 26

Despite Thompsons intention to create a logical and

analytic system of the English alphabet, it resulted in

quite the opposite side of the spectrum. Instead of

making readability easier, it actually slowed it down.

Part of this reason may be that people were so used

to reading the Latin alphabet of forty-five letters, so

the absence of some capital and lowercase letters

was confusing to the majority. Thus, Alphabet 26 was

deemed as foreign. It still has not been accepted as

an official alternative English alphabet to this day, but

is rather used as a display face for aesthetic reasons.

Because of the fact that letters with ascenders and

Where Did it End Up?

Figure 7. Thompsons design idea from his sons toy, Horsepower.

descenders have been removed, Alphabet 26 somehow

looks childlike and youthful, which is not necessarily

an appropriate choice when more practical type faces

are needed. Besides practicality though, Alphabet 26

was valued by people for visual interest and its ability

to grab attention. Its been used by other graphic

designers to create useful trademarks.

Thompson hoped that someday, Alphabet 26 will be

of general use and suggest solutions to create another

simplified alphabet in the future. For some time,

his monalphabet experiments were viewed as pointless

by typographic critics. But the rationale behind its

existence to this day was that Thompson was open to

Thompsons Alphabet 26 is

mostly popular in fashion

magazines. Titles and short

words are set in this typeface

to parallel the aesthetic

photographs.

18

| Karen K

im

the idea of researching, experimenting, and simply

playing with type. He believed that,

A constant interest in work plus an interest in everyday

things can give the artist and designer endless numbers

of fresh ideas.12

One day he tripped over his sons toy horse, which

gave him an inspiration to create a two-page spread

of a toy horse and an internal combustion engine

to represent horsepower on wheels (Figure 7). Another

instance where he got inspired was when he opened

the door of his home one night, and just that simple

act led him to realize the aspect of life or living,

which was visualized graphically.13 His opportunity to

design the Westvaco Inspirations magazines gave

him chances to feed the minds of people who were

anticipating new thoughts and techniques, with no

specific editorial objectives. Thompson persevered

in his designs whether it was typography alone or a

combination of type and images. His determination is

what inspires designers to continue producing solutions

for functionality sake.

12 The Art of Graphic Design, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), 43.13 On the topic of being influenced by everyday objects to translate into graphic design. The Art of Graphic Design, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), 43.

Leaving Home

He left his hometown Topeka, Kansas to pursue his

passion for designing in New York, where he faced new

challenges as a designer. Offered to join Westvaco

Corporation (West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company)

by its producer Rogers-Kellogg-Stillson, he was able

to render his creative concepts and experiment with

the printing process, typography, and use of color.

The company issued Westcavo Inspirations which was

a graphic arts publication (Figure 3 on page 4) that

presented typography, photography, art work and

graphic design on print. His design ideas influenced

the companys magazine for 24 years. It was known

to be the prime corporate contributor to graphic arts.

Here Thompson explored the relationship between

art and architecture in regards to typography. In

1969, the Field Enterprises Educational Corporation

gave a commission to Thompson to design the Bible,

the Washburn College Bible (Figure 4 on page 6). It

took him about 10 years to finish the project and is known to be one of his most successful designs3.

With a modern mindset, he had the ability to extract

contemporary designs from conventional typefaces.

This was about the time when he introduced his famed

Monalphabet, known as the Alphabet 26 typeface,

composed from a combination of upper and lowercase

letters from the Baskerville font face. The incentive for

this fonts creation was his agreement with Bauhaus

master Herbert Bayer that there should only be one

alphabet in lieu of two (uppercase and lowercase), thus

inclining both men to abolish capital letters.4 All in all,

Thompson was predominantly known for his continuous

experimentations with graphic design in terms of clarity.

His opinion of effective graphic design is:

The interfusion of word and image. But of the two,

typography is the most important part.5

It is obvious that Thompson was an avid believer

of functional design that referred back to classicism

with a hint of simplicity.1958, Thompson used the letters D-A-N-C-E to mimic the dance moves of the model which makes the design expressive.

M Stands for Men. Symmetry is created by letter M to accompany the center image.

3 R. Roger Remington and Barbara J. Hodik, Nine Pioneers in American Graphic Design, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989), 162. 4 Mildred Friedman and Steven Heller, Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History (New York: Walker Art Center, 1989), 109.5 R. Roger Remington and Barbara J. Hodik, Nine Pioneers in American Graphic Design, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989), 167.

Bradbury Thompson

was well known for his

plethora of typography and

photography experiment

by straying from the norm

and crossing into untouched

boundaries. Not only did

he satisfy his curiosities, but

he also gave a tremendous

contribution to the history of

graphic design.

At Washburn University,

Thompson has a facility

named after him, called

the Bradbury Thompson

Alumni Center.

c o l o p h o nDesigned and bound by Karen Kim.

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