Sophie Van Der Merwe is a recent graduate of Portland State University.
Send her an email VNDRMRWE@GMAIL.COM
Send her an email VNDRMRWE@GMAIL.COM
Yoppa.otf
Type Design
2019
Yoppa is an experimental bitmap script that represents cross pollination of digital and organic. Yoppa is a featured typeface of type design collective, Club OTF.
Life is Unfair
Book design, Photography, Writing
2018—2019
In the spring of 2018 I made a comb bound zine for my type class about the typographic language of Malcolm in the Middle. I learned that the font used in the title sequence of the show, FunkyFresh—a bitmappy 1994 shareware font, that was created through a process of hand lettering, photocopy, and Fontographer’s autotrace feature was inspired by the brand lettering of Stüssy, “the iconic streetwear of that decade’s semi-rebellious youth.” I began to wonder how Malcolm in the Middle could intersect with streetwear, and how that intersection could be recognized in other facets of our culture, ways of storytelling, media consumption, and individual comprehension of identity as a whole. This informed the work I later did in my preliminary design thesis course. Although this project is not “complete”, its existence has assisted me in understanding my approach to story telling, conceptual thinking, and visual curation. With this initial exploration in mind, this book shares my findings, process of research, and proposed project outcome.
Merkret
T-shirt Design, Photography, Styling
2016—2017
Merkret was a self-directed project that was born from my obsession with streetwear brands, Cometees, Lefthand LA and, No Sesso. In the process of illustrating, producing, and attempting to sell T-shirts, I discovered my passion for concepting, styling, directing photoshoots and look books.
Modeled by Ty Johnson
Video documentation by Ty Johnson
Modeled by Ty Johnson
Video documentation by Ty Johnson
