Romp & Circumstance

Design is a gigantic playground, where we, as designers, have the ability to imagine and explore endless possibilities. Play is what drives the design I make today.

Romp & Circumstance explores how the act of play can ignite and influence a body of work. Through a series of letterforms — hand and machine-made — R&C explores the intersection of play and typography within the physical world. It plays on the phrase ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’ which refers to impressive formal activities or ceremonies (i.e. graduations and weddings).

Romp: to run or play in a lively, carefree manner; a high-spirited, carefree play. The ‘romp’ exists within the design process. It represents the act of creating work for pure enjoyment and the opportunity to wonder what can happen when one’s work is influenced by adventure, spontaneity, and releasing oneself from design’s need for control.

Circumstance: a condition, fact or event accompanying, conditioning, or determining another; a public display or an event. The ‘circumstance’ exists in my final exhibition. It’s a formal presentation of a body of work that solidifies and celebrates the end of one chapter (grad school) and the start of a new one.

P.S. You are never too old to play.