My submission for the ISTD Sound Bites brief where I analysed the audio recordings documenting the Manchester accent. Whilst researching phonetics and linguistics, I developed a dissatisfaction with phonetic transcription – I found a lack of correspondence between the audio and the visual. I felt that the symbols being used did not very accurately represent the sounds which they related to. This took me on a journey into phonemic orthography where I attempted to impart some audio information onto the visual by tweaking and adjusting the letterforms themselves.
The way the Mancunian accent sounds now owes a lot to Industrialisation in the 19th & 20th centuries; so I subtly hinted at this through materials, format, typeface and colour. This is the reasoning for using greyboard, metallic ink, letterpress and Clarendon (which was developed for the purposes of advertising industrial goods).
I received a commendation for this project and won membership into the ISTD.
