Lessons Learned Series: Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

• Lettering

Part 2 of my Lessons Learned series hails from the 1997 hit by The Notorious B.I.G. Unfortunately, the track was released posthumously, which reminds me of life being fragile. Really, it's about how money, either too much or too little, can cause stress in one's life.

This piece is laid on a dark charcoal grey background, giving it an overall darkness and heaviness. The mint and grass-green colors, along with the border style are meant to remind the viewer of U.S. currency. The blackletter type styles, as emulated here, are popular with hip-hop and rap music esthetics, perhaps in the attempt to look powerful and serious.

The lettering used is modeled after Brahms-Gotisch designed in 1937. My interpretation is mostly of the textura blackletter style, but I have blended some rotunda features, rounding some forms to accentuate the marks possible with a paint brush. This is most apparent in the “Mo” parts where the roundness of the brush changes the appearance of the blackletter structure to the point where is looks more friendly and soft, and adds some visual contrast and variety.

The issue of money will probably come up again in this series, and in the mean time I use mint.com to keep an eagle eye on my personal finances.

Terrance “T$” Weinzierl