BAILEYNELSON
ARTIST BIO
Bailey Nelson grew up in Argusville, ND and is pursuing digital design and art degrees at Valley City State University with a minor in marketing. Creativity has always been a strength but building a career in design didn’t occur to her until she was given the role of editor of her high school yearbook. Through that role, she discovered an interest in creating layouts and arranging contents on a digital platform. Nelson first decided to attend VCSU because of her commitment to play on the volleyball team. Her athletic background is what has impacted her life the most and is a huge part of who she is. It has influenced her art and drive in school including her leadership and work ethic. As a freshman at VCSU, Bailey explored photography and printmaking. She developed a passion for digital design and the Adobe programs. Other artistic interests of Bailey’s include hand-lettering and calligraphy which have led to professional work creating signs and addressing invitations. Her studies in digital design and interest in typography are put to use in her position as a graphic design intern for the Valley City Times-Record, a local newspaper, where she designs layouts, photographs events, and prepares digital files for printing. Nelson’s artwork has been showcased in The Forge, a VCSU literary and arts journal, and at the ‘What’s Cookin’?’ exhibition at Alley Beans in Valley City. Nelson understands the importance visual design has in communicating messages and is committed to pursuing a career in design after graduation.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Bailey Nelson
Handwriting has been around since society discovered how to visually represent spoken language and the tools to practice it. Historically, hand lettering began as a way of displaying language, especially scripture, but expanded into an artistic practice. Hand lettering and calligraphy have adapted alongside design and technology as ‘script’ and ‘handwritten’ are two categories of fonts used by graphic designers. The advanced digital tools cannot replace hand lettering because it never gets old.
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Typography is an integral element of design as it helps communicate the message and tone of a design. As typography involves working with typefaces that already exist, I have always struggled as a digital designer by limiting myself to the typefaces available to me. I prefer writing out the text or manipulating it in my own designs as opposed to finding an existing typeface that perfectly fits the work. This concept is inspired by the Bauhaus design movement where text was used to add geometric, abstract, and angular ornamentation to posters. Using hand-lettering and type manipulation in my designs has solved the problem of not finding the perfect typeface to use, however, the manual process requires more time.
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My combined interest in both typography and hand-lettering has inspired me to develop a show that encompasses that. To me, while typography is providing a design with balance and hierarchy, it also serves as an aesthetic function when manipulated into an interesting visual form. Having the skillset of developing a typeface and understanding typography’s purpose in design allows me to provide each new design with the uniqueness of custom lettering in which viewers can associate a typeface with that design specifically. I strive to showcase the process and purpose of hand-lettering and typography as well as their effectiveness in visual communication.
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