Mario De Meyer’s mesmerizing typographic experiment

Belgian graphic designer DM2 is a very patient creative individual. When he launched his “Alphablocks” into the Behance stratosphere everyone was amazed at how many different typographic styles and techniques he meticulously combined to breath life into this vibrant project of his. We decided to ask Mario De Meyer some questions and shed some light on this laconic freelancer.

How much time did you spend on the project?

Longer than I expected. I tried to do it in two months, on and off between other projects, but it turned out three. The project became bigger and bigger along the way with several elimination rounds to replace the weakest links and eventually to find out the way to ‘glue’ the whole project together in one cohesive piece.

What inspired you to explore these different typographic techniques?

I get inspiration from lots of things. Like many of us, I get my daily dose of inspiration on great sites like TYPORN, but I also get a lot of inspiration out of nature and music. The ‘V’ in this alphabet was actually inspired by a song that was playing which had a sharp/edgy electronic sound to it. Some of these letters started as sketches, others were already in my mind, some kept me busy for days to avoid ‘the obvious’. This project was the perfect excuse to use as a playground for exploring different styles and techniques and learn from this procedure.

Do you have a favorite one?

Although it’s pretty hard to pick just one, I think ‘E’ is a personal favourite of mine. This was actually the 3rd ‘E’ I designed for this project, as the previous two didn’t survive the elimination rounds.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a submission for the goodtype-book and have a collab in the pipeline, I’m exploring some new techniques as well I discovered recently and I do hope I can share those results soon enough.

What is typography to you?

It’s hard to put it in words without describing the definition of it. Good typography has emotion and communicates with you on another level. It’s the thing that prevents you to turn the page and look a little longer.

Please, share your mantra with us.

Embrace your mistakes, learn from them and try to outdo yourself every time.