Images from The Phraseology Project, in which Drew Melton, Ray Brown and other designers take phrases randomly submitted by readers and make them look beautiful with type. But Drew and his crew go beyond mere ornamentation … they embody and express the meaning of each phrase through the style, shape and treatment of the type. Brilliant.

In January 2011 Drew Melton got the idea to start designing user submitted words and phrases in order to practice his craft in community. In his own words, “Most design sites or blogs are merely feeds of disconnected visual stimulation. I wanted to do something that you could actually influence and invest into.” He quickly purchased the domain Phraseologyproject.com and setup a very basic submission form. Receiving over 90 submissions in the first week confirmed that people were interested and fueled the project forward. Ray Brown was soon brought on to help develop the new site. Phraseology was underway.

“The Phraseology Project is meant to be a running experiment in typography. It is meant to be a framework for exercise and practice in Typography. We try our best to come up with our best work always but more importantly we value practice and healthy process. In other words, these pieces aren’t perfect. But they are honest. We celebrate the process of design and creativity in all of its’ outcomes.” – Drew Melton

From Beautiful Decay (September 1, 2011)