One of my last projects of the semester involved creating typographic narratives that lived somewhere out in the real world. As often happens to me with projects like this, I was way more interested in the system of producing my pieces than I was in my ultimate message. I spent weeks developing a method to make rubber molds so that I could make castings of the negative space around letterforms, and finally came up with a process that I really liked:

1. Cut forms out..
   I used sheets of pink insulation foam (around $12 for a six foot sheet at Home Depot) because it was inexpensive, easy to cut, and water resistant. I made a template in Illustrator, traced it out on the foam with marker, and then used a small jewelers saw to cut it out. I was going for a rough-hewn look, so the imperfections of this process were exactly what I wanted. Note that this is a positive of the ultimate shape I want to cast.

   

   
   

2. Mount forms to a base.
   I built a shadowbox-style frame around the form, using "planks" cut from the same sheet of foam, and held together with masking tape.
   
3. Pour the mold!
   I used a mold-making rubber called OOMOO 30. I picked it because the supply store here on campus stocks it, and because of this video. If Martha can do it, I sure as hell can!
   

   

4. Make a cast!
   Now that you have a mold, you can pretty much pour whatever you want in there. Plaster, concrete, wax, soap, water (make ice molds in the freezer!), jell-o, cupcake batter — you name it. Be super careful pulling out the hardened cast from the mold, especially if your original has as many curves and undercuts as mine did.
5. Play.
   Take your new mold outside and play with it!