ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently

ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently

ABCing

Seeing the Alphabet Differently colleen ellis

mark batty publisher

•

new york city

Copyright Š 2010 by Colleen Ellis All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews.

Published by Mark Batty Publisher 36 West 37th Street, Suite 409 New York, New York 10018 www.markbattypublisher.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for: isbn 0-12345-678-9 Ellis, Colleen ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently/ Colleen Ellis.

1. Graphic arts—design 2. Figure/ground 3. Title 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

for Hannah and Carina

Wu is nothingness, emptiness, non-existence Thirty spokes of a wheel all join at a common hub

yet only the hole at the center allows the wheel to spin Clay is molded to form a cup

yet only the space within allows the cup to hold water Walls are joined to make a room

yet only by cutting out a door and a window can one enter

the room and live there Thus, when a thing has existence alone it is mere dead-weight Only when it has wu, does it have life

l ao t z u Chinese Daoist philosopher, 6th century bc Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition, verse 11 Jonathan Star, Translator

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven; And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name.

william shak espea re English playwright and poet, 1564–1616 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, act 5, sc 1, 1. 12 (1595–1596)

introduction ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently is a primer to seeing and understanding the visual world. From abstract to zeitgeist, the book uses the Latin alphabet to introduce ways of visualizing, thinking and talking about art and design.

Each illustration is created using only the negative shapes of a given letter.

It is not the actual letterforms from which these new perspectives take shape, rather the spaces around the letterforms. The shapes are rotated and resized; they are not duplicated, mirrored or otherwise altered. Therefore the illustrations maintain their visual connection to the original letterform. The shapes are then composed as a visual translation of a given word’s meaning, creating visual and conceptual connections between the letter, the word and the surrounding space. The result is a mixture of philosophy, poetry and art.

The intent is to spur new and alternative approaches to how viewers look at an image, shifting the focus from the subject—the letter—to the surrounding space.

Using the fundamental principles of Gestalt theory, the book encourages the viewer to see and consider the “white space” as much as they see and consider the letter within it. It suggests how context can define or distort a subject, and that if one looks beyond a letter, or any form for that matter, one will find another story. c.e.

abstract

adj. Theoretical; not representative of outward reality; perhaps transcendent.

[< Latin abstrahere, “drawn away.” ]

balance

n. An equilibrium between elements within a field to produce harmony.

[< Old French balance < possibly from Latin bis, “twice” + lanx, “a dish, scale.”]

contrast

v.

To juxtapose elements or ideas to emphasise difference.

n.

The use of opposing elements or ideas to create something more dynamic.

[ < Italian contrastare, “stand out against” < Latin contra, “against” + stare, “to stand.” ]

dynamic

adj. Pertaining to action or creating motion, movement or change; forceful; energetic.

[<French dynamique < German dynamisch < Greek dynamikos, “powerful.”]

epiphany

n. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something; a term

used by James Joyce to imply secular revelation in the everyday world.

[< Old French epiphanie < Late Latin epiphania < Greek epiphaneia, “manifestation.”]

figure

n. The primary shape in a design; a shape that is separated from the background;

it is the dominant shape in a figure-ground relationship.

[< Old French figure < Latin figura, “a shape, form, figure” < Greek skhema.]

ground

n. It is the background in a visual field contrasted by the figure.

[< Old English grund, “foundation, ground, surface of the earth”

< Proto-Germanic grundus.]

harmony

n. A pleasing combination of elements within a whole; accord.

[< Old French armonie < Latin harmonia < Greek harmonia, “agreement,

concord of sounds.” ]

imagination

n. The ability to form mental images or ideas of what is not actually present to

the senses; the power to recombine ideas or imagery to aid in solving problems.

[< Latin imaginari, “to form a mental picture to oneself, imagine.” ]

juxtapose

v. To place side by side or in close proximity, particularly to stress comparison or contrast.

[< Latin juxta, “beside, near” + < French position, “position.” ]

kitsch

n. Works of art or other objects created to appeal to popular taste.

[ < German kitsch, “gaudy, trash.”]

light

n. Something that makes things visible; illumination.

[< Old English leht, “brightness” < Greek leukos, “bright, shining, white.”]

metaphor

n. A figure of speech in which one term or phrase is used to refer to something

that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity.

[< Middle French metaphor < Latin metaphor < Greek metaphorá, “a transfer.”]

negative space

The area around an object; the ground area in a figure-ground relationship.

[< Old French negatif < Latin negativus + < Old English gesceap, “creation, form, destiny.”]

organic shape

A shape relating to, or suggestive of, the natural world or living organisms.

[< Latin organicus < Greek organikos, “of or pertaining to an organ” + < Old English gesceap, “creation, form, destiny.”]

Polaris

n. North Star; the brightest star in Ursa Minor; the outer most star in the handle of

the Little Dipper; something that guides you.

[< Modern Latin, short for stella polaris, literally “the pole star.”]

quest

n.

To search for, often involving adventure. [< Old French queste, “the act of seeking” < Middle Latin questa, “search, inquiry.”]

rhythm

n.

A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, colors, words, or notes. [< Latin rhythmus, “movement in time” < Greek rhythmós.]

scale

n.

The size relationship between two separate forms; the proportion used to determine or emphasise a hierarchy or concept within a composition. [<perhaps via Italian scala, in the musical sense and the meaning â&#x20AC;&#x153;proportion of a representation to the actual object.â&#x20AC;?]

tone

n. The manner of expression; the quality of color; atmosphere. [< Old French ton < Latin tonus, “a sound, tone, accent,” < Greek tonos, “vocal pitch,

raising of voice, accent, key in music.”]

unity

n. Oneness; when all the parts in a design create a harmonious whole.

[< Old French unite < Latin unitatem, “oneness, sameness, agreement,” from

unus, “one.”]

variety

n. Difference; a number of different types of things that give a design visual

interest and conceptual strength. [< Middle French variété < Latin varietatem, “difference, diversity.”]

wit

n. Speech or design expressing keen perception that is often amusing; a person having

such perception or expression; understanding; intelligence. [< Old English wit or gewit, “mental capacity”< German Witz, “wit, witticism, joke.”]

x-height

n. In typography, it is the distance between the baseline and the midline of the alphabet;

it is the height of a lower case x, or z, in a given alphabet.

[<1945-50]

you

pro. The pronoun of the second person singular or plural; one; anyone; people in general.

[< Old English eow.]

zeitgeist

n. The spirit of times; general trend of thought of an era. [<German zeitgeist, “spirit of the age,” from zeit “time” + geist “spirit.”]

general reference

Arnheim, Rudolph. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye,

The New Version. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.

Bennett, Audrey. Design Studies: Theory and Research in Graphic Design.

New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 1990.

Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style, Version 3.0.

Point Roberts: Hartley & Marks, Publishers, 2004.

Company, Houghton Mifflin. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. Fourth Edition. New York: Dell, 2004.

Drucker, Johanna, and Emily McVarish. Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide.

Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008.

Flusser, Vilém. The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design. London: Reaktion, 1999.

Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary.

Dictionary.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse (accessed June 27, 2009).

Hayden, Dolores. The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History.

Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999.

Hofmann, Armin. Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice.

Teufen: Arthur Niggli, 2004.

Hustwit, Gary (Director). Helvetica. dvd. 2007.

Itten, Johannes. Design and Form: The Basic Course at the Bauhaus and Later: Revised Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1975.

Maeda, John. The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life).

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006.

acknowledgements

To my teachers who continue to inspire,

my students who always inspire,

and to Dan, for your love and your wit,

—thank you. colophon

This book was designed by Colleen Ellis.

The text face is Adobe Garamond (1989) drawn by Robert Slimbach. It is based

on the type designs of French punchcutter Claude Garamond (c. 1490–1561).

The headings and large letters are set in Helvetica Neue Bold (1983), a font based

on the 1957 Swiss typeface Die Neue Haas Grotesk designed Max Miedinger and

Eduard Hoffmann. In 1960 the font was renamed Helvetica, originating from the

Latin word for Switzerland, Helvetia. further information

To view a dynamic version of this book, as well as additional information,

visit www.abseeing.com.

colleen ellis is an artist who lives and teaches in Massachusetts. As a manuscript the book was awarded an honorable mention for the Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award given by PEN New England Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Book Caucus. mark batty publisher

â&#x20AC;˘

new york city

abstract balance contrast dynamic epiphany figure ground harmony imagination juxtapose kitsch light metaphor negative space organic shape Polaris quest rhythm scale tone unity variety wit x-height you zeitgeist