R E V I V A L an alphabet experiment lucia vaughan
R E
REVIVAL Lucia Vaughan 2015 A&D 608: Advanced Typography Visual Communications Design Department of Art & Design School of Visual and Performing Arts Purdue University West Lafayette, IN A publication of Visual Communications Design, School of Visual &
V A L
Performing Arts
All content is copyright in the name of Lucia N Vaughan, 2015.
V I To all of my supporters. Thank you for your unending encouragement and generosity.
06 12 40 54 58 INTRODUCTION
COMPOSITION
APPLICATION
COLOPHON
08 14 56
INVESTIGATION
EXPLORATION
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
5
IN TRO DUC TION Bradbury Thompson’s Alphabet 26, 1958
A
lmost 60 years ago, American type designer Bradbury Thompson created a “monoalphabet” called Alphabet 26. The purpose of this new alphabet was to make the experience of learning the ABC’s more intuitive and logical for young readers who can easily become confused by the myriad of letters they must memorize. By dropping the six uppercase versions of letters with identical cases—Cc-Oo-VvSs-Ww-Xx-Zz—and strategically selecting a combination of both cases from the remaining 19 letters, Thompson created the first streamlined, simplified English alphabet. Despite its ingenuity, Alphabet 26 did not come even close to replacing the mainstream alphabet. Though it did seem to improve reading comprehension for Thompson’s son, who had struggled with letter recognition beforehand, his creation failed to reach much more notoriety than his own article in an issue of Westvaco Inspirations for Printers and a nod from AIGA. However, Alphabet 26 has succeeded in inspiring countless type designers to rethink typography and its function within the human experience. We, a small group of Purdue University graduate students lead by
a distinguished professor of design, are among those who have found inspiration in Thompson’s work. For our semester-long project for our Advanced Typography class, we have decided to take its original intent and flip it on its head. Instead of seven letters with similar cases (as listed above), we determined there are four more that fit the descriptor—Ii, Jj, Kk, and Pp. Our intent is to take the lower cases of these letters and make them dissimilar from their uppercase counterparts. Essentially, instead of streamlining and simplifying the alphabet, we are diversifying. Unlike Thompson’s work, there is no foreseeable functional aspect to our project other than to exercise our minds and develop a greater aesthetic awareness of the letters in our alphabet. Not to mention that working with type can be an absolute joy! I have been surprised, delighted, frustrated, exasperated, and unendingly excited over the course of this project. What follows is a definitive outline of my process.
7
IN VES TIGA TION The evolution of our alphabet from early Phoenician
As someone who loves type, a project like this one feels like an adventure. There are so many unknowns to be discovered! So many paths to explore! I wanted this project to be as fruitful of a learning experience as it could be, so I threw myself into the initial stage with much enthusiasm. The initial stage, of course, was research. It was important to me to start off on the right foot, so I thought very hard about the best place to begin. I realized that the best place to begin was the very beginning—that is, the very beginning of our alphabet. The deepest origin of the alphabet we know and love today can be found deep in the tombs of the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Hieroglyphics were one of the most vivid and advanced communication systems of their ancient time, and served as a starting point for other symbolic systems. From there, a nearby Semitic people living in or near Egypt began creating their own set of hieroglyphs with their own symbols, more concise in nature than the Egyptian glyphs. This new system was quickly adopted by neighboring villages, including eastern and northern colonies like the Canaanites, Hebrews, and Phoenicians. The Phoenicians then
spread their alphabet to the people of the Near East and Asia Minor, as well as the Arabs, Greeks, Etruscans, and early Spanish, developed the system further. The glyphs of the early Semitic and Phoenician alphabets symbolized aspects of their daily lives that were important to them. For example, the aleph glyph, the ancestor of modernday ‘A,’ illustrates an ox head, which were essential for food, transportation, and early farming. Many of the glyphs represent different parts of human anatomy, probably because the only form of communication they had before a written alphabet was verbal and body language. Others represent weapons, tools, and shelter. I decided that in order to create a set of letters that would fit into our modern alphabet, I would draw inspiration from these early symbols, traveling back in time to revive and repurpose them for my design. After the Phoenician alphabet had its day, the Greeks used it to create their own. The new Greek alphabet was much more formalized than the crude Phoenician symbols. From there, the Romans took hold and reinvented the system once again to create the alphabet we use today (with a few exceptions). Once the Romans became
9
The evolution of uncials into minuscule type
the most dominant civilization on Earth, their alphabet became one of the most widely used, spreading throughout what was then considered the Western hemisphere. This brief history covers the beginning of the capital letters of our alphabet, but the history of how lowercase letters came to be still remains to be seen. There seem to be many opinions about when and where lowercase Roman letters originated, but the main theory is that over time, Greeks scribes from as early as the 3rd century B.C. would write faster and faster in order to finish their work in a timelier manner. This increase in speed caused the letters to become more rounded. The name “uncial” is derived from the Latin term uncia, meaning “inch,” which refers to the letters’ uniformity in size. The use of uncials spread throughout the western region, and each culture that adopted them interpreted them in their own way, causing them to change and evolve. Over time, uncials lost their uniformity, their forms became more diverse, and more letters, like “j” and “w,” were added. What I learned from this discovery was that my letters needed to be simple and guided by a left-to-right
direction. This would ensure that writing the letters, theoretically, would feel easy and natural. This was a huge consideration throughout my design process. Other paths of research I followed were mostly for inspiration. For example, I found a very fascinating article about beautiful alphabets from other cultures that were on their way to extinction. One of my favorites was the Burmese alphabet, which is made of variations of intertwined circles. I was so struck by its beauty that I took special care with my more curvilinear designs. Overall, my research made me extremely excited to begin designing. I couldn’t wait to be a part of the ongoing evolution of written language, even though the influence of my work might be very small!
11
C OM POSI TION
As I began my design process, I realized that although this project seemed like a free-for-all design fest at first, there were actually many boundaries within which my new letters could be created. For example, I had to consider, x-height, ascender height, descender depth, and (as my classmate, Matias Ferrari, cleverly noticed) t-height, which describes the unique height of the lowercase ‘t.’ I also had to consider the relatedness of the lowercase letters to their uppercase counterparts, since all the differing lowercase letters had aspects that connected them to their uppercases. This is also influenced by my earlier decision to heavily base my new letters off of their ancient ancestors, most of which bear striking resemblance to the uppercases’ characteristics. Additionally, I had to consider the constraints of Futura, the typeface I thought would best translate ancient letters into those of modernity. The clean, calculated lines of Futura do not allow for much unnecessary flourishing or straying from its subtle stylistic traits. With all of this and much more taken into consideration, my final alphabet was created.
abc defg hijkl mno pqrs t vw xyz 13
EX PLO RAT ION
The following section entails the process that went into creating each new letter, from initial sketches to the final, computer rendered design. My thought process for each letter is also included, explaining why I chose one letter design over another, as well as both the Phoenician and earlier symbols (in that order) from which the contemporary letters are derived. Now that my letters are finished and the project has come to an end, I am thrilled to be able to see each design process organized chronologically, all in one place. As I was creating each letter, I often felt a little scatterbrained. I went into each design with the intention of knocking it all out in one sitting, but I often found myself drawing inspiration from other designs and coming back to explore further. This long, convoluted journey taught me a lot about the design process—especially that there is no ideal design process. A designer finds his or her own way through many twists and turns, sometimes feeling like they are going in the right direction, and other times feeling completely lost. I am pleased to say that I eventually found my way.
15
An example of my initial sketches
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Camel c After playing around with the original symbol for ‘C,’ called gimel, I decided it was most important to preserve the defining curve of the letter that developed over time. Not only would this decision help the new letter relate to its uppercase counterpart, it would also play along with the ‘camel’ representation. From the looks of the original symbol, it seems that ancient peoples chose to illustrate the head and neck of the animal instead of the hump. To me, this was a missed opportunity since the hump is the most characteristic feature of the camel! My selected sketches are the two that I thought best represented this feature, while also remaining both
simple and unique. After developing the forms using characteristics of existing letters, I decided to choose the first of the two because it struck me as the most representative, attractive, and playful. I also chose to make the main curve sharp in order to avoid the possibility of looking like a half-lowercase ‘m.’
19
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Palm k I was very interested in the forms related to human anatomy, like the original symbol for ‘K,’ called kaph. I began my redesign process by studying my own palms, where I could clearly see the relationship between the curves and creases and the ancient form. I studied the way these lines interacted with my fingers and wrists as well, and I frequently contorted my hands to discover new forms to pursue. I was drawn toward the relationship between the middle finger, forefinger, and thumb of my right hand with the palm facing up, as it seemed to have the closest resemblance to the current ‘K’ form. Since I wanted to keep my new letter related to its uppercase
counterpart, I played with variations of this shape. I decided on a form that was essentially an upside-down variation of the middle finger/forefinger/thumb relationship, with the thumb flipped horizontally across the plane in order to have a continuous ascending line.
21
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Arm
ij
Before I began sketching, I was excited to work on ‘i’ and ‘j.’ They are a few of the most standout characters in the alphabet, brief yet full of energy—it’s partly their tittles (dots) which make them so, apart from their sharply ascending strokes. Considering their figures are based on the human arm, I imagined I could somehow make them stronger and more domineering rather than lithe. However, it did not take me long to realize that their current figures are already as representative as they could possibly be while still keeping my rule of simplicity intact. The shape of the arm, over thousands of years, has been almost perfectly preserved; the straight
strokes ending in dots mimic arms with fists, and even the ‘j’ imitates the curve of the elbow into the upper arm. Additionally, as I looked closer, I realized the terms separating the “similar” and “dissimilar” lowercase letters were a little fuzzy. If “i” and “j” were to be considered similar to their uppercase counterparts, their only differences being an extension of the ascending stroke through the tittle, then how could letters like ‘t’ or ‘l’ be considered dissimilar when their differentiating traits were just as subtle? Where would the line be drawn? It became clear that if ‘i’ and ‘j’ were to continue to be considered, I would have to redo nearly the entire alphabet.
23
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Eye
o
Drawn from another anatomical symbol called ayin, ‘O’ is a particularly iconic letter; with its continuous form seamless and never-ending, it has endured the test of time. The question was, how would I successfully reimagine the age-old representation of humanity’s windows to the soul? I decided to maintain the as much of the eye symbolism as possible, meaning that the new form would have a curvilinear shape. I chose this direction not only because of the power behind eye symbolism, but also because of the great beauty I found in the circular letterforms of the Burmese alphabet, which I learned about during my research period.
To find my new form, I experimented with several artistic interpretations of different angles and aspects of the eye. The design I settled upon was the one I felt embodied the captivating nature of an eye, drawing the viewer’s sight toward the center, and filled the space most effectively, popping out of the original frame of the x-height.
25
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Mouth p “P” was one of the letters I struggled with the most to find a satisfying solution. Firstly, it was difficult for me to relate the character to a mouth, and once I did, it often lost its relationship with its uppercase counterpart. Because of this, I decided to base the new letter heavily upon the uppercase ‘P,’ with a brief, curved style like that of classic half-uncials. The design I settled upon has a clear relationship with the uppercase ‘P,’ however there is just enough dissimilarity to make it it’s own form. I kept the descender of the original lowercase ‘p’ because I like the way it interacts with lowercase ‘q’, ‘m,’ ‘n,’ and the new ‘o.’
What I like about this new letter is the way it flows when it is being written. I did a writing trial for each of my letters to determine their ease and intuitiveness when written in a sentence, and my lowercase ‘p’ had one of the most natural executions. This may be because of its similarity to the regular lowercase ‘p,’ but I digress. I believe it stands as a unique form nonetheless.
27
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Snake s Although it is listed here as an animalinspired symbol, shin has two other interpretations as both ‘the tooth’ and ‘the bow.’ I attempted to find design inspiration in bow and arrow imagery, but I felt that the lithe character of the snake was better suited for the modern day ‘s.’ It was difficult for me to come up with a satisfying final design, and I actually ended up designing my final solution during the computer rendering stage. The form of a coiled snake drawing its head back inspires the final solution, and I believe the twisting character that normally embodies ‘s’ is preserved. I am not as satisfied with this letter
as I am with most of the other new forms. While I believe the new ‘s’ works in context with the rest of my alphabet, it does have as much of an impact as the original ‘s.’ The original lowercase ‘s’ has a very iconic quality that sets itself apart from the other letters of the alphabet, standing out from the other 25 while also fitting among them, seamlessly. My final ‘s’ does not have as much of an iconic quality, sort of blending into the background without much to say for itself. However, my new letter is successful in relating to its uppercase, and for that, I am satisfied.
29
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Cup u As one will notice over the course of the following few pages, ‘u,’ ‘v,’ ‘w,’ and ‘y’ are all descendants of the symbol, waw, which has several interpretations, including “cup,” “hook,” and “mace.” Because of this, I grouped the four together as a character family and decided to maintain a clear design connection between them. I had a feeling this design decision would take more time to figure out than the other designs, so I began working on the waw family first. Little did I know how right I was! From the beginning of this project to the end, these letters underwent constant change. Finally, I found an element (a closed equilateral triangle) that would unite the new
letters, maintain their relatedness with their uppercase counterparts, and pay homage to their ancient descendant. The letter ‘u’ actually took the most time for me to figure out. Once I had designed its sisters, finding a variation that was both unique and cup-like proved to be very difficult. What I finally settled upon was a form resembling a teacup, which could be seen as the modern descendant of human history’s first clay cups.
31
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Hook vw As I explained in my ‘u’ design process, determining the relationship between ‘u,’ ‘v,’ ‘w,’ and ‘y’ was one of the most challenging parts of this project. The waw symbol was not much help while designing, mostly because it resembled uppercase ‘Y’ so closely that it was difficult to separate the association. “Hook” imagery was also not very helpful, apart from inspiring a “sharp” aesthetic that ended up being carried over to the unifying element, the closed equilateral triangle. While it could be said that this element does not create much of a difference between the new characters and the old ones, I decided use it because I liked the contrast the of the original ‘v’ and ‘w’s sharp forms
versus the round forms of letters like ‘b,’ ‘p,’ and ‘o.’ I am very happy with the final result. I believe the forms compliment each other quite well.
33
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Gate x I was particularly excited to work on ‘x’ since it is one of the more exciting letters of the alphabet. Although it is not a prominent letter in the English language, it definitely has one of the biggest personalities. I wanted to maintain the strength and solidity displayed in the original ‘x.’ Especially with the symbol of a gate, called samekh, behind it, my ‘x’ needed to have a certain powerful quality. As difficult as it was to re-imagine an iconic character like ‘x,’ I found that the best solutions were those that played with gate imagery. In a stroke of cleverness, I created a form that represented a key, which still had a strong quality about it. I decided
that this would be my final solution. Although my ‘x’ doesn’t fit as seamlessly with its uppercase, I couldn’t resist the metaphor: what once was closed for a millennium, is now open.
35
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Mace y There is not much to say about the process that went into the creation of my ‘y’ that was not already said in my description of ‘u,’ ‘v,’ and ‘w.’ I am very happy with how I was able to maintain the relationship between all the characters of this small family within the alphabet. I believe I was able to make successful, unique solutions for each.
37
Initial sketches
Select sketches
Character adaptation
Computer rendering
The Sword z As the final letter of the alphabet, I knew the design of my ‘z’ had to be very carefully considered. Like ‘x,’ ‘z’ also had a quality of strength and solidarity about it that is not found in many other letters. Since the form of ‘z’ was inspired by zayin, the sword or weapon, I experimented with weapon imagery, making designs resembling swords, spears, shields, bows and arrows, and even wounds. However, I found that none of these solutions were satisfying. I moved on to experimenting with the concept of ‘the end.’ I thought, “What symbols could I use to communicate this abstract concept?” I was hit with memories of my concert
band experience in high school and the hundreds of pages of sheet music I had read. Often, upon those pages, a symbol called a caesura would appear, denoting the end of a musical phrase, followed by an abrupt silence. I thought that this was a very powerful symbol, so I decided it would suit my alphabet as a fitting end.
39
AP PLI CAT ION
The following section is dedicated to putting my new letters into practice. First are several single words, then some common phrases, and then full paragraphs drawn from the opening lines of Homer’s Odyssey, a work I consider to be one of the best examples of classic literature, and therefore worthy of an appearance in my book. It is very exciting to see how my alphabet works with actual writing. Even if the words are difficult to read, it is of no consequence because legibility is not the intention. It does matter, in this case, if the words, phrases and paragraphs work aesthetically. This is a design experiment after all!
41
boy
wow
zoom
sock
ruotic rustic
pesky
e ed
vexed
kooky
43
voluptuous
polygon
comatose
zoology
lu tu u l g n mat l g
e
exKluoive exclusive
floo y floozy
opooked spooked
Go efdlly woefully
45
The quick bromln fx jomded over the lazy dSg.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. 47
Several fabulous dioieland jazlh groups played Gith quicK tempu.
Several fabulous dixieland jazz groups played with quick tempo. 49
Sing in me, Mu s e, and through me tell the s t ory of that man s killed in all w ays o f c ontending, the w anderer,
harried f o r years on end, after he plundered the s tr ongh old on the pr oud height of Tr oy . He sa w the t o w nlands and learned the minds of many dis tant men, and w eathered many bitter night s and day s in hi s dee p heart at sea, w hile he f o ught onl y t o save his life, t o bring hi s shi pmates home. But no t by w ill nor val or c ould he s ave them, f or their o w n rec klessness des tr oyed them all — c hildren and f ool s , they killed and fea s ted on the c attle o f L o rd Hêli o s , the Sun, and he w ho moves all day thr ough the
heaven t oo k fr o m their eyes the da w n o f their ret urn. Opening lines o f Ho mer’s Ody ss ey Trans lated by Ro bert Fit z gerald (1961)
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy. He saw the townlands and learned the minds of many distant men, and weathered many bitter nights and days in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home. But not by will nor valor could he save them, for their own recklessness destroyed them all — children and fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Hêlios, the Sun, and he who moves all day through the heaven took from their eyes the dawn of their return. Opening lines of Homer’s Odyssey Translated by Robert Fitzgerald (1961)
51
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr S Tt Uu Vv W w X x Yy Z z
53
C ON CLU SION
As I hold this book in my hands, it seems very small. The 60 pages between these two covers do not feel full enough to describe how much time, thought, and effort went into this project. There are no accounts of the long, sleepless nights bent over sketchbooks and computer screens. There are no tallies of how many times I second-guessed myself, abandoned trains of thought, and started over. If there were, I would need at least two more books. Even now, after everything has been said and done, I find myself thinking what changes I would make if I were to do it all over again. I would have been more considerate of white space between letters. I would have done more testing with word application to perfect how the letters interact with each other. I would have been more conscientious about the line-weight to counter relationship. I did not realize until now how many millions of small details go into the letter our alphabet. This realization prompted another insight: the Roman alphabet we use today is the product of thousands of years of evolution, allowing each letter to co-mingle and develop together organically. This is why this project has been more difficult than I first believed at the start. Attempting to emulate the
seamlessness of this design evolution in a three-month span is comparable to trying to design a new animal, down to the cellular level. However, I am still very proud of my creation. I have learned invaluable lessons about the intricacies of letterforms that I would not have otherwise known without this project to push me forward. I have also found inspiration for more projects of my own, as well as several more paths of research I wish to explore in the future. I will proudly carry this book under my arm as a symbol of not only my education at Purdue University, but also a symbol for my education to come.
55
BI BLI OGR APHY
Bennett, Audrey, and Bridgett Rice. “Bradbury Thompson’s Alphabet 26: A Font System for Early Readers?” Aiga. org. AIGA, 20 Dec. 2005. Web. 02 Sept. 2015. Boeree, George. “The Origin of the Alphabet.” The Origin of the Alphabet. George Boeree, Shippensburg University, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015. Nesbitt, Alexander. “Chapter II: The Roman Contribution.” The History and Technique of Lettering. New York: Dover Publications, 1957. 9-18. Print. Pereira, Felipe S. “5 of the World’s Most Beautiful Alphabets…and Why You’ll Never Learn to Read Them.” Matador Network. Matador Network, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Sept. 2015. “Uncials and Half Uncials.” Designhistory.org. Designhistory.org, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.
57
C OL OPH ON
PAPER Cougar Natural 80# cover & 70# text
TYPEFACES Futura: Medium Italic, 70 & 14 pt. Futura: Medium, 10 pt. Futura: Medium Condensed: 14 pt Futura PT: Heavy, 12 pt. Calibri: Regular, 9.5 pt.
BINDERY Haywood Printing Lafayette, Indiana
BINDING Perfect bound
PRINTING Xerox Services Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana
PRINTER iGen4 Diamond Edition
EDITION Six copies
59
Thank you... Scot Benham Haywood Printing Co. Inc., Lafayette, Indiana
Dennis Ichiyama Professor, Purdue University
Matias Ferrari & Sunyoung Ahn Designers, Purdue University
Mike and Deborah Vaughan Parents, Coos Bay, Oregon
Emily Messmer Moral Support, Purdue University