ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently

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ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently

ABCingSeeing the Alphabet Differently

colleen ellis

mark batty publisher • new york city

Copyright © 2010 by Colleen Ellis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form orby any means without written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews.

Published byMark Batty Publisher36 West 37th Street, Suite 409

New York, New York 10018

www.markbattypublisher.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Datahas been applied for:isbn 0-12345-678-9

Ellis, ColleenABCing: 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-weightOnly 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 forthThe forms of things unknown, the poet’s penTurns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothingA local habitation and a name.

w i l l i a m s h a k e s p e a r e

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 “proportion of a representation to the actual object.”]

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 anhonorable mention for the Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award given by PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus.

mark batty publisher • new york city

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