Typography: Words Beyond Sound

26 February 2011 No Comment Dora Sobze

Typographic World Map by vladstudio

The idea of an artistic usage of words is nothing new. Lyrical music artists, poets and novelist have mastered this idea a long time ago. We see beauty in words as early as – or even earlier – than 5,000 BC when the ancient Indian Vedas scripts were compiled, containing an assortment of hymns, meter and prose. Long before written word, spoken word also contained a creative nature in its usage of descriptive story telling and oral tradition. An alphabetical construction was a huge break through in the artistic realm – words developed a physical appearance beyond the images of their meanings. Sooner or later, the physical ability to see and hand craft words created an aesthetic visual quality beyond the prior oral limitation. The creative value of words can be found not only in their sound and meanings, but also in their written appearance.

With a realization of the visual appeal of written word emerged typography, the art of textual arrangements. With the technological advances of today, typography has become exceedingly popular and is far easier to create using computer software that can more easily manipulate text designs than one’s own hand. The breadth of styles and usages typography offers is amazing considering the diversity of alphabets used worldwide and the number of ways each alphabet can be sculpted. Just as everyone has a unique handwriting, every artist has different ideas of how words can be used in artwork.

Mosaic and carvings on a wall by Ali Ben Youssef Medersa, Marrakesh, Morocco

In some highly religious regions of the world, where the creation of representative images conflicts with certain religious beliefs, calligraphy is prevalent. Islamic art of the Middle East for example, is highly nonrepresentational with heavy usage of intricate designs, scripts, and calligraphies. Many of these designs can be seen in Middle Eastern architecture, where intricate mosaics often cover building walls. Though banning representational art may seem limiting from a Western perspective, where representational images of human and animals forms in art are very common, it seems as though the banning of certain images inspired a different wave of textual art, still equally impressive.

Mosaic textual design on a Mihrab in Isfahan, Iran

With the growing popularity of graphic design, it seems as though the use of word art has grown, too. Written word has become a medium like marble or clay sculpted by typing fingers of modern graphic designers. After experimenting with typography, any artist would likely develop a new found appreciation for the alphabet – without an alphabet, words would still be limited to their sounds. It has become obvious to many artists it seems, that the creative value of words is far more than that.