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Investigating the Arbitrariness of Letterforms through Typeface Design
Investigating the Arbitrariness of Letterforms through Typeface Design
ABSTRACT
Modern linguistic theory suggests that letterforms are arbitrary and that the relationship between the signifier and the signified has no discernible pattern. This thesis investigates the arbitrary relationship between spoken sounds and graphemes and extends that relationship to letterform design. While graphic design rarely intersects with the field of linguistics, a culturally pivotal relationship with great potential for investigation exists between the two. In this thesis, graphic design is used as a medium to explore the arbitrary nature of written signs and draws attention to this importance in visual communication.
Modern linguistic theory suggests that letterforms are arbitrary and that the relationship between the signifier and the signified has no discernible pattern. This thesis investigates the arbitrary relationship between spoken sounds and graphemes and extends that relationship to letterform design. While graphic design rarely intersects with the field of linguistics, a culturally pivotal relationship with great potential for investigation exists between the two. In this thesis, graphic design is used as a medium to explore the arbitrary nature of written signs and draws attention to this importance in visual communication.
A theoretical and historical investigation informs the production of visual artifacts: a book specimen relating speech to written form, as well as a typeface that investigates the arbitrary design of letterforms while also demonstrating existing multiple connotative implications within letterforms. This thesis demonstrates that similar to letterforms having multiple speech sound associations, a typeface can have multiple connotative associations.
ARBITYPE: an optophonetic typeface
Optophonetic is a term used to describe when letterforms have pictographic qualities that support the relationship to sound. For example: the regular weight of the typeface, the viewer can count 8 concentric triangles included on the letter “a” indicating that “a” can be generally pronounced 8 different ways in English (varies according to dialects). The basic units of sounds – phonemes – are presented through various linear elements and these elements portray an arbitrary association between grapheme and speech. Despite this typeface not existing in current visual culture, the elements used in the design of each letter may have common associations and therefore suggest certain ideas, feelings or meanings. As the designer of the typeface and having engaged in the ideas surrounding its creation, I associate the typeface with sound and could see this typeface being utilized in music culture applications. However, more common associations are made through repeated exposure and manipulation into a culture’s perception.
2680: An Investigation of the Relationship between Letterforms and Speech
Materials: 12in x 12in book with lasercut illustration board as the covers and 80lb silk text with vellum inserts.
Materials: 12in x 12in book with lasercut illustration board as the covers and 80lb silk text with vellum inserts.
2680 is the thesis specimen book that aims to communicate the arbitrariness of writing systems by taking into account speech sounds and their association with individual Latin letterforms in the English language. The majority of the letters of the English alphabet represent different sounds, and that the same sound is often represented by different letters. Through the 2680 book, it is shown that the same sound is not only represented by different letters, but by various combinations of letters. Also, most of these combinations of letters represent different sounds. Word spellings are juxtaposed with a widely used International Phonetic Alphabet System (IPA). It is shown by the preceding scheme that the 43 – 48 (depending on dialect) elementary sounds of the English language can be further extended into 80 sounds that can be represented in 336 different ways that may be considered equivalent to three hundred and thirty-six different letters.
