Verbicovisual Explorations
My lifelong fascination with words, languages, and the visual beauty of letterforms culminated in my college years, as I explored the world of typography. This project was my response to ISTD’s brief, inviting students to typographically interpret samples from an archive of recordings.
My lifelong fascination with words, languages, and the visual beauty of letterforms culminated in my college years, as I explored the world of typography. This project was my response to ISTD’s brief, inviting students to typographically interpret samples from an archive of recordings.
tl;dr
tl;dr
tl;dr
The project brief emphasised the importance of meticulous typographical attention, and the task was to interpret samples from a collection of audio recordings of mid-century rural British accents in a typographic format. This presented an opportunity to capture the intangible essence of spoken words, transforming them from ephemeral auditory experiences into tangible visual representations, using paper and ink.
The project brief emphasised the importance of meticulous typographical attention, and the task was to interpret samples from a collection of audio recordings of mid-century rural British accents in a typographic format. This presented an opportunity to capture the intangible essence of spoken words, transforming them from ephemeral auditory experiences into tangible visual representations, using paper and ink.
A serendipitous discovery led me to rare copies of the British magazine ‘Typographica’ from the 1960s. Within its pages, I unearthed a trove of typographic innovation known as concrete poetry, an artistic movement seeking to explore how the arrangement of letters could convey meaning beyond their literal interpretations. While definitions varied, the core principle resonated: concrete poetry employs typography to imbue words with symbolic significance.
A serendipitous discovery led me to rare copies of the British magazine ‘Typographica’ from the 1960s. Within its pages, I unearthed a trove of typographic innovation known as concrete poetry, an artistic movement seeking to explore how the arrangement of letters could convey meaning beyond their literal interpretations. While definitions varied, the core principle resonated: concrete poetry employs typography to imbue words with symbolic significance.
Concrete poets established their own rules to bridge the gap between the visual and auditory representations of language. Some rejected capital letters and punctuation, arguing that these elements were purely visual and had no equivalent in spoken language. Others devised new alphabets, emphasising letters that held greater emphasis in spoken language.
Concrete poets established their own rules to bridge the gap between the visual and auditory representations of language. Some rejected capital letters and punctuation, arguing that these elements were purely visual and had no equivalent in spoken language. Others devised new alphabets, emphasising letters that held greater emphasis in spoken language.
As concrete poet Dom Sylvester Houédard summarised in 1963, “Every word an abstract painting, read quickly in a phrase words get lost. In concrete, eye sees words as objects that release sound/thought echoes in reader [sic].” This newfound knowledge shed light on the ideal medium for capturing the essence of accents through typography.
As concrete poet Dom Sylvester Houédard summarised in 1963, “Every word an abstract painting, read quickly in a phrase words get lost. In concrete, eye sees words as objects that release sound/thought echoes in reader [sic].” This newfound knowledge shed light on the ideal medium for capturing the essence of accents through typography.
I adopted some of these principles for my own interpretations, using only a single colour, the lowercase alphabet and ten numerals. To capture nuances of pronunciation, I employed different conformations of the letter ‘a’ to represent different vowel sounds. These typographic constraints enhanced the clarity of the interpretations, particularly the distinction between ‘ah’ and ‘ay’ sounds.
I adopted some of these principles for my own interpretations, using only a single colour, the lowercase alphabet and ten numerals. To capture nuances of pronunciation, I employed different conformations of the letter ‘a’ to represent different vowel sounds. These typographic constraints enhanced the clarity of the interpretations, particularly the distinction between ‘ah’ and ‘ay’ sounds.
A sense of living voice
I set about transcribing the sound clips I had chosen to interpret, which were recorded in farmers’ homes and contained accents from Northumberland to Kent. This produced some very interesting results, with phrases like tenner a pound becoming tannerihpowynd. The next step was translating these transcriptions into legible English, so their dialectal delivery could be considered alongside their literal meaning.
I set about transcribing the sound clips I had chosen to interpret, which were recorded in farmers’ homes and contained accents from Northumberland to Kent. This produced some very interesting results, with phrases like tenner a pound becoming tannerihpowynd. The next step was translating these transcriptions into legible English, so their dialectal delivery could be considered alongside their literal meaning.
With a substantial collection of transcriptions and translations in hand, I extracted phrases and sentences to transform into concrete poetry. By this point, I had accumulated a wealth of research, making it a natural progression to craft an essay to accompany these poems. While applying the same typographic constraints to an extended text proved demanding, the outcome was an interesting read—best experienced aloud:
With a substantial collection of transcriptions and translations in hand, I extracted phrases and sentences to transform into concrete poetry. By this point, I had accumulated a wealth of research, making it a natural progression to craft an essay to accompany these poems. While applying the same typographic constraints to an extended text proved demanding, the outcome was an interesting read—best experienced aloud:
Prose rather than verse
I separated each accent into its own section, adding details about the speaker and their conversations. I printed the transcriptions onto bright orange paper, and the translations on translucent orange paper. As the pages turn, the texts merge, creating an engaging visual experience.
I separated each accent into its own section, adding details about the speaker and their conversations. I printed the transcriptions onto bright orange paper, and the translations on translucent orange paper. As the pages turn, the texts merge, creating an engaging visual experience.
Text as image
The typographic interpretations were the heart of the project. Loud, boisterous voices were boldly rendered with styles that mirrored their energy, while the quality of the recordings influenced the paper choices. Distressed paper represented disjointed interviews, and coarse paper captured the static interference of low-quality recordings. This project allowed me to indulge my passion for printing, and I gleefully jammed countless printers with unconventional paper stocks.
The typographic interpretations were the heart of the project. Loud, boisterous voices were boldly rendered with styles that mirrored their energy, while the quality of the recordings influenced the paper choices. Distressed paper represented disjointed interviews, and coarse paper captured the static interference of low-quality recordings. This project allowed me to indulge my passion for printing, and I gleefully jammed countless printers with unconventional paper stocks.
The finished outcome was a large format, spiral bound book, which contained the introductory essay followed by about eighty pages of typographic interpretations. While the whole project took about nine weeks, I spent the majority of that time absorbed in research and discovery.
The finished outcome was a large format, spiral bound book, which contained the introductory essay followed by about eighty pages of typographic interpretations. While the whole project took about nine weeks, I spent the majority of that time absorbed in research and discovery.