Categories of Fluid Type v2

Barbara Brownie, 2007 - 1 -

Fluid Typography: An introduction to categories of fluid type In many examples of kinetic typography, letterforms move, but retain a consistent appearance and distance from one another. In such artefacts, kinesis results in a change on a macro scale – a change in overall layout – but the letters themselves do not change. A feature common to all fluid type is change on a micro scale, within individual letterforms. Fluid letterforms do not present themselves as identical in every frame of an artefact. They are constantly changing and evolving. It is this “continuous transformation”1 that characterises fluid type.

In a fluid typographic artefact, elements change and evolve as time progresses, sometimes presenting a legible letterform, at other times presenting that letterform distorted, and at other times presenting something with an entirely different identity (perhaps an object, abstract shape or a different letter). The result of this behaviour is an inconsistency between the number of forms presented, and the number of identities perceived by the viewer/reader. A single form or object may, over time, present several different letters. In other artefacts, several different forms or objects may be interpreted not as individual, separate objects but only as parts of a single, whole letter. In both such cases, the additional identities presented over time may reinforce the initial meaning/interpretation of the artefact, or may contradict it. Although this inconsistency between perceived forms and actual forms is a property common to all fluid typography, there are various processes through which this inconsistency occurs. These processes can be separated into the categories discussed below.

Basic Categories

A feature of many digital environments is virtual ‘depth’. The flat screen is perceived as presenting a three-dimensional space, containing ‘three-dimensional’ objects, around which users can navigate and objects can move. In such environments, letterforms may be among those objects presented as having volume.

Letters in virtual, three-dimensional spaces can assume “architectural”2 qualities. They are no longer perceived as flat glyphs, but as tangible objects, often assumed to have adopted all the qualities one would normally associate with the three-dimensional objects encountered in real space. One expects a virtual three-dimensional letterform to present different faces when viewed from different angles, and that these alternative views may be accessed either by navigation around the object, or by movement and rotation of the object itself.

“Among the ways in which letters have been rendered dimensional, extrusion is probably the most prevalent.”3 An extruded letter presents, as its face, the planar shape of the letter as one would expect to see it in print. The reverse of the object presents the same shape in reverse, as if reflected (this may, in a symmetrical letter,

1 Lupton, Ellen, ‘Fluid Typography’, ‘Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now”, in Albrecht, Donald, Holt, Steven and Lupton, Ellen, Design Culture Now: National Design Triennial, Princeton Architectural Press and Cooper-Hewitt, New York, 2000. http://www.elupton.com/index.php?id=45 (visited 28/01/2007) 2 Miller, J. Abbott, Dimensional Typography, Princeton Architectural Press, USA, 1996. p.2. 3 Ibid. p.3.


appear identical to the face). These two surfaces, front and rear, are both easily recognisable as letterforms, as they retain familiar silhouettes.

When viewed from any other angle, however, extruded letters present abstract shapes that are not normally associated with writing (often simple geometric shapes) and have few or no distinguishing features to set them apart from other letters. ‘A’ and ‘B’ for example, when extruded and viewed from the left edge, will both present a rectangular face (see right). The identity of either of these letters, therefore, if only viewed from the side, is perceived as being that of a rectangle, not a letter. It is only through navigation or rotation that these ‘objects’ can become distinguishable from one another, and recognisable as letters.

Any additional surfaces created through extrusion (i.e. top, bottom and sides) allow the opportunity for letter-objects to present several different shapes within a single object, each with a different identity. Provided they are given a temporal dimension, artefacts may present these different identities at different times in the same location onscreen, as if one identity is replacing another.

Bart Overly, Ligature, 19954

These shapes need not just be extruded. Through more complex modelling, these objects have the opportunity to present more than just an abstract shape when rotated. An extruded letter may, for example, have additional letters moulded or carved into its vacant surfaces. In Bart Overly’s Ligature5 (left), each object “has alternate readings from different perspectives” 6. Overly presents both ‘A’ and ‘B’ in the same object. When viewed from directly above, an ‘A’ form is visible, but when viewed from either side, ‘B’ is presented. In this way, a single object can have multiple letter- identities.

In temporal, screen-based environments three-dimensional objects (simply extruded letterforms or more complex

shapes like Overly’s) are rotated to hide and reveal text. This process is completely dependent on the ‘depth’ of virtual, three-dimensional environments, relying on the 4 Illustration from Miller, J. Abbott, Dimensional Typography, Princeton Architectural Press, USA, 1996. p.55. 5 1995. See Ibid. 6 Ibid. p.55.


capacity of an architectural object to have multiple surfaces which do not resemble one another. By processes of navigation or rotation (viewed over time) these objects may present an ever-evolving face, thereby appearing ‘fluid’.

This first form of volumic fluidity reveals multiple letters and shapes within a single object, through a process of Revelation by Rotation. Moments of ‘revelation’ occur when the viewer becomes aware of one of the evolving shape’s identities (the moment (s)he recognises a letter or sign in a shape that had previously appeared abstract or meaningless).

In various examples of revelation by rotation, virtual three-dimensional models adopt different identities when viewed from different angles. Each new identity is presented to the viewer either through navigation around an object, or by the rotation of the object itself. Whether a view is accessed by navigation or rotation, the result is the same (as on-screen navigation is only perceived, not real7).

Simple extrusion of a letterform can present a letter as having multiple identities, one of which may not be a letter. In Saul and Elaine Bass’ title sequence for Alcoa Première (right)

the text ‘ALCOA’ is extruded, with the letters forming “the tops of tall, slender monoliths.” As the camera navigates to reveal the side surfaces of the extruded shapes, the viewer’s perception of the objects shifts. They are no longer perceived as letters, but as “skyscrapers”.8

Saul and Elaine Bass, Alcoa Premiere, title sequence

1961.9 7 Because the screen is always static, if a single object changes its location on the screen, it may not always be perceived as having moved. Instead the viewer may perceive a change in his/her position in relation to the object. The type of change that has occurred in the object, and the type of change that occurs elsewhere on the screen, will influence this perception. If one object moves, while others remain static, it is assumed that that object has moved, while the viewer’s location remains unchanged. However, if all the objects onscreen move or rotate in the same direction the viewer interprets the objects as remaining ‘static’ in their original, virtual positions, and that he/she has navigated among/around them. “Only when [objects’] correlative positions change, will text elements be perceived as in motion.” (Hillner, Matthias, ‘’Virtual Typography’: Time Perception in Relation to Digital Communication’, ‘New Media Poetry and Poetics’ Special Issue, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, Vol 14, No. 5-6 (2006). 25 Sep. 2006. http://leoalmanac.org/journal/vol_14/lea_v14_n05-06/mengberg.asp (visited 13/03/07) 8 Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.20. 9 Images from Ibid.


Kyle Cooper’s True Lies title sequence (right) involves more complex objects, reminiscent of Overly’s Ligature. This sequence uses rotation to reveal contradictory messages. It presents four apparently ‘flat’ letters (‘TRUE’) which rotate, revealing that these initial letters are the front surfaces of three-dimensional objects. As the objects rotate, additional letters (‘LIES’) are revealed. This second word is formed not with positive shapes, but in voids cut through the initial, three-dimensional letters.10 These voids assume an identity that is contradictory to the initial perception of the artefact not only in meaning but also in form.

Kyle Cooper, True Lies, title sequence, 2004.11

In Brian Lemen’s Experimental Typography: Modularity, Perception, Physicality12 (right), virtual, three-dimensional letterforms “combine more than one letterform in the same physical object”13 by presenting different shapes from different angles. However, unlike Overly’s Ligature and Bass’ True Lies, Lemen’s objects are not adapted from extruded letterforms, instead they are constructed of ‘strokes’, “focusing on a common stroke of other typographic element from which letters could be built.”14

Brian Lemen, Experimental Typography: Modularity, Perception, Physicality.15

10 Ibid. p.42. 11 Images from Ibid. 12 see Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion 2, Thames & Hudson, China, 2005. pp.158-9. 13 Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion 2, Thames & Hudson, China, 2005. p.159. 14 Ibid. 15 Image from Ibid.


Similar properties are seen in Avi Haltovsky’s Papercut16 (right). Each object in this three-dimensional font does not present multiple letters, but one letter and multiple glyphs. They are models of curved, paper shapes which, when viewed from the ‘correct’ angle, present a letter, and otherwise present “abstract formations”17.

Avi Haltovsky, Papercut18

In this advertisement for the Audi A6 (below), a car disassembles into three-dimensional, apparently abstract shapes. These shapes reveal themselves as letters only when rotated to appropriate angles, and placed alongside one another. In this example, the identity of each object shifts, perceived occasionally as an abstract shape, and occasionally (when at a correct rotation and in the correct context – i.e. alongside other letterforms) as a letter. Each shape, although distinct from its neighbours, is seen as forming a part of two different, more complex wholes - occasionally (in its abstract form) as part of a car, and occasionally (when perceived as a letter) as part of a word. These two distinctly different identities communicate one overall message, that the Audi embodies the Volkswagen’s ethos, ‘vorsprung durch technik’ (‘progress through technology’19) through-and-through.

Car breaks apart into apparently abstract three-dimensional parts.

Abstract parts rotate and move

through three-dimensional environment.

Parts rotate and align, no longer perceived as abstract, but as letters in

the word ‘technik’. Vorsprung Durch Technik, 200520

16 see Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion 2, Thames & Hudson, China, 2005. pp.164-5. 17 Ibid. p.159. 18 Image from Ibid. 19 Martin, Gary, ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’, The Phrase Finder, 1996-2007 http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/399450.html (visited 29/04/2007) 20 Stills captured from Ephinx, Audi A6 - Vorsprung Durch Technik, 2006. http://www.ephinx.com/tvadverts/17/audi-a6-vorsprung-durch-technik-advert.html (visited 12/04/2006)


In other three-dimensional typography, multiple objects combine to present a single letter. Such letters are, in effect, constructed from separate components.

Like many traditional, ‘flat’ fonts (such as Josef Albers’s Stencil, 192521), three-dimensional fonts can include letterforms that are constructed of parts. Letterforms of “modular construction”, are not single forms, but arrangements of “interchangeable” or “repeatable” parts22. These parts do not have to be in contact with one another to be perceived as belonging together, as part of a single, more complex form.

Josef Albers, Stencil, 1925.23

When letters of modular construction are seen in digital on-screen artefacts, they may present letters only when viewed from an appropriate position. When viewed from ‘correct’ angles, an arrangement of abstract shapes can appear to present a single letter, either because the shapes overlap (apparently forming a single whole) or because they are positioned in close proximity in a common, recognisable arrangement (namely that of a modularly constructed letter). As with revelation by rotation, these identities are accessed through navigation or rotation, or a combination of the two. This is a process of Construction by Rotation/Navigation.

The Moving Picture Company (MPC) acknowledge the constantly-evolving nature of Channel 4’s multi-faceted broadcast corporation with a series of brand-identities that are a combination of live-action footage and computer-generated animation. Many of these shorts involve the perceived construction of the number ‘4’ by means of navigation around collections of objects.

Tokyo (below) initially appears to present a journey through a city. The camera (representing viewer’s point-of-view) navigates through digitally manipulated streets, below illuminated, architectural banners and columns. While still moving, the camera tilts upwards, and the banners and columns align, momentarily presenting a familiar ‘4’. Each component contains its own text, in Japanese, and for much of the shot appears to have its own, independent identity – that of a promotional billboard or sign. It is only during the moment of revelation that they are assumed to be part of a larger arrangement, with a new, more familiar, identity.

MPC, Tokyo, Channel 4 ident, 2005.24

21 Ryan, David, Letter Perfect, The Art of Modernist Typography 1896-1953, Pomegranate, Korea, 2001. p.103. 22 Miller, J. Abbott, Dimensional Typography, Princeton Architectural Press, USA, 1996. pp.5-6. 23 image from Ryan, David, Letter Perfect, The Art of Modernist Typography 1896-1953, Pomegranate, Korea, 2001. p.103. 24 Stills captured from The Moving Picture Company, Channel 4 Idents, 2005 http://www.moving-picture.com/4idents (visited 01/01/2007)


MPC have used similar techniques in simulations of other urban scenes, including British and American cities. Both of these construct a ‘4’ from parts that had initially been presented as independent, architectural objects, aesthetically similar to the surrounding buildings.

‘4’ constructed from tower-block-like

elements.25

‘4’ constructed from objects with a similar,

glazed surface to the surrounding buildings.26 As several of Wertheimer’s Laws of Organisation of Perceptual Forms27 suggest, several factors can contribute to a reader’s process of simplifying these arrangements. When elements/parts are located in close proximity but not overlapping, ‘correct’ interpretation of such letters requires the reader to imagine an arrangement of incomplete, ‘modular’ repetitions as complete letter-shapes. This form of perception is described in Wertheimer’s Factor of Closure28. In examples of the factor of closure, the viewer must imagine that spaces between shapes are filled, forming a complete, ‘closed’ line or shape. In modularly constructed type, the ‘modules’ are perceived primarily as parts of a ‘closed’ letter. If there are multiple collections of shapes onscreen, with shapes ‘belonging’ to one letter and not another, the Factor of Proximity and Factor of Similarity are also influential. The proximity of each shape to its neighbours dictates whether it will be perceived as belonging to one letter or another. If there are numerous shapes within an artefact, those that share physical features will be perceived as being associated with one another. These Gestalt laws are also applicable to any modular letterform that is constructed through the rearrangement of its parts. Construction Through Motion of Parts is another process through which parts can appear to combine to form a letter. Unlike construction by rotation, this process requires parts to move independently of one another. They are perceived, therefore, as part of a more significant whole not due to a change in the viewer’s perspective, but as a result of being repositioned close-to or overlapping one another. As no change in the viewer’s perspective is required, Construction Through Motion of Parts does not require the virtual environment, nor the objects within it, to be three-

25 Stills captured from Four to the Floor: The Ever Growing Complete-ish Collection of channel 4 Idents, 2006. http://idents.tv/blog/?p=272 (visited 01/01/2007) 26 Ibid. 27 Wertheimer, Max, Special Problems: First Group: Perception, A. Perception and Organisation, Section 5: Laws of Organisation of Perceptual Forms (‘Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt’), II, Psychol. Forsch, 1923, 4, 301-350. English translation found in Ellis, Willis D., A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London, 1938. 28 Wertheimer, Max, Special Problems: First Group: Perception, A. Perception and Organisation, Section 5: Laws of Organisation of Perceptual Forms (‘Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt’), II, Psychol. Forsch, 1923, 4, 301-350. English translation found in Ellis, Willis D., A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London, 1938. p.83.


dimensional. Parts of a modularly constructed letter may re-arrange themselves on flat planes or in three-dimensional space. Artefacts demonstrating this behaviour may even contain a combination of two-dimensional and three-dimensional properties. For example, letterforms in a three-dimensional environment need not necessarily be three-dimensional themselves. Flat letters (perceived as having a front and back, but no depth, as if printed on transparent paper), can behave according to the laws of three-dimensional space, moving and changing on three axes.

Prior to MPCs recent channel 4 idents, Martin Lambie Nairn’s 1982 brand identity (below) demonstrated construction of the number ‘4’ through the rearrangement of three-dimensional parts.

Martin Lambie Nairn, Channel 4 Brand Identity, 1982.29

MPC has used the same concept to produce some of its more recent idents. Lawn (below) depicts a game of bowls. Above the lawn, rectangular hedges float, casting shadows on the lawn. Although the hedges themselves rarely come into view, as they align, their shadows form the shape of a ‘4’.

Moving Picture Company, Channel 4 ident, 2005.30

29 Stills captured from You Tube, ‘Channel 4 Ident’, 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PK69O1KJHg (visited 17/04/2007) 30 Stills captured from Four to the Floor: The Ever Growing Complete-ish Collection of channel 4 Idents, 2006. http://idents.tv/blog/?p=272 (visited 01/01/2007)


In demonstration of opportunities presented by virtual environments, Matthias Hillner produces fonts that are constructed of “individually moving”31 parts, which, when aligned, construct letterforms. He describes these fonts as “transitional text”32, in that “if used for animation purposes, virtual three-dimensional letterforms may emerge from and merge into illegible visual elements.”33 Cubico St (right) is a font

Matthias Hillner, Cubico St. ‘virtual’ font, 2003 34

which presents letterforms when parts are viewed at the correct angle and alignment, but which otherwise presents arrangements of abstract, three-dimensional objects.

Works by other artists construct and deconstruct letters within an entirely two-dimensional space. Harm van der Dorpel’s I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing and Type Engine (both below) present arrangements of kinetic ‘parts’, which rearrange to form text. Each collection of parts consists of multiple, abstract shapes which, when arranged overlapping one another, are perceived as a letter. Here, the same shapes are utilized in various ways to construct multiple letters at different times.

Letters rearrange their geometric parts to

form other letters in Harm van der Dorpel’s, Type Engine, 2005.35

Parts resembling pieces of broken letters rearrange to form new letters in Harm van der Dorpel’s I Wouldn’t Normally

Do This Kind of Thing, 2005.36

31 Hillner, Matthias, ‘’Virtual Typography’:Time Perception in Relation to Digital Communication’, ‘New Media Poetry and Poetics’ Special Issue, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, Vol 14, No. 5-6 (2006). 25 Sep. 2006. p1. http://leoalmanac.org/journal/vol_14/lea_v14_n05-06/mengberg.asp (visited 13/03/07) 32 Ibid. p.1. 33 Ibid. p.3. 34 Still captured from Hillner, Matthias, Virtual Typography, ‘Fonts’, ‘Cubico St’, 2005. http://www.virtualtypography.com/navigation/menu.html (visited 17/04/2007) 35Detail from still captured from Harm van der Dorpel, Harmlog, ‘Type Engine’, 2005. http://www.harmlog.nl/harm/harmlog/main.asp?id=69 (visited 15/01/2007) 36 Detail from still captured from Harm van der Dorpel, Harmlog, ‘I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing’, http://www.harmlog.nl/harm/harmlog/main.asp?id=77&action=prev&sort=1 2005. (visited 15/01/2007)


In Karst-Janneke Rogaar & Roel Wouters’ title sequence for Matzes (below), components of the title are initially parts of a pattern. The pattern breaks into linear parts, which decrease in length and then rotate on a two-dimensional axis to form the text ‘Matzes’.

Karst-Janneke Rogaar & Roel Wouters, Matzes, title sequence, 200437

On some occasions, individual parts may have independent identities, and serve an additional, pictorial purpose. Randy Balsmeyer’s title sequence for Dead Man38 (right) constructs letterforms out of bones. When the letters disassemble, the ‘bone’ identity becomes more prevalent than the identity/purpose of each bone as a part of a letter, reinforcing associations with anatomy.

Randy Balsmeyer, Dead Man, title sequence,

1995.39

Another process which can involve either three-dimensional or flat letters is Metamorphosis. The process of metamorphosis involves change in the silhouette (or ‘shape’) of a letterform without any sort of navigation or change in the position of elements. Through metamorphosis, letters distort into other shapes or letters. This

37 Stills captured from You Tube, ‘25 of the best title sequences part 2’, 2006 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPP5jx-kx0Y (visited 17/04/2007) 38 1995. see Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.69. 39 Image from DVDBeaver, Dead Man, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews8/deadman.htm (visited 17/04/2007)


process creates glyphs, which are often identifiable as approaching letters but not always legible, creating “an expectation of a textual-pictorial anamorphosis”40.

Metamorphosis is often presented and interpreted as three-dimensional motion of a two-dimensional letter. Since a screen is flat, a virtual object can only appear to be advancing or receding. In actuality, such objects are increasing or decreasing in size. This process, although perceived as motion rather than shape-change, is actually metamorphosis. Metamorphosis of a flat letter can therefore be used to imply the presence of a three-dimensional shape or object.

Beer (below), by Komninos Zervos, demonstrates the simplicity of metamorphosis using vector-based software. Each letter distorts, while also gradually changing colour, until its silhouette is that of a different letter. Each form therefore has multiple identifiable, letter-identities, and also presents more abstract glyphs during transition from one letter to the next. Here it is the motion, more than the form, that communicates the meaning of the artefact, with languid metamorphosis reflective of the lethargic slur of drunken speech.

Students at the Basle School of Design, Letterforms and Film.41

In this film, “the word tritt (step)” morphs, bending “at right angles to assume the footers and risers of a

stairway.”42 There is no indication that the three-dimensional form of the

steps exist, other than the fluidity of the letterforms.

An ‘h’ morphs into a ‘y’, producing several intermediary glyphs, in Komninos Zervos’ Beer, 2005.43

40 Ikonen, Teemu, ‘Moving Text in Avant-guarde Poetry: Towards a Poetics of Textual Motion’, ed. Eskelinen, Markku, dichtung-digital.de, Newsletter 4/203, 5.Jg., Nr.30, 2003. http://akac.org/ikonen.html (visited 25/04/2006) 41 Image from Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.133. 42 Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.133. 43 Detail from stills captured from Zervos, Komninos, Beer, 2005. http://www.allenandunwin.com/writingexp/beer.swf (visited 01/01/2007)


Dan Waber’s Strings44 (below), is a series of several artefacts in which a single ‘string’ reforms itself into first one word, then another. Each word is perceived as having a different meaning - a different identity - but is formed from the same ‘string’. As with the words ‘true’ and ‘lies’ in Kyle Cooper’s aforementioned title sequence, Strings presents two contradictory meanings, bound within the same form.

A string forms the word ‘yes’, then reforms into the word’ no’ in Dan Waber’s Argument,

2005.45

44 see Waber, Dan, Strings, http://www.vispo.com/guests/DanWaber/ (visited 01/01/2007) 45 Stills captured from Waber, Dan, Argument, 2005. http://www.vispo.com/guests/DanWaber/argument.html (visited 01/01/2007)


Nio (right), by Jim Andrews, is an interactive artefact in which planar letters distort. This “elastic motion (bending stretching)”46 suggests that the letters are rotating and receding within a three-dimensional space. Here, the morphing of the letterforms represents the accompanying sounds as they emerge and then diminish, layering to form both aural and visual cacophonies.

An untitled experimental video by Matthew and Christopher Pacetti (below) presents planar letters which

Jim Andrews, NIO, interactive artefact,

2001 47

appear to “flow continuously… over a transparent three-dimensional object.”48 The existence of this invisible object is implied only by the distortion of the text, as it stretches, compresses, grows, shrinks and flows across the imagined, three-dimensional surface.

Matthew and Christopher Pacetti, p2, Untitled Experimental Video, 1998.49

Metamorphosis, in the process of distorting one shape to form another, creates abstract glyphs. Glyphs can also be created when several letters Overlap, interfering with one another. When multiple letters overlap, they can appear to form a single, abstract shape. How this shape is interpreted may be analysed according to the law of Pragnanz. The law of Pragnanz, which states that, when we are presented with an arrangement of complex elements, we are likely to perceive them as being parts of a simpler whole50. Therefore, when letters interfere with one another, additional shapes may be perceived.

46 Ikonen, Teemu, ‘Moving Text in Avant-guarde Poetry: Towards a Poetics of Textual Motion’, ed. Eskelinen, Markku, dichtung-digital.de, Newsletter 4/203, 5.Jg., Nr.30, 2003. http://akac.org/ikonen.html (visited 25/04/2006) 47 Image from Andrews, Jim, NIO and the Art of Interactive Audio on the Web, 2001. http://www.vispo.com/nio/The_Art_of_Interactive_Audio.htm (visited 17/04/2007) 48 Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.57. 49 Images from Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.57. 50 van Wagner, Kendra, Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organisation: The Law of Pragnanz, About: Psychology, 2006, http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/ss/gestaltlaws_3.htm, (visited 30/10/06)


Wertheimer demonstrates that ‘M’ and ‘W’ can be arranged (with the ‘W’ directly above the ‘M’) so that they are no longer recognisable as letters, but are perceived as a diamond shape, flanked by two vertical lines51. When individual letters are in motion, they can overlap one another with similar consequences. They can appear to form additional shapes and glyphs. This newly perceived arrangement of shapes requires

the perceived division of some letters, and the combination of others.

Users can input and rearrange letters in Harm van der Dorpel’s Propaganda Symbol Generator (right). As letters overlap, strokes interfere with one another and appear to combine, forming shapes and patterns. When this occurs, the original letters may become illegible, perceived primarily as components of a pattern rather than as meaningful text. The result, as with many political symbols, is an abstract form with hidden meanings.

In R/Greenberg Associates title sequence for Altered States (below right) “letters overlap each other as they move slowly across the viewing plane.”52 As the “letterforms overlap [they] create patterns of abstract shapes.”53 Reflecting the

The letters ‘abc’ overlap in Harm van der Dorpel’s Propaganda Symbol Generator,

2006.54 In the centre, the overlapping ‘c’s are primarily perceived as parts of rotationally

symmetrical flower/star shape, not as individual letters.

meaning of the title, the ‘states’ of the letters ‘alter’ to create an evolving identity.

R/Greenberg Associates, Altered States, title sequence, 1980. 55

51 Wertheimer, Max, ‘Special Problems: First Group: Perception, A. Perception and Organisation, Section 5: Laws of Organisation of Perceptual Forms’ (‘Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt’), II, Psychol. Forsch, 1923, 4, 301-350. English translation found in Ellis, Willis D., A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London, 1938. pp.71-88. p.87. 52 Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.30. 53 Ibid. p.31. 54 Still captured from van der Dorpel, Harm, Harmlog, ‘Propaganda Symbol Generator’, 2005. http://www.harmlog.nl/?thing=propagande-symbol-generator (visited 15/01/2007) 55 Image from Bellatoni, Jeff and Woolman, Matt, Type in Motion, Thames & Hudson, China, 1999. p.31.


A note on False Fluidity There are numerous artefacts which appear to contain fluid typography but on closer inspection contain other forms of motion, or no motion at all. Ana Maria Uribe’s Stilts (right) intends to present a row of ‘H’s which morph, stretching their vertical strokes as if they were legs. In reality, the artefact is a collection of still images, replacing one another in sequence. There are no intermediate stages or glyphs between the original ‘H’ shapes and those with fully extended ‘legs’. Visual effects which appear to morph one character into another may often simply replace one letter with another, perhaps in combination with visual effects such as fading. Given that all screen-based, time-based artefacts are created from a series of still frames (usually shown at 25 frames per second to create the illusion of fluid motion56), ultimately, no screen-based

Ana Marie Uribe, The Stilts, 200257

Uribe’s animation gives the impression that the ‘legs’ of each ‘H’ have stretched. In reality, there are no intermediate ‘stretching’ stages, the two still images shown above directly replace one

another.

artefacts can be completely fluid. Provided, however, that some of the frames shown contain intermediate glyphs or shapes, and not just the ‘poles’ of a fluctuating shape/letter, they will appear to be evolving, and can be classified as ‘fluid’. Barbara Brownie, 2007 University of Hertfordshire www.fluidtype.org

56 As in the persistence of vision. 57 Stills captured from Ana Maria Uribe, Los Zandos (the Stilts), 2002, http://www.vispo.com/uribe/2000/circo/zancos.html (visited 01/01/2007)

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