AlyseE m i l y

NealArt 222 Typography

2 0 8 . 819 . 5 6 75

T y p e f a c e

U n i t 1

U n i t 2

w o r d m a r k

N e w y o r k, n e w y o r k1800 W. 79 streetth

F i n e M e n s w e a r

It has come to our attention that certain matters pertaining to the structure of your suit have not met your needs. We wanted to assure you that our intentions of provideing you with a quality suit are our highest priority. Even though you ransacked the store, pulverised the sewing machine and wrote obscenities on the windows.

We, of Dapper, inc. would like to inform you of our decision to withdraw all finan-cial support from the parks and rec program at the Beverly Hills High School as well as inform you that you should be expecting a formal declaration of Law Suit within the following two days.

Because Dapper, Inc. is a store that not only provides men in the Los Angeles, Cali-fornia; Miami, Florida; and New York, New York with the highest quality of materials and only the best craft of suit, it is pertinent to us that we take legal action against this matter.

What has been increasinly dissappointing is that as a former loyal patron to our store, this legal action breaks our hearts. We know your children will be dissappointed because they will no longer be able to attend our store, and we have changed our policy as such so that children under the age of 12 are not permitted on the premises. This policy has risen as you let your children, both 8 and 10 come in with non-wash-able paint and not only ruin an order of practically 75 custom-made suits, but also damage the upholstery of an antique couch and end-table, and also rearrage the decor and paint the walls of the shop with pictures of princesses, disney-chanel stars, fairies, notable foot-ball, basketbal, and soccer stars. While many of the people painted were motivational, and we have actually dressed some of the notable atheletes before, this haenous action cannot be permitted, as Dapper, Inc. only provides the highest quality of clothing.

The amount of damage aforementioned is insurmountable to even what your chil-dren’s college tuitions would be combined. The specific amount will be provided to you in the formal law suit following this letter.

Dapper, Inc. is only asking for the basic amount of money allotted for damages. Even though the words of slander to many of our employees (which are not repeatable) would ellicit their own compensation, we feel that the base amount required is sufficient to our needs.

Sincerely,Dapper, Inc. Management

Dear Mr. Smith,

PIETRO Giuseppe- o w n e r -

N e w y o r k, n e w y o r k

1800 W. 79 streetth

{ 2 1 2 } 8 4 3 - 1 9 0 8

F i n e M e n s w e a r

1800 W. 79 streetth

f r o n tb a c k

u n i t 3

h i s t o r i c p o s t e r

u n i t 4t y p o g r a p h i c c a l e n d a r

APRILS u n . M o n . T u e s . W e d . T h u r s . F r i . S a t .

S u n . M o n . T u e s . W e d . T h u r s . F r i . S a t .May

S u n . M o n . T u e s . W e d . T h u r s . F r i . S a t .june

u n i t 5e d i t o r i a l

D E A T H o f T H E

Typographic communication is distinguished from other forms of visual communication by the presence of the

letterform. Any individual 'letterform' is viewed as being fixed and permanent - as having a constant, indisputable identity.

However, in temporal media, typography is not subject to the restric-tions of print. In typographic animation and motion graphics, typography

can adopt 'additional expressive qualities, additional layers of significance' [1], and additional dimensions that are impossible to recreate in print. On screen, a

letterform can become fluid. It can evolve, fragment and change to the extent that its role as 'type' is in jeopardy.

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Since Saul Bass' first foray into film title design [2], temporal typography has been a familiar presence in the media. We have become accustomed to kinetic type that scrolls, rotates or dances. In concrete poetry, both in print and animated on screen, letterforms have been used to construct scenes and objects. The notion that a letterform can be more than solely a

visual representation of a phoneme is not a new one. However, it is only recently that type has began to communicate meaning through adop-tion of additional identi-ties. Kinetic typography has, until recently, generally adhered to the rule that type is a 'language of letterforms' [3].In most examples of kinetic typography, type

and image are separate. An image may appear inside type, or type may be overlaid onto a moving image, but the two remain distinguishable from one another. In concrete poetry, letter-forms have been used to construct scenes and objects. Such examples may be labelled as both type and image simulta-neously, but the two components remain

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In recent years, however, temporal media have begun to include forms that cannot be so easily defined as 'type'. Since 1983 Eduardo Kac has been producing holographic poetry, known as 'holopoems'[4]. As viewers move around these poems, they observe typographic forms that appear to move and change over time. What distinguishes this

typographic behaviour from that of standard kinetic typography is that the letters do not simply move, they evolve, 'therefore escaping the constancy of meaning a printed sign would have' [5]. In holopoetry, the meaning and identity of each letter alters as each form changes. Kac defines his fluctuating letters as 'fluid' forms. In these examples tScreen-based media have since present-ed audiences with numerous examples of

'fluid' typography. In motion graphics, film title sequences and advertising, there is an increasing number of typographic artefacts which do not only display motion, but also significant change in identity. On screen a letterform can metamor-phose, fragment or exhibit other kinds of change that are far more complex than the simple changes in location or rotation that are observed in standard kinetic typography. Crucially, these 'fluid' letterforms can change to

the extent that they are no longer recognisable as letters. They remain on the screen over time, continu-ing to function as 'forms', but lose their 'letter' identity. They may even adopt another visual identity - perhaps that of an object or scene. In 'Beer', a Flash animation by Komninos Zervos (fig.1)[6] each letter undergoes a process of metamorphosis. Occasion-ally, two letters merge, becoming a single form, and thereby introducing a third letter. Other forms contort independently, first adopting the shape of one letter, then morphing into another, displaying

different letter-identi-ties over time In the Moving Picture Company's recent collection of brand identities for the UK's Channel 4 [7] the figure '4' is constructed of shapes and objects that are initially perceived as different architectur-al or scenic objects. Bails of hay, pylons and even parts of an alien spaceship, align to

adopt a new identity: that of the number '4'. here is a separation of letter and form. A form may, in one instance, present a letter, but at other times adopts additional identities. In 'Bee'r, the forms fluctuate between legible letter and more abstract glyph. In the channel 4 idents, forms

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