Visible Language

Historically, much critical discussion, particularly among typographers, has centered on the role typographical form plays in conveying meaning. Beatrice Ward’s image of the crystal goblet, evoked in a 1932 essay of the same name created a framework for considering the ways in which value and meaning are assigned to a text based not only on what is written, but how it was written. While Ward was primarily concerned with the dynamics of letterform and legibility, this essay attempts to extend her metaphor into the realm of social difference by exploring the myriad ways in which spaces of cultural inclusion and exclusion are mediated via typographic form. Within such an argument, qualities of transparency and lightness attributed to the crystal goblet operate as agents of invisibility for non-standard speakers, or a whole host of “others” that fall outside of the normalizing boundaries of linguistic standardization supported by Ward’s image of an undifferentiated typographical surface.

The discussion begins by tracing historical precedents for the marking of social difference through distinctions in typographic form. Typefaces from Jim Crow to Tiki Magic demonstrate how the “display” of otherness relies on the historicizing mechanics of cultural standardization. Similarly, an analysis of pictorial trademarks developed in the mid- to late-nineteenth-century reveal how fractured letterforms served as the visual equivalent to the “broken” English of a growing immigrant population. Finally, a connection is made to the ways in which contemporary software, through specified feature sets and “default settings,” supports a long tradition of representational standardization.

Diagrams are frequently used to communicate relationships between multiple dimensions of quantitative information. Attempts are usually made to simplify complex information and to reduce to a minimum the elements considered. Here I will discuss a different breed of diagrams: one that addresses the increasing need to confront complex issues in all their complexity, and that, more than serving to communicate already existing ideas, would serve to explore new ways of organizing knowledge. Several educational and cultural implications of this conception are discussed.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of minimal legible size characters on Chinese word recognition. In Experiment 1, the minimal legible size was determined empirically to be the character size necessary to attain ninety-five percent correct recognition for various Chinese characters which differed in the number of strokes comprising the characters, ranging from three to twenty-seven. The results showed that the minimal legible sizes were larger for characters with more strokes. This indicates that characters with more strokes should be enlarged to attain the same recognition performance as that from characters with fewer strokes. Experiment 2 investigated recognition accuracy for a string of minimal legible size characters, versus, conventional equal size characters. The results showed that accuracy rate for the minimal legible size condition was higher than that for the conventional size condition. Although Chinese characters presented with their minimal legible size might change the present word configuration, the results suggest that minimal legible size of characters might help readers recognize words in situations where reading time is extremely short. In particular, the results suggest that minimal legible size Chinese characters may be appropriate in the design of warning or emergency signs.