Expressive typography: The word as image

by Kimberly Elam

First edition. Identifies and discusses six major approaches to manipulating type - planar typography, handwritten typography, collage, three-dimensional typography, iconographic typography and abstracted typography. Well illustrated with examples from the fields of advertising, poster design, and illustration. ix, 165 pages. cloth, dust jacket.. 4to..

165 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1989

About the author

Kimberly Elam is a writer, educator and graphic designer. She currently chairs the Graphic + Interactive Communication Department at the Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL, where she has developed an academic minor in the Business of Art and Design. Her previous design education positions include the Kansas City Art Institute, North Carolina State University and The Ohio State University—where she received a Distinguished Teaching Award.

She has written extensively about graphic design and design education. Her first book, Expressive Typography, Word as Image (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990) identifies and analyzes methods by which words can transcend didactic meaning and become images. Geometry of Design, Studies in Proportion and Composition (Princeton Architectural Press, 2001) visually illustrates the connection between classic proportioning systems and modern graphic design, industrial design, illustration and architecture. Grid Systems, Principles of Organizing Type, (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004) puts forth a clear methodology for understanding and learning the grid system of composition. Graphic Translation, A Graphic Design Project Guide, (BookSurge.com) focuses on the creation of images with the visual means of abstraction, reduction and interpretation with point, line, plane, shade and shadow. Her most recent book, Typographic Systems, Rules for Organizing Type (Princeton Architectural Press, 2007), presents an innovative series of nontraditional, rule-based, visual language systems for typographic composition. Her current work focuses on the development of a series of innovative ebooks and print-on-demand books for design education on her website, www.StudioResourceInc.com.