
(F39)_Job:12-40337 Title:RP-Design Elements 2nd Edition
#175 Dtp:160 Page:214
186-231_40337.indd 214 12/19/13 7:56 PM 186-231_40
TEXT
the world of image
214
MEDIA AND METHODS
Type as Image When a letter or word takes
on pictorial qualities beyond those that
define their form, they become images
in their own right and their semantic
potential is enormous. Words that are also
pictures fuse several kinds of understand-
ing together: they are supersigns. As their
meaning is assimilated through each
perceptual filter—visual, emotional, intel-
lectual—they assume the evocative stature
of a symbol. Understanding on each level
is immediate, and a viewer’s capacity ...