Type, Image, Message: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop

Type Image, Message_CD106-9 / 4028

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Type Image, Message_CD106-9 / 4028

DEFINITION

Type and image merge into one entity

With fusion, a unifying force synthesizes the type and the image.

Here the alliance of form and meaning presents itself in a strong

visual coherence—a “cause and effect”—that is immediately

apparent to the viewer. Some images and text are optically

altered, and others are circumstantial through motion or

juxtaposition, but they are all the result of deliberate,

holistic choices made by the designer. Like a poem, fusion

transforms experiences and concepts through careful

craft and technique.

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Type Image, Message_CD106-9 / 4028

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Type Image, Message_CD106-9 / 4028

TYPE, IMAGE, MESSAGE

Applications

To blend two or more things

that aren’t customarily related

to make a strong association

between them

To strengthen an existing

conceptual connection through

harmony and integration in

order to present a galvanized

point of view, such as a

political or poetic statement

To create an altered reality that

challenges the viewer to

reexamine a particular subject

from an unexpected perspective

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Formal qualities

Optical effect:

per

spective, lens, or fi lter

Type and image are connected in

space by the use of perspective, a

shared vanishing point,

or an optical lens or fi lter.

Shared surface or texture

Type and image are woven into

the texture of, or adhered to, a

unifying surface—either the

picture plane or other homo-

geneous fi eld(s) in space.

Motion or gesture

Type and image are acted on

by a common force, or affected by

the implied motion of a human or

mechanical gesture.

Metaphor

Type and image are fused by

a calculated visual metaphor

that operates through mutual

dependency of the verbal and

pictorial elements.

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Type Image, Message_CD206-11 / 4239

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FUSION

Fusion is one of the most ambitious ways to merge type and image.

For fusion to be successful, the interrelationship between the type and

image must be honest, coherent, and credible. Forming such a convincing

alliance requires both imagination and ingenuity.

In order to “wrap” the word Chicago around the existing building facades

in the primary image for this poster for an exhibition on Chicago

architecture, Philippe Apeloig patiently worked in his studio with large

letterforms on cardboard. He set the letters at various angles until he

achieved a logical optical viewpoint. Once the perfectly angled word was

superimposed over the photograph, the type and image jelled and the

poster was set in motion. The black word Chicago in forced perspective

leaps off the surface of the sepia-toned historical photograph and

underscores the emerging grandeur of the city at the turn of the last

century. The black frame around the image acts as a threshold to another

dimension, and visually reinforces the denotative presence of the

matching black type. This extends the illusion ever so slightly and

builds a poster space that surpasses the original photographic space.

Apeloig created large-

scale mock-ups of

the title type and

photographed them at

different camera angles.

He then imposed the

image of the type onto

the photograph.

FUSION THROUGH OPTICAL EFFECTS: PERSPECTIVE

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Type Image, Message_CD206-11 / 4239

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TYPE, IMAGE, MESSAGE

Philippe Apeloig’s fi nal

poster fuses type and

image into a sensational

depiction of Chicago

emerging as a preeminent

urban force at the turn of

the twentieth century.

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PROJECT

Poster: Chicago,

Birth of a Metropolis

CLIENT

Musée d’Orsay

Paris, France

DESIGNER

Philippe Apeloig

Apeloig Design

Paris, France

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