Gestalt Session 02

August 2018

Gestalt! A Study of Communal Typography is the second entry in the ongoing Conversations in Design series of papers. This paper is centered around four workshops where designers work together to build a unique 26-character alphabet using only a limited set of supplied materials. All other choices remain up to the designers: the overall style, if its uppercase, lowercase, serif, sans serif, and even legibility is all their hands; the only restriction being the supplies.

The second session explores the principle of Gestalt known as Emergence, or “prioritized perception.” This concept states that the perception of an image can be prioritized wherein the whole of the image is perceived before the parts, and we see a familiar outline before the complex arrangement of elements.

The supplies for Session Two included hundreds of magazine clippings, which were punched into perfect circles, in addition to doubled sided tape, and black and red sharpies. Designers were given the option to cut the circular magazines clippings into halves and quarters (and eventually towards the end of the session, eighths). No ripping allowed. Every two minutes, everyone played a game of musical chairs and moved around the table and subbed in other designers who were on the sidelines (there were ten designers and six chairs). This ensured that each participant added something to every letter in the alphabet. A letter was deemed complete only when all designers unanimously decided to no longer add to it.

The full team: (in alphabetical order) Alex Flannery, Andrew Clark, Anthony Inciong, Charles Leenstra, Jeanette Pidi, Jed Empleo, Joe Piccirilli, Kevin Greene, Lusine Katrjyan, Mike Sulick (host), Martin Flores. All session photography courtesy of Joe Piccirilli.