text format

i found myself paying more attention to the text's format in mccloud's book than the pix in order to understand his points. in chapter 2, he spent so much time with that pyramid, with its 3 points: realistic image, meaning through words, and artistic abstraction. in considering my own preference, i think i like jack kirby's style: "a middle ground of iconic forms with a sense of the real about them, bolstered by a powerful [text] design sense" (55). his images were simple enough to maintain the focus on the action, but detailed enough to give some personality to the characters. and his words, which really are the primary thing that at least i look to first, definitely have a personality of their own.

before mccloud's book, an event last year made me start thinking more critically about text style. i went to the annual stonehill lecture last year, put on by the media studies department. it featured pomona alum and oscar-winning screenwriter jim taylor. i bring this up now because taylor talked about the future of screenwriting presentation, explaining his fascination with using comic strips and various fonts. this resonated with me. from my high school days on yearbook working with design, to my general interest in lettering styles, i have always noticed the psychological effect that a certain font has on me or that i assume it will have on others. taylor seemed to say that the font of each character psychologically affects the actor reading the script, such that he/she would be able to more readily display the character's personality. it's interesting.

i like the idea of making words more like images.