Calligram Designers

by Leslie Nichols Experimenting with text and image has become endless source of ideas and inspiration central to my studio practice. Letterforms create both spatial and literary passages, which provide a visual texture that is exciting and sometimes challenging to work with. It has been a natural evolution to use writing in my visual work. Informal sketches while doodling or writing letters to friends were my first calligrams. I began incorporating text in my fine art portraiture when I discovered a typewriter was an exciting image making tool. Experiencing the beauty and history of the English landscape first hand inspired my current paintings and prints. We lived at Harlaxton Manor in rural England for four months while my husband was a Visiting Professor at Harlaxton College. In these landscapes human presence is presented with text rather than by a plume of smoke, a village or man with cart. View more about Leslie Nichols and her work at www.NicholsStudio.com www.NicholsStudio.bl...

"ModernMantra is a series of 18 "text drawings" made in Indian ink on white paper. In a somewhat schematic fashion they portray sterile and depopulated interiors, often simply but properly furnished. One does not have to get very close to them to see that the drawings are really calligrammes, that the interiors are drawn with words that simultaneously describe what they depict." says Kim West in his text "The Mutant Nerd" in the catalog ModernMantra produced for the exhibition at Borås Konstmuseum (Sweden) in 2006. Thomas Broomé is the artist of these calligram interiors ModernMantra . He is a contemporary artist born in Malmö (Sweden) in 1971. View the calligrams of ModernMantra and seven new addition just presented in an exhibition at the Galeri Magnus Karlsson in Stockholm.

This is a plastic bag that "carries" a very meaningful statement. Designed by Thorbjørn Ankerstjerne while he was a student. I think this design could be included in the "Good Work Project" where good work happens when excellent and ethic meet . But so far it's included in the book New Packaging Design by Janice Kirkpatrick that features over 80 packaging designs from all over the world.

Here is another example of images as letterforms. The letters Y, O, and U, are formed by images of YOU. This is a screen shot I took from an online ad. It was late in the night and I did not notice from and by whom it was created. Maybe Facebook? Vodafone? Please, if you know more details, write a comment below, I will appreciate it. I can recall that you could roll over on the single image and a little pop-up opened to show the name and more details of the person. In this blog you can find other examples of images as letterforms . Let's notice what they have in common: - the letterforms are formed by the object or meaning of the word itself. In this case the word YOU is formed by individual "you-s".

by Ben Duarri-Screen Prince Joni Mitchell was the first portrait of a female I attempted, shortly after discovering the pointed pen nib used for copperplate and flourishing. Copperplate became the modern hand at the end of the 19th century and has since become a favorite for popular sign-writing and commercial graphics. A delicate and smooth flowing hand, it can be written quickly using one continuous line [unlike gothic script] and can be dressed down to a basic joined up writing or dressed up accentuating the loops and curves and because of the nature of the nib, when pressure is added, the line widens adding curve and sensuality to the words. These words, from A Case Of You on her hit album Blue , draws from the metaphor of her lover being like fine wine, “I could drink a case of you and I would still be on my feet”. However the song is not just a compliment, there is a sense of sadness, a splitting and ending of a relationship and the drinking in bars to numb the hurt...

Type your word, draw your picture and get a calligram in few seconds with TypeDrawing with just a touch. It is so easy and fun! TypeDrawing is an application for iPhone and iPod Touch. Like calligrams, drawing with letters is what the application is all about. I was amazed the first time I tried it on my husband's iPod Touch! - I typed the sentence, Everything is all right, right now. - I chose a white background paper - I selected the font style, its size, color and opacity - and then just let the intuition flow and drew a vase of flowers, just with my index finger! Then - I saved it in an iPhoto Album - went into iPhoto and sent it directly to my husband as a sign of gratitude for introducing to me such an interesting and fun application. And all within few minutes. On Flickr there is a TypeDrawing Group Pool and it's clear how many people are enjoying and using their creativity with this tool. I am exploring it daily and I am finding it truly amazing. It allows an entirely...

by Rick Ligas Some of us believe that the only real revolution is the personal revolution and that the only peace that exists in the world is our own internal peace of mind and heart. This calligram, titled Free your mind , by Laura Ruggeri , shows that belief in a clear and subtly powerful way. Looking at a world that seems so unpeaceful (even if, on any given day, there are billions more peaceful people than non peaceful people) we are reminded that peace starts within each of us and flows out to our family, friends and beyond. It doesn't exist anywhere else. This lovely calligram quietly reminds us that there is nothing mysterious or difficult to understand about world peace. It reminds us that world peace is simply our individual peace of mind and heart naturally projected into the world from our daily actions. If we want a peaceful world we have the responsibility to become and remain peaceful individuals. "Free your mind instead" comes from the lyrics of Revolution ...