ATypI Conference 2011

Beskrivelse

Præsentation i samarbejde med Sofie Beier, Kunstakademiets Designskole: The Danish letters (Æ,Ø,Å) Conference theme The conference this year is themed around the letterform ð (eth). The origin of the letterform ð (eth) can be traced back to the 7th century when Anglo-Saxons begin writing with the Latin alphabet and found they needed extra letters to fully represent the sounds of their language. Subsequently ð was incorporated into Norwegian and Icelandic, but by the year 1400, it fell out of use. Four hundred years later, having missed out on the evolution of letterforms associated with the printing revolution, the ð was revived in Icelandic in the insular form that had been used in the old Sagas and manuscripts of the past. In a hunt for national identity, vitalized with romanticism, the argument was that ð was one of the few characteristics that were truly Icelandic, and that to be able to read the old literature Icelanders would need the ð in its original shape. This is why the ð looks so odd in modern typefaces, as its shape still resembles that of an insular d. Nevertheless, the ð has become the strongest factor in the visual perception of the Icelandic language, thus fulfilling its role as part of a national identity. This is the story for most languages: additional letterforms added to the writing system become a defining characteristic of the language's visual appearance. To address this idea, as well to expand upon it, this years theme 'eth' represents the additional letters, characteristics, peculiarities, conversions and letterforms as identities.

Periode	16 sep. 2011
Begivenhedstitel	ATypI Conference 2011
Begivenhedstype	Konference
Placering	IslandVis på kort