Virtual Typography

(coco) #1

A)


2

Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)
1st Proof Page:163

001-184 01212.indd 163001-184 01212.indd 163 12/19/08 3:17:51 PM12/19/08 3:17:51 PM

162—163


Virtual typography remains a mystery
Virtual typography has a somewhat mesmerising effect
on the viewer. The term ‘mesmerising’ has its roots in
the dubious medical practice of Franz Anton Mesmer,
a German doctor who lived at the turn of the eighteenth
century and who sometimes used magnets for healing
his patients. Mesmer’s practice and theories inspired
the fi rst investigations into hypnosis, a technique that
remains contentious to this day. The effect that virtual
typography has on viewers may appear similarly
questionable and this book alone may not provide all the
evidence necessary for us to fully approve of its benefi ts.
New perspectives on visual communication must be
found in order to unveil the mystery that surrounds
virtual typography before we may expect to understand
completely its modus operandi.

‘...“trance” is similar to other
everyday “entranced” states
such as when we are
daydreaming or become
absorbed in a fi lm, a book,
or a physical activity and
lose track of time.’
Richard L. Gregory

Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)
1st Proof Page:163

001-184 01212.indd 163001-184 01212.indd 163 12/19/08 3:18:14 PM12/19/08 3:18:14 PM
Free download pdf