2.5
2Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)
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Approaching multimedia: 2.5 The borderline between image and text
2.4 Novelty valueThe borderline between image and text
To improve the screen-based communication of
typographic information we should think of virtual
typography as information that is nearly or virtually
typographical, rather than defi ning virtual typography
simply as computer-generated type, or as type that
is displayed through computer technologies. What
appears virtually typographical constitutes ambiguous
information. This means that virtual typography does
not operate on the borderline of legibility like postmodern
typography. Instead, virtual typography challenges the
viewer during the recognition stage that precedes the
reading process. The word ‘viewer’, by the way, is
chosen with care here. The viewer becomes a reader
precisely when typographic forms become legible.
This transitional stage, however, follows the point in
time where information is identifi ed as typographic.
This moment of identifi cation is the very instant when
we consider text to be virtually typographical. Depending
on the circumstances and the perceptual capabilities
of the individual observer, this moment can occur sooner
or later during the process of transition. It can even
occur where non-typographical information is wrongly
perceived as typographical.The virtualFrom a philosophical point of view,
we must acknowledge that ‘the
virtual’ stands in juxtaposition to
‘the actual’, not to ‘the real’. In other
words, ‘the virtual’ exists for real,
even though it is not, or not yet,
physically present. This means that
the term ‘virtual’ can be attributed
to anything that is expected to
appear or evolve. ‘The virtual’ is
what is possibly real, even though
it is ‘not actually there’.Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)
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