Subtle characters: Investigating the auratic space inside and in-between letters

In what forms can glyphs act to transmit sensitivity? How can including sensory experiences into the formal characteristics of a typeface provide a more subtle access to expressing inner perceptions when writing? In what ways can glyphs before being put together into a word and generate meaning throughout this word, act as a ‘safe space’ and sustain the aura of the intended thought that stood before the written word?

I am addressing the matter of how including sensory experiences into the formal characteristics of a typeface provide a more subtle access to expressing inner perceptions when writing. Specifically speaking, through my research I investigate how to create a typeface with and for selective mutism (SM) sufferers whose glyphs are built in a way that each glyph is individually capable of transporting sub-text – like feelings that arise together with a thought. This tacit alphabet of emotion will also be useable for non-selectively mute human beings as it provides a possibility to include an experienceable sensitivity into the very moment of bringing a 2 thought to the outside, to paper, which is usually the ‘disruptive moment’ for SM sufferers and offers more bonding with language itself. Additionally, it improves understanding for SM. Psychologically classified as situational anxiety disorder of communication with its onset in childhood, SM affects greater than1 in 2400 young adults and can lead to complete social isolation. A person with SM is able to speak in one situation but unable to speak in another. Psychologists are suggesting an impairment of language processing in children who have not become acquainted with language as a means of communicating conflicts. Many SM sufferers use different methods like notation software to communicate with their surroundings and find it hard to express or to disclose their emotions and their thoughts even in written form. Existing glyphs of typefaces fail to be sensitive enough to build trust in language as a communication tool. With my research I loosen these limits when investigating in what forms can glyphs act as a ‘safe space’ – before their appearance as meaning-creating words – and sustain the sensitive aura of the intended thought that stood before the written word.

Keywords:  quietness, muteness, expression, tacit, nonverbal communication, identity, inside to outside, artistic research, sociolinguistics

integrative typography = Incorporating sensory experiences into the formal features of a typeface as a more subtle approach to the expression of inner perceptions in writing