Designing Icons for Literary Remixing

When approaching the design for these icons, my primary concern was creating something that was both immediately recognizable, yet a departure from the traditional symbols you’d see associated with various parts of speech and grammar. Naturally, these two demands presented to be at odds with one another. My initial inclination was to completely abstract the icons, however in that process, I quickly lost that sense of recognition. After a bit of discussion, we felt it best to move in a direction where we could mix abstraction with more literal representation.

Additionally, I created two sets of icons; one in a standard format based in geometric forms - clean lines, clear shapes, sharp angles, etc. - and another that was better suited to the visual language of Literary DJ. So, I applied a graffiti-inspired style to the first set of icons; messier lines, thicker weights, and paint drips meant to be reminiscent of the effect of spray paint. These elements were used to simulate the movement and texture of paint on a wall.

The symbols themselves were in parts abstracted, and others more literal. An example of this can be seen in POV and delete. These symbols already have a visual connection that’s been established within grammar and language (i.e. the eye for point of view, and the “x” for delete). With other symbols however, there was a challenge to create a condensed icon for a term that didn’t already have one. This is seen in the quantum symbols:

We also wanted to experiment with the more literary side of this project, and how that could be represented through these symbols. There were many different directions I could’ve gone with this, but ultimately I went with a style that was evocative of blackletter typography. This can be seen in the greater contrasts in line thickness, sharper corners, exaggerated serifs, and more ornate detailing.

The graffiti tags I used were already existing symbols that were altered to fit into a graffiti style. You can see some of these recognizable symbols: the raised fist, the “Cool S,” and the Basquiat crown:

However, this eventually expanded to include Adinkra symbols, a visual tradition associated with the Akan peoples of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in which individual symbols communicate particular concepts, values, and ideas.