"Ligature XIV: Dimensions" at Ringling College

Typographic Poster 

I might not have ventured into the "Ligature" exhibit at Ringling College if I hadn't been on a tour of the College's galleries with Tim Jaeger. Jaeger is the Director of Galleries and Chief Curator at Ringling and a wonderful artist in his own right. He explained that "Ligature" is an annual show -- now in its 14th iteration -- and features different forms and styles of typography. Who knew? The exhibit was put together by the Ringling Type Club, so it's also an example of how the College teaches its students about the art world beyond creation. 

Text is ubiquitous in our daily lives and, consciously or not, we all make choices daily about typography. The font we use in an email (or blog post) is an easy example. Typography is the art of arranging that text in a way that makes the copy legible, clear and visually appealing to the reader.  And it is an art. 

This year's "Ligature" exhibit showcased a variety of ways we encounter typography in our daily lives, including typographic posters, dropcaps, illustrative type, typefaces and editorial design. I'll admit to not being familiar with all the terms, although the concepts were of course familiar. The "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem" advertisment is a fun example of a typographic poster, or a poster that relies heavily on text to get its message across. (Yes, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem was an actual band featuring the Muppets. The cool dude character of Zoot -- shown here -- was performed by Dave Goetz. I don't know about you, but I'd be tempted to go to a show.)

Dropcaps

We were all immediately attracted to the dropcaps (or dropped capitals) portion of the exhibit. Despite having seen oversized letters at the beginning of many a book or article, I had no idea there was a dedicated art behind the choices. Duh. In fact, it's an art form that dates back almost 2,000 years. Think illuminated manuscripts. I can just see those monks hunched over their tomes as they ink in the words with their quill pens and then add an artistic flourish. Dropcaps were originally used to indicate that a new idea was being introduced. Over time, the practice has become more decorative in nature. 

I liked the way the students combined images with their letters. Not surprisingly, their choices were incredibly creative. (Note: You can click on the image to get an expanded view.) One of my favorites was the letter "V" by Lilli Jones with its still life nestled in-between the sides of the letter. This year was the first time the exhibit included a 3D component, and there was a sculpture hanging on a nearby wall with a V-shaped shelf that supported the vases and greenery. It was a nice touch. 

Editorial Design

I could have stood a long time in front of the wall dedicated to editorial design. This, of course, is the form of typographic art we see every day in magazines and other periodicals. The goal is to engage the reader while imparting some kind of knowledge. The larger text is designed to draw the reader into the article with a teaser. This one grabbed me with its promise to tell me about both the place of Hanfu (Han Chinese costume) in history and its resurgence as a popular style today. Definitely a successful editorial design in my book. In fact, I was sufficiently interested to check out Shiyin, the "content creator" mentioned in the article who's known for her Instagram posts wearing Hanfu-inspired clothing. You can too by clicking here. 

You might be wondering, as I was, why the annual exhibit is titled "Ligature." Maybe it's just me, but the name conjures up images of S&M and the crime drama shows I'm wont to watch. But "ligature"  means more simply when two things are tied or stitched together like, say, images and text. Still, I can imagine whoever organized the first show over a decade ago smiling over the slightly titillating effect of the title. 

"Ligature IV: Dimensions" and the other exhibits now on at Ringling College are on display through March 22. For more info, click here.