Research in perceptual psychology has shown a correlation between the effect of abstract shapes and sounds. Respondents from a wide range of population groups were extremely consistent in assigning round shapes to certain sounds and square shapes to others. Written language utilises similar connections. Alphabets, and phonetic transcription systems in particular, assign specific characters to all linguistic sounds in order to depict spoken language visually and precisely.
What opportunities does this “sound-form-correspondence” in human perception offer for phonetic transcription systems, together with new technological possibilities in type design? This experiment aims to show possible avenues.
Joel Stauffer
BA-Diplom 2024
Mentorat: Thomas Wolfram, David Keshavjee, Marietta Eugster