Synesthesia

Our final typography assignment of the first half of the semester was to create three images using text as a design element. This assignment allowed for much more abstract work, and as I have just completed a course in abnormal psychology, I decided to look for obscure psychological conditions.

Synesthesia is not considered a disorder on the DSM, as it is not a hinderance - in fact many consider it a gift. It's funny to note that I once asked my psychology professor about a peculiar sensation I would experience during heightened inspiration - a taste - and she suggested synesthesia as a possibility, but any number of brain functions may cause it. At the time, I didn't know what synesthesia was, and forgot to look it up. I find it ironic that it would come full circle, when I unwittingly did the research, but for an art project.

I created two variations of the image emphasizing the pronunciation, the top one being an unofficial entry because I completed it after having committed the lower three to print.

I would like to create another piece in this series, if possible as an achromatic work.

And, if I may be so bold, the final piece shown (which was the first one I did) tasted best.

*Interesting fact: Most notably in the official image emphasizing pronunciation (The dark one), all of the 'A's are red. Red is the colour associated most with the letter A by those with grapheme-colour synesthesia (the type when letters and numbers are associated with colours). Some theorists believe that this is due to the fact that red is the first colour humans can perceive during development, and the letter A is the first letter most of us learned growing up.