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Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia by Te-Yang Tang and Yi-Hsuan Lai

Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia by Te-Yang Tang and Yi-Hsuan Lai is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Zilarrezko Saria A' Design Award in Grafismo, Ilustrazio eta Ikus Komunikazio Diseinua Competition Category.


ZilarGrafismoa· 2023

Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia

by Te-Yang Tang and Yi-Hsuan Lai

Client: Department of Visual Communication Design, YunTech

Zilarrezko Saria A' Design Award Winner in Grafismoa Category

Colors

The Design

About Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia

Txinako kulturan, Stacked Character izeneko karaktere mota berezi batek gainjarritako glifoek osatutako karaktereari egiten diote erreferentzia. Gainjarritako karaktere horietako gehienak ez-ohikoak dira eta pixkanaka-pixkanaka erabiltzen diren karaktereek ordezkatzen dituzte gaur egun. Beraz, Stack Glyphs-ek karaktereak eraiki zituen ikur grafikoak erabiliz, galdutako karaktere txinatar hauek bildu zituen.

The Recognition

About the Zilarrezko Saria A' Design Award

Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia Zilarrezko Saria A' Design Award irabazlea da, goi-mailako, zoragarriak eta liluragarriak diren diseinuei ematen zaien ezohiko aitorpen prestijiotsua. Zilar-mailako irabazleak lan oso distiratsuak eta sormen biziko lanak dira, beren diseinatzaileen aditutasun, talentu eta zorroztasun nabarmenak erakusten dituztenak. Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia erakusleiho-lan zoragarria, nabarmenki profesionala eta sakonki berritzailea izatea espero da. Zilarrezko Saria A' Design Award irabazi duen diseinu hau asmakizun oso nabarmena eta miretsia da, onura ekartzen duena eta artearen, zientziaren, diseinuaren eta teknologiaren mugak zabaltzen dituena. Stack Glyphs Karaktereen Tipografia jende askok inbidia duen sorkuntza da, desirak pizten dituena, sentimendu positiboak ekartzen dituena eta harridura eta txunditzea pizten dituena.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
Characters are the carrier of culture. In Chinese culture, a special type of character called Stacked Character refers to the character formed by overlapped glyphs. Stacked character can be constructed to express the meaning of accumulation and mass of the word. Most of these superimposed characters are uncommon and are gradually replaced by commonly used characters nowadays. So that we constructed the characters using graphical symbols, collected these lost chinese characters.
Dimensions & Packaging
Main visual poster size: 890mm x 420mm, Guide Book Package size: 280mm x 215mm x 40mm, Guide Book size: 200mm x 100mm x 7mm, Pileup size: 25mm x 25 mm x 25mm
Tags
visualized, chinese culture, character, symbol, glyphs, guide book, poster
Production Technology
Iconic Representation of Stacked Characters. Drawing on the ancient Chinese script before the standardization of characters, which relied heavily on pictographs, we aim to recreate the classic history of Chinese characters. Through this, viewers can experience a sense of immersion and gain an understanding of the ancient methods of character formation.
Design Challenge
We collect rare stacked characters, which are gradually being replaced by commonly used characters. Therefore, we often encounter problems of missing characters or unknown pronunciations during the sorting process. To overcome this challenge, we extensively collect stacked characters excerpted from historical ancient books and use a design approach to reconstruct some lost stacked characters, creating the art piece Stack Glyphs.
Research
The sampling of stacked characters focuses on the text superposition of positive forms. We collect stacked characters excerpted from historical texts such as Analytical Dictionary of Chinese Characters, and transform individual characters with specific meanings into icons, which display in different styles depending on how the characters are stacked. For example, with the character Mù means wood, two-stacked character Lín means forest, three-stacked character Sēn means dense forest.
Inspiration
As time passes, the culture of stacked characters gradually becomes lost, with these characters rarely used and even unable to be displayed in computer fonts. They are gradually being replaced by commonly used characters. The unique cultural characteristics of these Chinese characters lack dissemination and may face the risk of extinction in the future.
Project Duration
Stack Glyphs project began its conceptual proposal in June 2022, entered design production in October 2022, and held a design joint exhibition in Yunlin, Taiwan in April 2023. It was followed by an exhibition at the Young Designers' Exhibition in Taipei in May, and Vision Get Wild in Kaohsiung.
Operation Flow
We studied these overlapping synonym and analyzed their morphology, phonics and cultural contexts. Integrated the result into our icon design, and convert it into NFT, hope to preserve its cultural value. Through the Stack Glyphs Concept Guide Book, the viewers can understand the cultural connotation of superimposed characters. Meanwhile, the interactive designed Stack Glyphs seal Pileup is an extension of our concept that allows viewers to create their own pileup characters.
Team Members
Te-Yang Tang
Yi-Hsuan Lai
Image Credits
Image #1: Kuei-En Chou, 2023.
Image #2: Kuei-En Chou, 2023.
Image #3: Kuei-En Chou, 2023.
Image #4: Kuei-En Chou, 2023.
Image #5: Kuei-En Chou, 2023.

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