Concrete Poetry and Calligrams

Concrete poetry or Size poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has evolved to have distinct meaning of its own, but which shares the distinction of being poetry in which the visual elements are as important as the text.

This style of poetry is very much related to the brief as I will have to consider setting type in interesting ways in order to engage the public with the poem. For example the above poem by George Herbert entitled "Easter Wings" was printed in 1633 on two facing pages (one stanza per page), sideways, so that the lines would call to mind birds flying up with outstretched wings.

Another example of concrete poetry: 'I, the Lunchbox' set in a way that resembles a lunchbox. Concrete poetry differs from calligrams as the type is designed to vaguely resemble the objects or themes depicted in the poem whilst calligrams feature type set to create a distinct image of something similar to the original.

Calligrams are often alot more elaborate and colourful. I really like how vibrant and eye-catching they are. However calligrams are usually made up of a vast array of letters arranged in all sorts of ways in order to make up the overall image. It may be hard to set lines of type in this way as legibility would be an issue. I am really interested in this style however and will consider it when coming up with design ideas. I think it's a really interesting way to set type and could work well with this brief. Perhaps a mixture of calligram style and concrete poetry.