Calligram vs Minimalism

カリグラム / ミニマリズム

Calligram comes from Lettering and Minimalism from Functionalism. One is technique and the other style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Calligram

Calligram — Guillaume Apollinaire, Il pleut, 1918 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainCalligram — アポリネール カリグラム『エッフェル塔』 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainCalligram — アポリネール『刺された鳩と噴水』 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Arranges words into the shape of what they say, so that reading and seeing happen in the same moment.

Minimalism

Minimalism — Agnes Martin 作品, SFMOMA 展示 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Minimalism — Agnes Martin 作品群, SFMOMA 展示 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Minimalism — Dan Flavin《Untitled (to Don Judd, Colorist) 1–5》1987, Tate Modern — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Removes elements to maximize the meaning and tension of what remains.

CalligramMinimalism
Eraantiquity–modernism1960s–
FamilyLetteringFunctionalism
KindTechniqueStyle
CuesText drawing a contour / Shifting reading direction / Meaningful blank space / Poem fused with figureVast white space / Few elements / Quiet color / Precise spacing
Best used forMaking a short poem or title physically felt · A symbolic image from letters aloneFocusing attention on a single value · Letting quality speak quietly
TypeOne face or one hand, keeping the words continuousA light sans-serif or a well-cut serif
CompositionConvert the sentence into contour, path and density; mark where reading beginsOne message, one focal point, wide margins
MaterialLetter and paper as two colors; the shape itself is the starNearly achromatic; texture in exactly one place
CautionDon't fix a silhouette first and stuff words in. Let the text's rhythm generate the form.Missing information is not minimal. Decide priorities before you cut.

Put these two together

Lettering ／ Functionalism

IndexStyle