tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post7160492433739682205..comments2024-03-09T04:06:47.712-05:00Comments on Abstract Comics: The Blog: Asemic Writing in the ClassroomAndrei Molotiuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17400106944822618816noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post-79401558210740412352010-02-09T11:08:18.238-05:002010-02-09T11:08:18.238-05:00That's a great video! And that's a great ...That's a great video! And that's a great age to work with.Jonny Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04461895600346750968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post-63709407009193134582010-02-09T07:48:35.099-05:002010-02-09T07:48:35.099-05:00I was thinking of talking to them about the intera...I was thinking of talking to them about the interaction of letters as you mentioned after seeing this little video:<br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/195632" rel="nofollow">Typographics</a><br /><br />These are 4th graders, so I'm getting them into asemic writing in baby steps.granthttp://grantthomasonline.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post-79013283041691644412010-02-06T09:57:53.579-05:002010-02-06T09:57:53.579-05:00I'd be careful about making the distinction be...I'd be careful about making the distinction between code/cipher and asemic writing too firm. Arguably, any substitution "alphabet" (whether scribbles or not) will potentially default to code/cipher. On the other hand, in a given work, if a substitution cipher is used sparingly, it doesn't encourage decoding and so might as well be asemic writing. (If only the author/artist knows whether it is a cipher or asemic writing and there isn't sufficient text to decode, does it matter? It's still asemic to the viewer.)<br /><br />What I like about this assignment is that it asks the students (potentially) to attend to the aesthetics of letter combinations in their language. Sure, most probably start in isolation just creating substitution designs for each letter. But the activity opens up interesting areas for development and further exploration as they consider, aesthetically, what it means that a vowel will appear in each word. What are the common consonant blends? How might an "r" or an "h" be designed so that they interact with the letters they are most often combined with? Which letters have more distinctions between upper and lower case than just size? Etc.<br /><br />And once they attend to these relationships, I think it is quite possible that they could produce asemic writing that is more complicated than scribbles. (Not that there's anything wrong or even "simple" about scribbles.)<br /><br />What age students are you working with?Jonny Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04461895600346750968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post-29626571520107663082010-02-05T21:28:12.828-05:002010-02-05T21:28:12.828-05:00I left a comment earlier, which appears to have go...I left a comment earlier, which appears to have gotten eaten.<br /><br />I thought about having the kids do a truly asemic alphabet, but I was afraid that they would just simply scribble and rush through it. I wanted them to create something that had the rhythm and cadences of true language, so I opted to have them make a "code" alphabet.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09976783554909536532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post-26714245741949513782010-02-05T15:51:24.534-05:002010-02-05T15:51:24.534-05:00Love this project. I am a big fan of the low budg...Love this project. I am a big fan of the low budget program (well, relatively speaking) "Font Creator." It would allow you to import these as computer fonts, with a little bit of labor on your part.<br /><br />And yeah, it isn't asemic writing if it is a decodable cypher. But it still highlights the play of letters in written language as an aesthetic relationship, and that's pretty cool!Jonny Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04461895600346750968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899946063697780510.post-57594951389840052492010-02-04T01:13:34.746-05:002010-02-04T01:13:34.746-05:00Hey Grant--
that project sounds really cool, espe...Hey Grant--<br /><br />that project sounds really cool, especially with fourth-graders!<br /><br />(But, psst, if I may, I'll slip in and tell you this before Tim does--if each new sign stands for a letter, it's not really asemic at all... It's just a different alphabet!)Andrei Molotiuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17400106944822618816noreply@blogger.com