I think for type to be expressive, sometimes the most
important element is what the type is trying to express rather than the way it
is presented. Take for example the picture above. Though the type on the lighter looks like it
was carved on amateurishly and done with little care, the few words written
convey why it may have been done so. The
owner fought in the war that inflicted the most psychological damage to U.S
soldiers. Soldiers suffered great amounts of psychological damage and stress
because they never knew where their next enemy was coming from. The Vietcong
often used women and children to throw bombs and shoot at American G.I.’s, thus
any man, woman or child was considered a threat. The words express his defiance
of death, of his fearlessness in spite of all the threats that surround him and
it is conveyed through the lack of care put into the carving of his type. The owner
could care less for his enemies, just as he cares less for the way he carves
his words. Just the letters “VIET-NAM”
on the lighter will have expressed to any viewer that the owner was a tough and
“evil” “son of a bitch” for surviving
one of the most horrid and psychologically harmful wars fought by man.
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