This project examines the English and Chinese writing systems and how they converge in current typographic trends. The project consists of a series of 40" x 40" posters, two wood sculptures and a written thesis. Below is a summary of that thesis. Two Writing Systems There are two basic sorts of writing: phonographic (alphabets and syllabaries) and logographic (word based). The former, the system we use most often when reading and writing English, is organized around the representation of sounds. The latter uses individual symbols to represent whole words. We use several logographs in our writing system. For example, &, @, %, 1, 2 and 3 can be used in place of 'and', 'at', 'one', 'two', and 'three'. These symbols do not have a direct relationship with how the words sound. Consider the difference between the logograph '2' and the word 'two.' The Chinese writing system is almost entirely based on the usage of logographs. As a consequence of this, every word has to have its own symbol. Instead of the 26 characters we that use they have over 60,000 individual logographs. The big difference between phonographic and logographic writing is through what aspect of language is being recording. The English writing system records the sounds of spoken words. Chinese writing does not. Instead, logographic writing directly records the meaning of a word. Consider again the difference between '2' and 'two.' Logographic writing doesn't mirror speech. Function words, such as 'the' or 'of', tenses of verbs and other elements of grammar that are integral to alphabetic writing are not present. Omitted are connecting grammatical elements between words like 'of' and 'the.' Rather, these connecting elements are inferred by context. Logographic writing communicates by representing the keywords, or meanings, of language. Cognition of Speech Spoken language goes through several distinct phases: first comes the initiation of ideas, followed by the assigning of words to describe those ideas, and finally, the articulation of those words in grammatical sentences. While speech requires these phases, writing does not. A writing system can capture and record language during one of two phases, either as words are assigned to represent perceptions and ideas, or when these words are turned into grammatical sentences. A writing system, therefore, either represents words or represents sounds. Imagine you see an apple on the table, and decide to convey this idea in a letter. If you are using a phonographic system, your thought process would go from the initial recognition of these objects, to the articulation of your recognition, in other words, assigning the words 'apple' 'on' and 'table' to the objects and ideas your mind has already recognized, and finally to the laying out of these ideas in a grammatically understandable sentence: 'There is an apple on the table.' If you are accustomed to a logographic writing system, your thought process would be slightly different. Again, you would recognize the objects and their relation to one another, and once again, your mind would immediately translate these ideas into words. This time, however, these words would become associated with symbols in your mind, and the relation of objects to one another in a written sentence would be understood through subtleties of placement and context. Aphasia The phases of speech can be related to anatomically distinct brain regions. A small area in the front left of the brain called Broca's area controls the phonological aspect of speech, or the way words sound. A larger area in the back left of the brain called Wernicke's area controls the semantic aspect of speech, or the way words are used in relation to one another. The language centers in the brain can be studied and identified through patients with a language disorder called aphasia. Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write, invariably due to injury to the brain. Specific kinds of aphasia result from damage to distinct brain regions. Aphasic impairments allow researchers to determine which areas of the brain contribute, and how they contribute, to the processing of language. An aphasia related to Broca's area will result in difficulty with pronunciation, and will cause trouble using alphabitic writing systems because Broca's area supports our understanding the sounds which make up words, and therefore the way these sounds are represented. An aphasia of Wernicke's area will cause problems with comprehension. These people will have trouble assigning the right words to the ideas they want to communicate. Wernicke's aphasics will also have trouble using logographic writing systems. Aphasia & Writing There are two ways of organizing language into visual form. Writing is either based on the actions of Broca's or Wernicke's area. Consider the two Japanese written systems, Kanji (logographic) and Kana (phonetic-syllabic). The following examples are pertinent because the patients involved knew, and had used, both logographic and phonographic writing systems previous to impairment. "A patient with Broca's aphasia, studied by Tsuneo Imura and his Colleagues at the Nihon University College of Medicine, was able to write a dictated word correctly in Kanji (logographic) but not in Kana (phonetic3syllabic),. When the patient was asked to write the word "ink", even though there is no Kanji character for the word, his first effort was the Kanji character "sumi", which means india ink. When required to write in Kana, the symbols he produced were correct but the word was wrong." 1 The Broca's aphasic has not lost the ability to associate ideas with words, but rather he's lost the ability to accurately articulate these words using a phonetic writing system. The ability to use the Kanji logographs is retained as shown by the correct usage of the logograph for india ink. "Another patient who had Wernicke's aphasia wrote Kanji (logographic) quickly and without hesitation. He was completely unaware that he was producing meaningless ideograms, as are patients who exhibit paraphrasis in speech." 2 The Wernicke's aphasic retains fluency in production but has suffered an impairment in comprehension. In this case the ability to write Kanji is preserved, but the expressions are meaningless. Writing & Typography A discussion of aphasia and in relation to the cognition of writing calls to attention the different ways that writing is created and used. Logographic writing communicates through the use of keywords, while alphabetic writing describes words through the display of speech sounds. These same differences between writing systems can also be seen within our writing system and consequently within the fields of graphic design and typography. When elements of phonology, such as 'of' and 'the' are removed from English writing, what remains are keywords. Writing that exclusively uses keywords isn't trying to represent speech anymore. Its communicating meanings directly, much like a logographic system would. The meanings between keywords have to be puzzled out just like logographic writing. The thought process involved in reading keywords is much different than when reading grammatical sentences. The emotional and qualitative differences in a message communicated this way as opposed to one presented through ordinary textual means can be thought of as the differences between prose and poetry. Consider the following poem by Basho:    Waterjar cracks:    I lie awake    This icy night. This poem, translated from Japanese, seems a-grammatical to English-speaking readers. Its meaning, however, is clear, as its use of words evokes a meaning independant of traditional English grammar. Bibliography for Summary 1.  N. Geschwind, Language and the Brain (Scientific American) 226.4, 76-82. 2.  Ibid. Complete thesis and bibliography available upon request.