Embroidered Art

Word as Image (by Ji Lee) Calligrams

from Ji Lee

Challenge: Create an image out of a word, using only the letters in the word itself.

Rule: use only the graphic elements of the letters without adding outside parts.

This project started nearly twenty years ago as an assignment in my typography class at art school. Students were encouraged to see letters beyond their dull, practical functionality.

The challenge is to visualize the meaning of a word, using only the graphic elements of the letters forming the word, without adding any outside parts. The challenge was very hard, but the reward of “cracking” a word felt great. So this became a lifelong project for me. In 2011, I published a book called “Word as Image” containing nearly 100 words. WordAsImage.com

Today was a sad day for architecture, Dame Zaha Hadid passed away at the age of 65.