Without moving our lips or tongue, we can talk to ourselves or recite mentally a selection of verses. Because we regard the words of our language as sound images, we must avoid speaking of the “phonemes” that make up the words. Language develops from symbols to writing and eventually words and speech. All of these create a language for humans to use. Whether we try to find the meaning of the Latin word arbor or the word that Latin uses to designate the concept “tree,” it is clear that only the associations sanctioned by that language appeal to us to conform to reality, and we disregard whatever others might be imagined.  Of course, Language has its outliers such as Jargon and Dialect which vary in different parts of a civilized country or world. In ancient times, civilizations depended on symbols rather than letters to communicate via writing with such examples as The Egyptians, The Sumerians, and The Aztecs. These symbols or icons were called Hieroglyphs, a writing form composed entirely of pictures. Icons and symbols become extremely important as Hieroglyphs were one of the first forms of writing before humanity developed Phonetic Written Languages and thus was a way to communicate with other people in the simplest way. Techniques for visualizing numbers tend to appear in cultures long before efforts to reproduce the full spoken language. Techniques for visualizing numbers tend to appear in cultures long before efforts to reproduce the full spoken language. Graphic Communication is a visual that aims to send a message to an audience. A popular example of this is the hieroglyphics in Egypt or the carvings that cavemen left behind.

The Ellen Lupton & J. Abbot Miller essays demonstrate this idea by having both words and symbols set in between. One of the realizations that I have concluded from the reading is that I found myself understanding the vision quicker when given both words to comprehend and a sign that comprehends it for me. One of the reasons for that is unlike simple words in a language, a design places language into a vision. It’s not left in the ambiguity of the mind when you are presented with the idea through eyesight.