Sunday, December 21, 2008

Que? Loco Por K!


Phil Patton has written a nice piece over at the AIGA Journal of Design called Krazy About K.

"Certain letters seem rare, like precious metals or noble gases. Such letters act as catalysts and have special properties—they may glow when “excited” by electricity, say, like neon and fluorine, the aptly named “lighter” elements. Similarly, some letters function in a special way beyond phonetics, often as logos and symbols, as signs of speech and phonetics.

The use of rare letters is a tool of the brand maker and the logo designer. Like the letter X, K allures with its angular edges and uncommon appeal. Eleventh in the alphabet, K is only the 22nd most common letter in English usage—worth five points on the Scrabble board. The letterform is descended from the Phoenician Kaph, which is thought to derive from the palm of a hand, with fingers split. In reverse, it became the Greek Kappa and the form we recognize today."

Ok, check out the whole thing: Krazy About K.

That's Right,

HMK