Unreadable: the pictorial side of text elements

Abstract

ABSTRACT Media design knows various ways to combine text and pictorial elements in layouts. This article looks at photographs that are combined with hard-to-read text elements and investigates, whether these text elements are seen as disturbing or confusing or should rather be understood as visual elements similar to meaningful props. Qualitative interviews and a survey were conducted showing the test persons several layouts with and without hard-to-read text elements and asking for their impressions and evaluation on various dimensions such as ‘boring-interesting’, ‘old-fashioned-modern’, and ‘clear-confusing’. It becomes obvious that the Gestalt theory’s fundamental assumption ‘the whole is more than the parts’ also applies in this context, even though these pictures actually violate Gestalt-rules: layouts with hard-to-read text elements were not only perceived as more interesting, but also the literal meaning of the text played a subordinate role compared to the associations evoked by their look.