Guest Speaker: Lynne Yun, “History and Anatomy of Flourishing”
Flourishes have been around for as long as humans have been writing. Observed from as far back as correspondence letters written in Roman cursive and evolving into the modern typographic swash capitals, their histories have run a wide gamut. Considering the kinæsthetic nature of flourishing, perhaps it was simply inevitable that we would extend the flowing line of letterforms — after all, who could resist embellishing a signature with graceful curves? We will take a sweeping look at the history of flourishing, discuss its modern applications, and ways in which we can critically look at flourished compositions. We will examine how to break down their construction, view them in individual elements, and discuss what makes flourishes appeal to modern eyes.