#Abstract Logo Concepts

[jobaermiya09]

[pixelpromenade]

50 Logo Template

[narcobih]

Rag doll bunny 🐰

[sadekulsayad]

"KF Coffee: Brewing Boldness with Every Sip – Where the perfect cup meets sleek design." Let your brand stand out with a logo that’s memorable, meaningful, and timeless.

Get an custom logo: https://www.fiverr.com/s/ljYjEqy

[zahidul-joy]

[uchidachi]

I mustache you a question…

[pwhl-mybeloved]

Logo drop feelings: I like the Boston anchor, wish it didn't have the texture though. Toronto's is so so soccer (also scepter should be singular anyone can fight me on this). Minnesota is super Gatorade, Ottawa is off-brand Calgary, New York is actually fun. Montreal did the best; gorgeous neo-deco logo, name is French as it should be and is a example of abstract-concept team names that are Good Actually.

minnesota gatorade 💀

you’re so right about the mtl logo doing the abstract thing best, I think that’s why I like it so much.

[bucket-of-f1]

fact pls, specifically anything on sponsors in f1 if possible

So. Marlboro. One of the largest and most well known tobacco companies, like… ever. Or something. I don’t smoke anything other than that good F1 pack so :3 (I’m not bucket-of-tobacco-facts but maybe I should get on that).

Remember: as far as F1 is concerned, sponsors are the most important thing ever. Sponsors = money. Sponsors ≠ morality. Money > morality. Money = good car = points = Drivers Championship and/or Constructors championship.

So, pretty much ever since sponsors have existed in anything, there’s someone selling an addictive substance slapping their name everywhere. Lo and behold, in 1972 Marlboro partnered with with British Racing Motors (BRM) and debuted the iconic red-and-white livery:

In 1974 Marlboro partnered with McLaren, and this lasted until 1996. That is TWENTY-THREE YEARS, which is quite a bit for a sponsor that large to stick with a team.

1974 McLaren

1996 McLaren

As you can see, Marlboro was smart: color coding and putting their logo on the front/sides/rear of cars so that wherever the camera was, they were too. They did the same with the driver and team suits, (ironically) slapping the Marlboro logo on their fireproof suits.

In 1996, Marlboro moved from McLaren to Ferrari. A minor sponsor for Ferrari since ‘73, Ferrari now became the flagship carcinogenic host of the paddock. In 1997, Marlboro became the title sponsor: Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.

In countries where tobacco advertisements had been made illegal, companies had to get creative. For example, Marlboro would replace the word “Marlboro” with the driver's name over the signature red chevron.

In 2001, when tobacco advertising was completely banned, the sponsors had to get extra creative, especially Marlboro, who had five years left in a six year contract with Ferrari — valued at around one billion dollars.

This is where we get to a concept known as Subliminal Marketing. This is a strategy of advertisements utilizing the human subconscious: Marlboro couldn’t put the logo, but they could use their signature colors. Since Ferrari already ran red/white cars, they had an easy excuse, and started there.

Unfortunately subliminal marketing had been banned for YEARS by that point but… 20 bucks is 20 bucks, or in Ferrari's case, a one billion dollar contract deal is a ONE BILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT DEAL.

They were willing to take the risk.

Ferrari’s now relatively well known “barcode” logo was their first solution. It had the colors of Marlboro broken up with white lines, to give it a sort of conceptual art look. They had to further abstract-ify the livery as time went on, but they managed the scheme for three years without raising too much suspicion.

Most importantly to Ferrari, Marlboro, and thems one billion dollars: it resembled the Marlboro logo, especially when moving at high speeds.

In 2010, an investigation into Marlboro and Ferrari's antics was launched, and Ferrari took matters into their own hands by dropping Marlboro and the barcode entirely for the 2011 season. 

You would think that's where it ends.

Pfffft.

This is the tobacco industry baby.

A few years later, Ferrari debuted their new logo and sponsor: Mission Winnow.

See it?

How about…

Now?

(Blur your eyes a little)

Yep.

Mission Winnow is a company that does pretty much nothing. If you go to their site it’s a bunch of blurry, useless information that's perfectly vague for a company that has no real traceable connections to… anything, really.

It's a shell company. If you go to the bottom of the site, you'll find the logo of the company who owns…

You guessed it.

Marlboro.

The story got out eventually, of course, and Ferrari removed the logo around the 2019-2020 season, and that was the end of Marlboro in F1.

(Sorry this took like a day to respond my weekdays are packed)

[cherrylng]

WOTP Dom Howard Interview [INROCK - Muse (October 2022)]

Unparalleled rock trio Muse release first new album in four years, Will of the People.

"We don't want to do a best-of album or a compilation because we're going to keep making new music."

Dominic Howard/Muse INTERVIEW: AI ANAZAWA

Muse have released their new album ‘Will of the People’, their first album in almost four years since ‘Simulation Theory’ (2018). The band has always been big on the soundscale, but this time they've pushed each of the songs to their full potential, making the rock songs harder and the ballads more dramatic, creating what might be described as the ‘strongest’ album yet. The album was self-produced without an external producer due to the Corona disaster, but as you would expect from a seasoned artist, he knows his identity and what he needs to do now. Dominic, who agreed to be interviewed by Zoom, was relaxing in the sunroom of his London home with his dog.

—I saw a picture of you at a recent festival where you were playing drums in a full face mask, is that a new image for the new album ‘Will of the People’? Dominic Howard (dr.): We start the show with ‘Will of the People’ and we also appear wearing the masks that the main characters and groups that appear on the album cover and video wear. It's the opening song.

—Oh, I thought it was hot in the summer (laughs). Dominic: (laughs). I can hardly see anything when I'm wearing that. I can barely see the drums in front of me, so I think Matt [Matthew Bellamy, vo. keys g.] and Chris [Wolstenholme, b.] have an even harder time. They'll be playing while trying to keep an eye on the fretboard. Plus, it's a full face, so it's hard to breathe. And there's a burning ‘Will of the People‘ logo right behind me, so my back is burning hot. But, you know, I'll do anything for rock‘n’roll (laughs).

“I was careful to avoid abstractions, and I was also very conscious of keeping it tight.”

—This album is especially Hard Rock, isn't it? A lot of albums made during the pandemic have been released one after another, but I have the impression that many of them are introspective because of the production environment, but this album is the complete opposite of that (laughs). Dominic: Yeah, it's a heavier, harder rock sound, less introspective… We were definitely working on some of it during the lockdown, though. I think everyone tended to be more introspective back then, and people were making music that sounded a bit more light-hearted, maybe not as bombastic as ours. Anyway, that kind of thing (introspective, light music) is not really our thing, it's more outward expression, more outlandish. Yeah, we haven't done an album as heavy as this one in a really long time.

—I read that you started this album as a response to a label proposal to release a best-of album, but why are you against the idea of ​​a greatest hits album in the first place? Dominic: Realistically speaking, best-of albums aren't what they used to be, are they? Nowadays, a person's top 10 favourite songs on Spotify are their best releases, right? Labels want to do best-of records because they want to promote the band, but we've always been against it because we feel like a best-of record is kind of the end of your career, you know (laughs). We don't want to do a best-of album or compilation because we're going to keep making new music. The labels might have come up with the idea in discussions to see if there was anything they could release during the pandemic, but we've always said no, let's make new material instead.

—I see. Matt describes the album as “best of new songs” and “a montage piece packed with the best of Muse.” Was that the band's goal or perception in the making of the album? Did you actually discuss such things? Dominic: Hahaha, we talk about it all the time. The whole time we were making it. But I don't think it was ever our concept. I'm sure Matt said that because we like the album that much and we think it's like our best album. I think he wanted to say that it's like a collection of the best parts of the band's old sound. It's got the heavy side, the pop side, the acoustic ballads like ‘Ghosts (How Can I Move On)’, it's got the best of what the band has always done. Well, whenever you're making an album, you always think: ‘This is the best album ever! Every song could be cut as a single!’ (laughs). I don't want to release it, or even finish it, unless I'm proud of it as an important representation of the band as it is now. In fact, we were very conscious of only including stuff that we felt was appropriate to be on the album. We didn't want to do anything too experimental… That's a bit of a misnomer. We were careful to avoid abstraction, to keep it to the point and concise, to know where to put the songs on the album, and to keep the production tight.

—There are only ten songs on the album. Do you have any regrets about not being able to keep it tighter on previous albums? Dominic: No, not really. When it's been a year or so since we put out an album, I do think ‘I should have done that’ or something like that, but I wouldn't really call it a regret. We've done some very experimental and abstract albums in the past, because that's what the album needed, especially the first three albums. The second album (2001's Origin of Symmetry) is longer and more experimental. I'm not saying that I want to get rid of that aspect of ourselves, I'm just saying that we've become more conscious of making tighter albums. And I've always wanted to make a 10-song album. We've had instrumental songs that made it 11 songs, so this time we decided to make an album of just 10 songs with songs on it (laughs).

—The content of the song this time is all very depressing, just a little bit… (laughs). Dominic: The lyrics (laughs)?

—Yeah. It's as realistic a fiction as you can get. Are these socio-political and environmental issues always something that comes up in the band? Or is this all about Matt's political views? Dominic: Mostly the latter (laughs). I think the surreal, political fictional world is where he's most comfortable writing. I guess it's easier to write about very personal things than to express them frankly. Of course there are parts of the album that touch on personal things, but I haven't done a lot of songs that are about personal things. Matt's style is to write about the emotions of what's going on in the world and apply them to an imaginary world. Naturally, we would talk about the topic and the direction we wanted the song to go in. But the music always comes first. Then the lyrics (by Matt) can take quite a while, but whatever idea it's based on, the three of us take it and put it into music, and eventually it's something we enjoy playing. The lyrics come after that, so it can be influenced by the vibe and feel of the song's source material.

—Oh, really? Dominic: So it's not the lyrics we talk about the most, it's the music (laughs).

—I see, the three of you live in different parts of the world. How did you make that music during the pandemic, especially during the lockdown? Dominic: It was tough. Especially in 2020, there were months when we couldn't do anything. But we still did things like exchange ideas virtually. Once we were able to get together, we started working in the studio in Los Angeles. Chris doesn't live over here, but we still had him come to LA, and when that wasn't possible, we continued working remotely. In the spring of 2021, we got together in London and we were able to work on it at Abbey Road [Studios]. It was a lot of work, but we found a way to work not only on music, but also on these things (Zoom interviews), and also on business, virtually, without having to move from place to place, didn't we? I think it's actually become more convenient for a lot of people.

—Did you produce this album yourselves because of the restrictions of the Corona Disaster? Or was it a reaction to the fact that your last album, ‘Simulation Theory’, involved a lot of producers? Dominic: It was probably both. It was a pandemic, so from the beginning Matt and I were in the studio alone, trying out different ideas, and we were comfortable with that. Then Aleks (von Korff), the engineer, joined us in the studio and the three of us were in what you might call a bubble (laughs). Of course we had to take coronavirus checks every now and then and be careful while working, but we got comfortable in that situation, and it felt different to invite other people in there. It would be a lot of work to bring someone else in. And we like production work too. We've always co-produced, even when we've had a producer, and we rather like the time-consuming, detailed work.

—Please tell me how did you decide to end the album on a hopeless note with ‘We Are Fucking Fucked’ (laughs)? Dominic: It's interesting to hear other people say the title of this song (laughs). It was the only song we had at the end of the album. If we'd put ‘Fucking Fucked’ anywhere else, it would have given the piece a weird vibe. It's a sarcastic, depressing type of song, after all (laughs). So I think it was right to put it at the end. At first I was thinking of putting ‘Verona’ at the end. That song has a fantastic, relaxed, outro-like feel to it. But I still think ‘Fucking Fucked’ is the right one.

—Which is your favourite song of the day? Dominic: It's hard to pick just one song, I feel bad for the others (laughs).

—Let's limit it to this morning's then (laughs). Dominic: Well, we've been playing ‘Kill or Be Killed’ live recently and it's a lot of fun to play live. Maybe there's a heaviness to it that we haven't ventured into before? It's pretty metal. And I really like ‘Won't Stand Down’. When we were working on the album, I was telling Matt that every song had to make the listener feel something, and we had to make the songs make us feel something, and he asked me what I meant, and I said that sometimes when we listen to our past albums… I actually listened to all our previous albums before we started making this album. Some of them were okay, some of them were a little bit terrible, but they still conveyed what we were feeling at the time. So I had a strong feeling that every song on this album had to make me feel something. ‘Kill or Be Killed‘, when you get into the chorus, it makes you feel it. I like everything else on the record apart from those two songs. And ‘Liberation’ is a lot of fun to play. We haven't done a piano song like that for a while. Is it reminiscent of ‘United States of Eurasia’ (2009's “The Resistance”)?

“What I really want to do is to go around to different sized venues here and there and stay in Japan for two or three weeks.”

—I also like ’You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween’. And it touches on the serious issue of domestic violence. Dominic: Yes, it does. It's a very fun song, but the lyrics actually touch on emotional abuse in the home. It's the same with ‘Won't Stand Down’. We know people who have been through that, and it's a very real issue that sometimes people don't realise they're going through it. It's such a serious thing with a very pop sound.

—Will you be touring the world after a few shows in the UK in October? Dominic: Yeah, we'll play some smaller theatres in the UK in October and then maybe next year we'll tour overseas, including Japan. We really want to go to Japan. What I'd really like to do is spend two or three weeks in Japan, doing a few more shows here and there at different venues of different sizes. The last few times I've been here, I've been limited to a few cities due to time, schedule and production. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the creative side and the fun side of it.

—You have the authority to do what you really want to do, so by all means make it happen. Dominic: Well, yeah (laughs). Anyway, we'll find a time when it's possible and we'll try to fit it into the schedule.

—By the way, there is a sign of a dog from earlier. Dominic: This is Olive, a Boston terrier (he says, showing me the dog stretched out and relaxed in front of him). He's very clever. Where's Floyd? Maybe he's upstairs. They're both very clever.

—Who's going to look after them while you're away from home? Dominic: Actually, I tend to take them with me. Olive is just over a year old and I only got her last year, so she's not ready yet, but Floyd has been all over the place, he's been on a tour of America with me, he's been in Europe. He loves it. He's always happy to play with all kinds of people backstage. Olive likes people too. When the show is over, she jumps in the car and goes to the hotel with me, and every night when she gets into her new hotel room, she jumps up on the bed with great joy (laughs). So I take her with me when I can, otherwise I ask family or friends.

Recorded on 20th July, 2022 in London.

Translator’s Notes: If you’ve noticed it, then you might’ve wondered why the Japanese journalist and the article itself doesn’t use the words “Covid-19” and “pandemic” (other than Dom himself). As I’m not a Japanese native, I don’t fully know the answer either, but I did pay attention to Japanese news over the years to pick up on information. In Japan, the government and the people do know and use the word COVID-19, but unfortunately the name that COVID-19 took in Japan was this: 新型コロナウイルス感染症 / Shingata Coronavirus Kansenshou / new coronavirus infection.

As you can see, that is a whole mouthful that no one has the time to say all of that out loud -even including the word Covid-19 itself- so they shortened it to just using ‘コロナウイルス / Coronavirus’ and ‘コロナ / Corona’ instead.

So I got used to seeing that whenever an artist or celebrity in Japan was confirmed infected by Covid and had to cancel events, they just announce on their blogs and on X [formerly known as Twitter] that they got Corona. And some of these words became familiar to me as well.

コロナ禍 / Korona-ka = Corona Disaster / Covid-19 Pandemic コロナ緊急事態 / Korona kinkyuu jitai = Corona Emergency / Lockdown

BTW, I wasn't sure what Dom's other dog's name was. I know of Floyd, but I can't remember the second dog's name. Was it Olive or Oliver?

[indianaclems]

Warriors

I know it's not my most beautiful drawing, unfortunately it had two or three bad lucks which I tried to make up for as best I could. but I found it interesting which is why I decided to finish it and post it.

Namaari and Nur both wear Fang's military clothing showing their respective ranks. (what could be more normal for Fang to spend quality time with family)

Nur is officially part of Heart's army but her status as a princess gives her the privilege of subtly displaying her belonging to Heart. (this was approved in advance by Namaari, head of Fang, who was more than supportive)

Inspirations and explications :

I really tried for Nur to ensure that she is an outfit that is a mixture of Heart and Fang (well I try every time I represent her or even Long, her sibling ) for Namaari just a detail that shows its belonging to heart (the belt buckle, I noticed that only Benja wears it or stripes in the Lorcana cards, and in the concept art the soldiers of Heart (absent in the film) wear the logo on their belt but not the flower like Benja. (I noted that in the film Fang's soldiers have a symbol on their belt buckle, unfortunately I was not able to see it clearly but I deduce that it is one of the shapes that the we see to represent Fang) (since Nur would also be an official member of Fang's army she would also wear this buckle) but when she is not in military uniform she wears the symbol of Fang like her mother. if she has an outfit close to Fang's army but in the colors of Heart it is a derogation and a privilege that she has because she is a princess and which was validated by her mother (head of Fang, and therefore of the army) (Namaari was absolutely not opposed to this, on the contrary). I really studied the patterns on the top of atitaya (which are not the same as the bottom) and those on her headband (which seems to be a sign found among the soldiers of the Kumandra stands) I note that these motifs for Fang's headband are figurative, with alternating bands of abstract geometric motifs.

I told myself that the shoulder pad could be a distinctive sign of a particular regiment like an elite commando

[just-1other-nerd]

Okay, so I watched the pilot of The Amazing Digital Circus now that I've found out that it's a YouTube show which means I have access to it in my country. And boy, I've got some things to say:

Great voice acting and great casting especially for Pomni, Jax and Ragatha

I love and hate the visuals, I hate, that it looks so much like plastic, so smooth and textureless and so many contrasting and shrieking colours because I don't like looking at something like that (Idk it's kinda too much and not enough at the same time). But I love it because I'd say that's clearly the vibe they were going for, it really works for the story. It is supposed to look fake, over the top and like plastic to mimic children's toys. It's also supposed to give you the ick and overstimulate you because our main character is overwhelmed and doesn't feel save in this environment because Pomni clearly isn't save. But just as the character, the viewer will eventually adapt to this world.

The animation is really good, even though the characters have limited facial expressions due to being toy-like (for example can't really do many microexpressions with your nose if it's just a triangle) but that also means you can go for more cartoonish expressions which are animated very well and contribute to the overall surreal vibe. I think in this sense it reminds me of Toy Story.

I really like the character design, it's expressive, colourful and off-putting, some characters are more abstract than others, some more like toys. All of them seem fun at first but then you remember that those are human souls trapped in those bodys which they didn't even choose. On that note I got to say how perfidious it is that the new character in the circus is a harlequin/joker/jester when the one that they get rid of is a clown, you know, like a replacement. Each character has unique physical strenghs and weaknesses and I'm curious how the creators are gonna play with that. Nothing really fits together just like in a kid's toy chest.

I love the writing. It's only the "pilot" and yet they already set up so many things (like that computer and that "C&A" logo) and make you ask so many questions and they get you invested in the mystery element of everything, kinda reminds me of Gravity Falls. They clearly already have a vision in mind and know where they want to go. Given that they are indepentent it makes sense that their pilot is different than TV show pilots which are there to show to producers etc. so that they can decide whether to invest in them or not, like compared to the ATLA pilot this isn't a random episode but the beginning of a story. It's a good set up for most of the characters: Caine as the insane game master, Bubbles as their assistent who's not good at their job, Pomni as the new one through which we get to experience the psychological horror of being stuck in a digital world, Jax as the sarcastic jerk, Ragatha as the sympathetic and empathetic one who helps making things easier for Pomni, Kinger as the crazy old one, Zooble as the done-with-it-all one and Gangle as the shy and emotional one. I really hope we explore the last three a bit more in future episodes. They have really good jokes which help create the vibe by enhancing the dissonance between the childish setting and design but very mature and disturbing premise by making the humor mature and the horrifying concept funny which it really shouldn't be. And that kinda fucks with you once you realise that you are suddenly laughing at this very traumatising thing which plays dress-up as something fun. Everything is very kafkaesque (had to read "Der Verschollene" in school so we talked extensively about what that means) in the sense of the main character and we as observers don't know what the fuck is going on and how this world works and feel helpless and trapped in those structures which we can't understand because they're not meant to be understood. But it differs from Kafka's work because the main character hasn't got the personality of an empty slice of toast and it isn't just misery, as I said there is humor and it isn't dreary but colourful. The concept is well established as well, we're going to have little quests and adventures each episode while the overarcing plot is that the characters try to find out what's even going on and how they can escape. The world building is good, like they set up future locations, characters that aren't humans but you're not sure if they are some of the aforementioned NPCs (sun and moon), the void as a concept. But they leave enough unexplained to explore it in future episodes

Now the questions I have: Who or what created that digital world, how much authority does Caine really have, why is nobody allowed in the void, how does the weird headset trap you in this world, how long have the others been there, who are the other abstracted humans, what's going to happen with them, why all of this, where the fuck was that café where Caine and Bubbles chilled, did he really not know what was going on with Kaufmo (you know because he has all those eyes which supposedly watch all of them), for whom are they performing that theme song, why can't they remember anything about themselves except how they got to this world and that they shouldn't be there, what's with that computer, what was going on between Caine and the moon, what was that dial-up 3.40 minutes in, what's with the exit door because I don't believe for a second that he was trying to make this a gift for them, what does "C&A" mean, does the C stand for Caine, who choses the avatar of the humans? And most importantly: How will they escape?

[jobaermiya09]

[randomfoggytiger]

How to "Type" Personality Types: An Ultimate Resource

I decided to throw together a mini guide for those interested in figuring out the Typing system for themselves.

Unfortunately, my knowledge is very slight and the information very vast; and yet, I did my best.

First step: Information. Next step: How to Type.

HOW TO TYPE

Very, very simply:

We tackle either the 8 Functions--

An Ni user sees their path forward. 

An Ne user sees the path of those around them. 

An Si user sees their own past and duty. 

An Se user sees others’ experiences, both past and present. 

A Ti user processes information in a logical sequence. 

A Te user gathers reference points and compares them. 

An Fi user weighs to determine value. 

An Fe user absorbs what other people feel and value. 

 --or, if we're stuck, work at it from the other angles of Direct vs. Informative, Initiating vs. Responding, Outcome vs. Movement, Pragmatic or Affiliative, or Systematic vs. Interest.

DECODING QUESTIONS

Sensing or Introverted: Is the focus of the person or character talking Concrete (Si/Se) or Abstract (Ni/Ne)? If concrete, they talk about things and experiences, tangibilities of the physical world or their experiences and observations of it: the five sense and "What is?". If abstract, they focus on intangibles, implications, concepts, hidden meanings, or visualizations: the theoretical, hypothetical, idealistic, and "What if?" If they're concrete, is that concrete focused on personal sensations or comfort or "have-to"s or loyalties or traditions of those around them? If so, Si. Or is that concrete focused on the present, how they and others make their mark as they move through the world, a next obstacle to overcome? If so, Se. If they're abstract, are they focused on their own future hypotheticals, their path forward, what they want to achieve? If so, Ni. Or are they aware of the future humanity is heading toward or remember clearly the string of past and repeatable mistakes they and others make? If so, Ne.

Concrete: “Yeah, it is that simple.” 

Abstract: “I think x/y/z/ comes and goes in cycles-- it’s popular for some time before it isn’t again.”/”The more you feel, then the more…”/"x/y/z is strictly a sociological basis..." 

Ni/Se or Ne/Si: Once a Sensing or Intuition has been picked, it is automatically paired with an opposite Sensing or Intuition Function: e.g., Ni pairs with Se and Si pairs with Ne. This eases the process of elimination: Ni/Se Types are focused on their own personal future as well as having short-term memories and great manipulatable physical awareness. Ne/Si Types are focused on everyone's collective future and how that will impact their personal comfort, preferring to "predict" rather than be surprised with the future.

Ti/Fe or Fe/Ti: The same goes for the Thinking and Feeling Functions. Ti is logos, personalized thought (and can result in outdated thinking if they don't bother to fact check their assumptions) combined with Fe bonding, emotional outreach, and interpersonal connections (and can be exploited.) Te is gathered thought and data from other, credited sources (and can result in "group think" if they don't fact check the collective thought) and Fi is morals divorced from the expectations or pressures of others around them (and can seem or become selfish.)

Now, the communication questions:

Direct or Informative: is the person or character communicating precisely and concisely to the question being asked? If so, they are Direct. Or are they either adding extra details to flesh out their response or indirectly responding without a definitive answer? If so, they are Informative.

Direct: “If it doesn’t work out, check out."/"That's my point exactly."/"We're starting right where we left off."

Informative: “When a lot of times I/you are…”

Pragmatic or Affiliative: Is the focus of the person or character bent on saying or doing what they intend to say or do to achieve their own goals, regardless of other people's differing or halting opinions? If so, they are Pragmatic. Or is the focus of the person or character focused on the group's benefit over possibly their own, willing to wait and move as one rather than individually charge forward? If so, Affiliative.

Pragmatic: “my OWN”, creative individuality..."/“I think artist should have complete freedom to express themselves however they want.”/[sarcastically] “You have to be a politician or an assassin to really be a super star.” 

Affiliative: “They stop people trying to get to jobs/get their kids to school…”/“I think there is a certain responsibility to [fame]…”/"...to be hurt is to be human."

Outcome or Movement: Is the focus of the person or character focused on an end goal, a magnum opus, that they are willing to take methodical steps towards if they achieve a perfect end result? If so, Outcome. Or is the person more likely to start out with a goal in mind but change it while working towards it, preferring to finish rather than to possibly wait and stagnate? If so, Movement.

Outcome: “Not according to plan...”/“we know planet is warming because of increase x/y/z/ gases… and that leads to more extreme weather in the future but we don’t know what that means in terms of human suffering in the long run.”/"One might be able to do x/y/z/. One should be able to do…" (also an Ne statement.) 

Movement: “[After leaving] I didn’t make a conscious decision to leave necessarily, but I did make a decision to pause...”/“It’s been a journey…” “...up for grabs.”/ “I had this problem, and I did these steps, and it turned into this thing, and that didn’t work out, and--” /"Saw other folks doing it so thought 'might as well give it a go'...”

Initiating or Responding: Are the actions of this person or character comfortable seeking out information from others, moving from one topic to the next while fluidly guiding conversations to and away areas of interest? If so, Initiating. Or are their actions more laidback, preferring others to relay information and steer conversations into new topics or interests? If so, Responding.

Systematic or Interest: Does this person or character automatically refer back to objective rules and methods for settling conflicts or striking deals? If so, Systematic. Or do they subjectively hammer out the best personal or individual deal that will benefit them first and then the other person? If so, Interest.

Systematic: "Trust the process"/"Going through procedures..."

Interest: “I believe we shouldn’t sell a false hope to people, should tell it like it bleakly is.”/"..." let's talk about x politician and this policy they are trying to push and why that might be bad/good..."/"What's your angle?"

RESULTS

There are Sixteen Types; and if we apply the above steps, it'll be easy to quickly whittle down (most) options.

Structure Types (Direct, Initiating, Outcome): ESTJ, ESTP, ENTJ, ENFJ

Starter Types (Informative, Initiating, Progression): ESFJ, ESFP, ENTP, ENFP

Finisher Types (Direct, Responding, Progression): ISTJ, ISTP, INTJ, INFJ

Background Types: (Informative, Responding, Outcome): ISFJ, ISFP, INTP, INFP

AN EXAMPLE

Example: Dana Scully-- post here-- very firmly stands on what is proven to be true, raising an eyebrow at unsourced theories or quacks that toss aside traditional answers to bark about their own theories. We know Mulder won her respect because his speculations were based on established facts or were easily conceded when debunked by current data. We also know she respects and upholds vocations of service, choosing one for herself; and often takes a "Starbuck" role with the male figures in her life (to her chagrin.) From those facts, we can deduce Te and Si-- reliance on provable methods and data, and an upholder of traditions, duty, and responsibility-- but in what order do they fall; and what other Functions can we apply?

Now that we know Scully is a Te and Si, we have to scout for Types with Te/Fi and Si/Ne Functions. That nixes all but three options: ES(i)T(e)J, IS(i)T(e)J, and EN(e)F(i)P.

You can tackle this a few different ways: there's only one Intuitive (ENFP) and two Concretes (ESTJ, ISTJ), two Initiatives (ESTJ, ENFP) and one Responding (ISTJ), one Outcome (ESTJ) and two Movements (ENFP, ISTJ), two Directs (ESTJ, ISTJ) and one Informative (ENFP), etc.

Scully is most definitely Concrete, so that leaves us with ESTJ or ISTJ. Initiating/Outcome or Responding/Movement? It could be so easy to point either way depending on one's mood or the day or any other fluctuating factor; but how do you know if it's what she truly is, or just your perception of her?

Well, we know she's an ISTJ because her primary function is Si, not Te (like an ESTJ)-- meaning, she chooses to do her duty by protecting others with loyalty and perseverance primarily over the pursuit of advancement and public recognition for her achievements (unlike her father, an ESTJ, did--post here.) And how else do we know this? By cross-referencing an ISTJ's and ESTJ's Functions: how the different positions of the Functions change their perspectives, strengths, and insecurities.

This is where my handy dandy, never-leave-home-without-it Typing writeup comes into play.

TYPES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS: The End-All-Be-All for Double-Checking

Each Type slots a Function into one of 8 positions-- Hero, Parent, Child, Inferior, Nemesis, Critic, Trickster, and Demon-- and the degree of its strength is either amplified or suppressed in each of these positions.

I've decided to order this writeup grouped by Function position-- Hero, Parent, etc.-- instead of by Type-- ESTJ Functions, then ESFJ Functions, etc. It was how I wrote down my notes; but may, I own, be very confusing to anyone else but myself. (Oh well, can't change that now without a massive headache.)

1st, Heroic Function-- Heroic energy, optimistic, always lead with this function, most capable/confident/comfortable, hardest to challenge (especially with introverted function heroes); introverted functions have power to choose from extroverted functions choices/obligations; has pride, for the glory of it. Hero Functions are what people expect UP FRONT from others: Se Hero expects up front attention, Ne Hero expects up front desirability, Ni Hero expects up front freedom, etc. Their axis secondary is their backup squad.  Si: ISTJ/ISFJ-- long term memory-- conviction, discipline, duty, honor, loyalty, willing to subsist/wait for years, has choice to be loyal (when Se heroes try to carve loyalty out of them); Ne inferior is afraid of other’s intentions, needs them to be stated; SEEK experiences Se: ESTP/ESFP-- short-term memory access-- physical awareness, mechanical prowess, SHARE experiences Ni: INTJ/INFJ-- future for individual-- ability to choose best path forward for SELF, unaware of others’ future, individual wants/future, master of one’s fate, always has a choice (when Ne tries to change their future) Ne: ENFP/ENTP-- future for all -- prescience, metaphysics, aware of all possible futures/realities, master of fate, changes fate Fi: ISFP/INFP-- morals-- personal beliefs, principals, self-worth Fe: ENFJ/ESFJ-- ethics-- collective beliefs, relies heavily on interpersonal relationships for self-worth Ti: ISTP/INTP-- actual truth-- what I think/or know to be true, not about belief Te: ESTJ/ENTJ-- rational/beliefs-- I believe I can fly if proven statistically, all about beliefs. Feel accomplished through achievements; climb the ladder.

2nd, Parent Function-- personal responsibility, to fulfill duty; has hard time developing because it’s attached to maturity, skeptical, pessimistic, require a lot of mental energy/adversity to use/develop; protects self from Child Function; grounds the hero Si: ESTJ/ESFJ--duty, long term memory, responsible with duty/faith/should do’s; hard to motivate without feedback on how to help others; responsibly loyal (not loyal to not just anyone) Se: ISTP/ISFP-- responsible with mechanics/physics/experiences (can be negative with feedback to help others improve/get out of ruts); get others out of comfort zone; mastery of physical environment, and others internally (through “forced” experiences); pull Si parents out of ruts the most Ni: ENTJ/ENFJ-- responsibly wanting things; can be impulsive (Se child), but tempered; responsible passions/desires/intentions Ne: INTP/INFP-- aware of other’s intentions/fates/end results; provide warnings to others; aware others are irresponsible with their futures; LISTEN to their warnings because they are always right Fi: ESFP/ENFP-- responsible with morality; must feel good about themselves/must feel that they are a good person/people think highly of them Fe: INFJ/ISFJ--forceful in social ways (good and bad), forces people to behave socially/ethically, “you’d better follow rules/ethics/etc. In MY home”; caring/nurturing, but responsible with it (will not nurture those deemed unworthy) Ti: ESTP/ENTP-- responsible with logos (if this/then that), skeptical over true/false as stated by others, always verifies more so then Ti Hero; can be close minded, ESTP more so because they require tangible options to make decisions, ENTP can have mind opened with metaphysical possibilities, but writes off tangible options Te: ISTJ/INTJ-- has to find beliefs/reference points, proper routine to find information; if there isn’t a process to find verifiable information, they create one. ISTJ uses common sense as framework to figure out why people don’t behave rationally/to fix issues; INTJ trying to figure out the system/process to identify the systemic issue to fix or abandon at will; core belief systems; Ti critic forces them to verify beliefs, then take beliefs to their graves

3rd, Child Function-- innocence/miracles/ joy, optimistic; second to develop after hero; can loop with Hero to breed immaturity/”insanity”; don’t commit child abuse, guide the child function, soul crushing; can team up with any cognitive functions Si: INTP/INFP-- abuse=they are the most disloyal ever; miracle of steadfastness/ discipline/conviction/endurance/faith Se: ENTJ/ENFJ-- abuse=never letting them show you something, become their audience (humble yourself to listen/learn from them); miracle of giving an artful/crafted experience unrivalled Ni: ISTP/ISFP-- abuse=not letting them do what they want, must have choices; “lady luck”, things always work out (won’t crack head open when motorcycle crashes, lands on soft grass); miracle of will power and freedom Ne: ESTJ/ESFJ-- abuse=never your telling intent/wants; miracle of making anything possible (meta) Fi: INTJ/ISTJ-- abuse=telling them they’re bad people/soulless/lacking in humanity; miracle of sympathy; “I think you’re fantastic because of x/y/z I noticed about you”; demon combo INTJ becomes insanely selfish, burns down the town to get what they want; demon combo ISTJ will get what they want regardless of what you think, screams in the store to get the toy Fe: ESTP/ENTP-- abuse=telling them that they’re uncaring, most innocently caring/always wants to give balloons and candy but is misunderstood to be jerks because they tell bald truths; the miracle of empathy; “wow, you’re really caring” Ti: ISFJ/INFJ-- abuse=telling them that they are stupid, “you’re illogical” ; miracle of truth Te: ESFP/ENFP-- abuse=telling them that they are not smart, “you’re not believable, you haven’t done the research/work”; miracle of knowledge

4th, Inferior Function-- MOST IMPORTANT, where fear/insecurity/vanity exists, most painful pressure point; gateway to HAPPINESS; socially engineer; needs to be maintained/nurtured; if ignored, gateway to Demon Function/Superego activation; can be vengeful (negative) or avenger (positive) fear can be turned into aspiration; can outperform Hero in bursts Si: ENTP/ENFP-- afraid of having a bad experience/not enough faith/duty/endurance/honor; must be forced to try new things; accused of being babies when they’re young; aspirational loyalty/honor, no one can beat their endurance and fortitude Se: INTJ/INFJ-- afraid of giving bad experiences-- vain/insecure over five senses, serious performance anxiety, any new experience (with people) causes them to spiral without reassurance, need performance feedback; aspirational performance, no one can outperform Ni: ESTP/ESFP-- afraid of wanting the wrong thing/don’t know what they want; try to find themselves, have a hard time committing because they might make the wrong choice; aspirational will, no one can conquer/beat down their will power, can plow through any obstacle Ne: ISTJ/ISFJ-- afraid of the “what if”; need common sense/concreteness; must have tangibility; aspirational metaphysics, cannot be out done in “what if”s Fi: ESTJ/ENTJ-- afraid they are not moral enough/that they are bad/lack principals; aspirational altruism, cannot be out moraled Fe: ISTP/INTP-- afraid of making others feel bad (prone to guilt) ISTP will fight over being told they are uncaring, INTP will be apathetic and you will be dead to them; aspirational giving, no one can out beat their support/teaching/giving/caring for others Ti: ESFJ/ENFJ-- afraid they are incorrect/unintelligent/they don’t know what is true or false (dumb blond stereotypes); very smart actually, but wilt over accusations of being stupid because they take time to reach conclusions; aspirational thinking, no one can out think Te: ISFP/INFP-- afraid what others think of them/reputation is everything/needs others to believe good things about themselves (doesn’t matter if it’s true as long as others believe it); aspirational references/academics/popularity, cannot be out populared/academic-ed

5th, Nemesis Function-- gateway to Unconscious, worry/concern, confrontational, in Unconscious 5th and 1st trade places, polarity relationship. Nemesis forces Hero growth, so they hit 4th function (weak spot.) Maturity recognizes attributes of Nemesis and causes it to work together w/ Hero. Ni nemesis confronts Ni parent/hero. Introverted Situations: person’s self; 5th forces 1st to take action for self (if 1st stagnates) Extroverted Situations: 5th and 1st team up to take down outside threats, a.k.a. people Si (the past, duty, honor, obligation, self-discipline): ESTP/ESFP-- takes experiences for self to survive: worried that they lack in discipline/honor/not dutiful enough; force yourself to add obligations to yourself/help others’ with their obligations, even if you don’t want to; nostalgic, fearful tomorrow won’t be as good as today, prone to inaction, failure to launch syndrome; force ESPs to have experiences even if they hate it; Si pulls from experiences to prove wisdom of advice for Se hero to listen to them; ESTP uses 5th to take down weakness, ESFP uses 5th to help others perform correctly. Se (physics): ISTJ/ISFJ-- wants loyalty, will discipline self to give good experiences: worried they will push someone away/ that they’ll be too weird/giving others’ bad experiences; smell good/good manners/physical presentation; don’t push others away; develop self discipline to give good experiences Ni (willpower): ENTP/ENFP-- will help others’ futures so they can help ENPs’ futures: worried about their own future, which causes them to create movement (to their detriment or not), intertwines others’ future with their own; save their futures by helping others’ futures Ne (metaphysics/others’ fates+futures, what happens before will happen again): INTJ/INFJ-- wants to know others’ intentions, will “shine the light” to find out: jump to conclusions about others’ intentions; worried about how others’ fates(lives) get in the way of their own; make decisions based on false perceptions; paranoid; Si demon remembers all the bad and none of the good of others; validate that INJs are important to you/give them good experiences so they remember the present more than the past; talk about your fears of betrayal with others’ before cutting them off; do healthy loyalty check, but never too hard; Ni hero is confused w/ different paths to take, Ne brake checks them before they do anything rash/check for problems before jumping in Fi (morals): ESFJ/ENFJ--prove self is good by helping human beings: worried about self worth-- that they aren’t good/moral/enough, etc. Give validation and support; they need to volunteer to show themselves their “goodness”, be sympathetic with others Fe (ethics): ISFP/INFP-- will force self to be caring for others: they worry they are selfish; put their own needs first above others’; volunteer, be empathetic and serve others, donate art to charity, philanthropic Ti (logic): ESTJ/ENTJ--will force self to research to prove their own intelligence: worried they don’t know what they’re talking about; need facts and data, good to go; do research Te (rationale/beliefs): ISTP/INTP-- instead of worrying if others’ are factually correct, they will verify others’ are correct: te verifies w/ ti hero; requires verification, takes statements with grain of salt, prove yourself as credible and they will defend your ideas to the grave; will mentor/teach others if they see faulty logic

6th, Critic Function-- critical attitude; hypocritical at worst, wise at best; “grandparent”, wise beyond years if developed; manipulated through this function; criticism can snap others out of wrong usages Si: ISTP/ ISFP-- have a hard time committing, but expect others to commit (often labeled by others as psychopaths/narcissists), need to develop self-discipline to reign in commitment; super forgetful-- “memory of an elephant” but then “only remember important stuff” and still forget/justify by saying “well, it wasn’t important then”; call them out by recording with dates something they will forget then call them out on it later (which will make them rage) Se: ESTJ/ESFJ-- elitist hypocrites; have to look presentable, if others aren’t “you are an idiot and I’m better and you’re beneath me”; terrible fashion while criticizing others’ terrible fashion sense; “I can do this better” but they can’t and flop, jump to conclusions about their presentation; wise if they utilize their presentation skills in helping others (“your shoe’s untied, you’ll look foolish if you x/y/z”) Ni: INTP/INFP-- choose to not want anything, avoid risk with inaction; “everyone’s irresponsible with what they want, so I won’t give in to what I want and will have failure to launch syndrome”; if you’re stuck in inaction, you don’t have the right to criticize others for wanting something else; need to prove self and intentions through failure, otherwise failure to launch or get stuck with abusive/manipulative people Ne: ENTJ/ENFJ-- assume others will betray them, jumping to conclusions of others intentions; (casual adult interactions because they don’t believe anyone will really commit to them, distrust others loyal intentions); feel abandonment more than others and are always afraid they’ll be abandoned; need to recognize that not everyone will backstab; won’t allow OTHERS to commit to THEM Fi: ISFJ/INFJ-- feel meaningless/ashamed/worthless/not good enough by default, impossibly high moral standards; can hold others to impossible standards (that they can’t meet either); help others to gain recognition/value to feel good about themselves; checkmate impossible morals standards for self and others Fe: ESFP/ENFP-- super selfish, “I’m such a good person and should be rewarded, but you might be a bad person” at worst, need to prove they’re good by example at best and not assuming others are bad; ENFPS immune to manipulation, but they manipulate others (can be good or bad) Ti: ISTJ/INTJ-- assumes they’re always correct/smartest person in the room; must be used to verify beliefs, “It’s likely you did it, because I perceived it’s possible you did it, and since I’m the smartest you’re wrong and I’m right”; INTJ assumes actions through “patterns”, ISTJ assumes what may happen; wise critic verifies and gives benefit of the doubt Te: ESTP/ENTP-- assume others are stupid, and that graphs/sources/religions are wrong at worst, and must be individually tested/verified at best; lights on fire the garbage while salvaging the gold which it shares with others; hypocritical of judging others as dumb without fact checking

7th, Trickster Function-- weakest function; subjectivity; blind spots; child function of the shadow set; unaware they’ll burn themselves while playing with fire; tries really hard to be aware, but stinks at it (unlike demon function, which doesn’t care) Si: ENTJ/ENFJ-- forget EVERYTHING, need Si users to remember for them or to take copious notes; only retain devastating memories because of their mind’s tiny hard drive; don’t have a sense of duty, “should” are subjective; don’t judge their memory, help them remember Se: INTP/INFP-- unaware of others experiences that they give to them; atrocious fashion sense (train Si child); when trained they implement and never forget the training; unaware of what is happening in the moment, must be made uncomfortable to snap them back into reality Ni: ESTJ/ESFJ-- they think they know what they want, they DON’T; do NOT let them make big decisions alone, they will destroy themselves and you; they need others to make decisions for them/to be dictated to because they think they know what they want, but they don’t (will get scammed or messed over if left to fly solo) Ne: ISTP/ISFP-- unaware of others intentions; weak to others plotting; “it’s not real because I can’t touch it/see it in front of my nose”, then a bus hits; can jump to conclusions about others Fi: ESTP/ENTP-- believe ANYTHING can be a good or bad thing; not sympathetic, but very empathetic; no moral principles; only cares if it means a good/bad thing to YOU; don’t care if others think highly of them, only care about if they feel good about them/value them Fe: ISTJ/INTJ-- zero social awareness, assume others are like them/will value what they do/if others don’t they’re wrong; social norms/rules are subjective and constantly change, so it isn’t a priority for them because anyone can like or dislike anything (very Japanese, no judgment if you do x/y/z/ even if it’s awful as long as you do it in x/y/z/ located spot); often told they’re heartless and terrible because of their unawareness or lack of norms, which punches their Fi Child which is all about sympathy Ti: ESFP/ENFP-- believe ANYTHING can be true or false and that there are no absolutes; cannot understand logic; belief=reality, incapable of logical thought (Ti); ESFP can be master strategist, ENFP become “librarian of Alexandria”; best input using Te child aggregated collective hearsay, have a hard time verifying, open to group think Te: ISFJ/INFJ-- not aware of others beliefs or others thoughts, telling others the basics that others have already thought of; true or false is all that matters (Ti child), and not belief systems of others; if they have the wrong Te input, they can be founded on lies without realizing it; alienating others with faulty data (breaking laws/etiquette/rules)

8th, Demon Function-- most powerful of all functions, most corrupting; source of man’s propensity for evil; when the self bends in on self (trying to replace hero function); the agent of chaos, the Faustian Deal; self gratification; inferior function has to have their needs met and the Unconscious/Subconscious have to be developed to keep the demon at bay Si: INTJ/INFJ-- destroying the world through justice seeking; seek loyal people; if no one is loyal after all of the experiences and cultivation and caring for those others, they say “why bother? I’m going to focus on giving ME a good experience”, and become loyal only to themselves-- ultimate selfishness, and say it’s their new duty to take out revenge on others disguised to themselves as justice, don’t care collateral damage and will gladly take on any cost without remorse (mutual self destruction through vengeance); desires vengeance more with Se inferior, willing to destroy everyone who has wronged them (and themselves to get revenge) because their meaning has been taken from them Se: ENTP/ENFP--reality being destroyed; most destructive of all, hatred of reality; others need to make them comfortable because of their need for comfort and they will provide options and freedom for others; but if their needs aren’t met they cause immediate, slow, and permanent damage; prefer to maim, not murder Ni: ISTJ/ISFJ-- pushing all desires/passions on themselves; afraid of others intent, and if not given reassurance they then focus desire solely on self, becomes debaucherous; the high-chair tyrant Ne: ESTP/ESFP-- destroy the fate of humanity; with no freedom of choice, “no one gets a choice”, and they’ll burn others futures to the ground because theirs is already ruined Fi: ISTP/INTP-- depraved debauchery; if no one recognizes the hoops they jump through to make others feel good/uses them/takes advantage of them, they throw themselves away and become debaucherous to make themselves feel good (almost willful self-destruction) Fe: ESTJ/ENTJ-- not caring what any human feels; if others say they’re selfish/greedy/terrible, they stop caring about anyone and say “no one gets to feel good until I feel good and even then MAYBE I’ll let you feel good” Ti: ISFP/INFP-- no one else’s opinion matters; if no one thinks highly of them or listens to their input/help that they want to provide or thinks they’re stupid, they will say “who cares, no one does, so what I think goes from now on” and will let others implode using the truth, ISFP will make a mega weapon to obliterate existence, INFP will make the ultimate trap to consume everyone Te: ESFJ/ENFJ-- destroys the voice of others; “if no one listens to me, then no one get their say”; must be listened to and given their day in court, and will feel loved/justified; heartless “I told you so” because they weren’t listened to and will rip the structure that they built out from under everyone and all will fall to their deaths

CONCLUSION

Now that we have those resources at our fingertips, you can all bounce off and have a merry time without reading the latter half of this post... because it gets in-depth, in-deep, in-over-our-heads.

IN-DEPTH INFORMATION FROM THE GROUND UP

THE BASICS

It's very easy to Type a character (a person is obviously more complex and requires greater skill.) The Typing goal is to nail down the 8 Functions, the main functions that a person is born with and develop with greater skill as they get older, and figure out how they express those to others in the world. Personally, I find it easiest to assess Worldview then double-check with Self-Expression; but the methods are interchangeable.

Worldview

Worldview breaks down how a person inputs and outputs information: their senses, intuitions, thinking processes, and emotional assessments.

There are four types of Cognitive Functions: Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling; and each of those types have primary and secondary characteristics (Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.) Every Type will have all eight of those characteristics slotted differently in their 8 Cognitive stacks: first or Heroic Function, second or Parent Function, third or Child Function, fourth or Inferior Function, fifth or Nemesis Function, sixth or Critic Function, seventh or Trickster Function, and eighth or Demon Function. Thinking Functions work in tandem with Feeling Functions and Sensing Functions work in tandem with Intuition Functions; further, opposites attract with their secondary functions, meaning Ti works in tandem with Fe, Se works in tandem with Ni, Fi and Te, Ne and Si. If a Type has a dominant Si Function (E/Si/TJ, I/Si/FJ, etc.), then it will naturally pair with an Ne Function (E/Si/TJ has Te Hero, Si Parent, Ne Child, Fi Inferior; I/Si/FJ has Si Hero, Fe Parent, Ti Child, Ne Inferior; etc.) The same goes for Ti/Fe (INTP has Ti Hero, Ne Parent, Si Child, Fe Inferior), Fi/Te (again, ESTJ has Te Hero, Si parent, Ne Child, Fi Inferior), and Ni/Se (INFJ has Ni Hero, Fe Parent, Ti Child, Se Inferior.)

The goal is to strengthen each weakness and balance each strength, bringing a person into complete order: for instance, a Heroic Function is optimistic; but without the guiding pessimism of the Parent and Inferior Function it and its optimistic (and less refined) Child Function would create an unhealthy loop of chasing what feels good rather than what is healthy or balanced.

But Functions aren't the only aspect of a Type's Worldview.

Pragmatic or Affiliative illustrates what a Type chooses to act on: Pragmatic has an individualistic, "what gets result" lens that will, in extremes, ask forgiveness rather than seek permission. Affiliative has an interdependent, "what is the right or proper thing" lens that will seek permission first rather than forgiveness after. Pragmatic is likely to openly state what they think or do what they want rather than cater to what others expect them to do; whereas an Affiliative is likely to keep quiet and not act if they don't know the dominating opinion, molding their sensibilities to what has been deemed morally correct.

Systematic or Interest branch off as complementary components to both Pragmatics and Affiliatives (and, to a broader degree, Sensing and Intuitive Functions): in dealing with or making agreements with others, Systematic prefers objectivity and following procedure, having found the best possible method and stuck to it across the board; whereas Interest prefers subjectivity, finding the best solution for particular or individual scenarios that will benefit them as well as others. I.e. "Trust the process" versus "what's your angle?" personified.

Self-Expression

Self-expression decodes a person's approaches, conversational style, and methods for moving about in the world.

Direct or Informative illustrates how a Type engages with others: Direct prefers to answer questions concisely or plainly whereas Informative answers with extraneous details for a "fuller" picture. Informative is also less likely to directly state what they want others to do, preferring to say "Maybe we should go to the store sometime?" when the groceries are low rather than request "Could you go to the store today?" (like Direct prefers to do.)

Initiating or Responding illustrates how a Type seeks or engages with new information (and is a better way to tackle the often butchered Extroverted vs. Introverted question): Initiating finds and goes toward new information, actively keeping themselves in-the-loop, actively opening and closing or changing topics in conversations with others. Responding, meanwhile, prefers for others to fill them in on information or to change topics, feeling most comfortable staying on topic or when others take the helm of conversations. (It's often better used as two tiebreakers between Types rather than an initial deciding factor-- unless blatantly obvious, of course.)

Outcome or Movement illustrates how a Type works at reaching a goal: Outcome crafts a straight path to their end goal, working at it diligently until their final product is perfect. Movement works towards their end goal but switches paths or final decisions along the way. The cliched "the goal or the journal" quite literally applies to these two: Outcome focuses on the goal, Movement focuses on the journey.

THE TECHNICALITIES (NOT NECESSARY TO READ)

All of this is not necessary to know until after the Basics of a Type have been nailed down.

Technically, a personality Type points to four sides of the mind: its Ego (primary/"Heroic"), Subconscious (secondary/"Shadow"), Unconscious ("Aspirational"), and Superego ("Demonic"):

For example, an ISTJ has eight main Functions (Si Hero, Te Parent, Fi Child, Ne Inferior, Se Nemesis, Ti Critic, Fe Trickster, and Ni Demon, respectively.) The top four functions (Si/Te/Fi/Ne) are an ISTJ's Ego, the quadrant that an ISTJ uses the most primarily; the latter four are its Subconscious (its "Shadow), the quadrant an ISTJ uses secondarily for growth and maturity (usually kicks in after puberty, after the brain is flooded with hormones for the growing process-- and another reason why puberty is such a messy process.) If you notice, the Se/Ti/Fe/Ni of the Shadow form a "Type" of its own (ESTP); however, these Functions are only a fourth part of a fully formed ESTP, present only to aid or assist an ISTJ's Ego as extra, smaller tools rather than to dominate or override its primary Functions.

The Unconscious and Superego parts of the mind are tied to the fourth functions of the previous two quadrants: The Unconscious quadrant branches off from a Type's fourth or "aspirational" function-- where vanity or insecurity lies-- meaning an ISTJ is aware that their Ne Inferior is only strong in small bursts but aspires for the strength of an Ne Hero. In essence, it shoves that fourth Function into a new quadrant, putting it in first position and effectively flipping their other four primary functions into reverse order (Si/Te/Fi/Ne becomes Ne/Fe/Te/Si); this creates a "shortcut" version of an ENFP, and that means an ISTJ's fourth function can, in short bursts, perform as well as (or in some cases better than) the reverse-order Type's Heroic Function (ENFP.) The Superego quadrant is tied to the Subconscious (or "Shadow") fourth Function-- in this case the ISTJ's Ni Demon. Altogether, an ISTJ's Ne Inferior aspires to have the metaphysics and pattern recognition of an ENFP's Hero; and an ISTJ's Ni Demon transforms into the dark, tyrannical version of an INFJ's Ni Hero ("I WANT and I will not be deterred! NOW!")

Furthermore, some Functions in the "Shadow" are directly correlated to other Functions in the Ego, mirrors of each other, if you will: the Nemesis is the Hero's slight opposite (Se Nemesis to an ISTJ's Si Hero), serving to trip them up and keep them sharp; a Critic is the more opinionated pessimist to the Parent (Ti Critic to an ISTJ's Te Parent); a Trickster is the more damaging optimist to the Child (Fe Trickster to an ISTJ's Fi Child); and a Demon is the more corrosive and destructive side to the Inferior (Ni Demon to an ISTJ's Ne Inferior.) Why is this important? When a Hero Function is out of balance, the Nemesis Function rises up to smack it down: ex. an ISTJ's Si Hero is wired about duty and honor and loyalty, carrying out the traditions and meeting the expectations of those around them; however, an ISTJ can become prideful about what it endures-- taking on more than it can handle and letting others fall by the wayside in their efforts-- and that is when the Se Nemesis makes an ISTJ worried about their performance for others, causing them double back to check-in with and help those they might have neglected. This is the same for the other Functions and their tie-ins-- again, all part of that balancing act so a person is neither too much or too little in any area.

It seems complicated; but really, it still boils down to The Basics section: figure out a Type's Worldview and Self-Expression, and all the technicalities fall into place.

THE MBTI'S MISTAKE: "JUDGING" AND "PERCEIVING" (J vs. P)

Meyers-Briggs Personality Types have wide-range appeal; but, unfortunately, the two women behind this system completely misinterpreted Jung's definitions and original intent for Judging and Perceiving Functions.

MBTI places all Types ending in "P" in the Perceiving category and all Types ending in "J" in the Judging category. Unfortunately, Perceiving does not refer to the overall perception of a Type-- it refers to the input, or perceiving, Sensing and Intuition Functions, Si/Se and Ni/Ne. Sensing and Intuition absorb and assess new data (or input) from the world around them, either internally (Si and Ni) or externally (Se and Ne.) Judging, too, does not refer to an umbrella for judgment types-- it refers to Thinking and Feeling Functions, Te/Ti and Fe/Fi, which are used by a person to make the final decision, or judgment, with the perceiving input they've received. This means that, although ESFPs are "P" Types (because their First Function, Se, is a Perceiving Function) ISFPs, are actually "J" Types (because their first Function, Fi, is a Judging Function.) The same goes for ESTJs and ISTJs (ESTJ's Te "Judging" and ISTJ's Si "Perceiving"), as well as ENFPs and INFPs (ENFP's Ne "Perceiving" and INFP's Fi Judging) and the ten other Types.

That's only one small but incredibly significant mistake the MBTI system perpetuates.

Then why does the Typing system keep the "P" and "J"? Because it denotes what secondary Function the letter directly preceding it has: the "J" in ISTJ dictates that the "T" before it has a little "e" attached, e.g. I/S/Te/J; which further dictates that the "S" before the "T" has a little "i" attached (because the two middle letters have opposing secondary Functions.) Thus, an ISTJ and an ESTJ may have S/Te/J, but only one is a Judging Function.

HOW TO FIGURE OUT THE FUNCTIONS

Since we know that the Functions always pair off into groups of two (Ni/Se, Si/Ne, Ti/Fe, Fi/Te), decoding the type of Sensing a person has will automatically pair them up with an opposite Intuition (or vice versa)-- and that process can be replicated for the Thinking and Feeling Functions, as well.

So, how do we figure out Ni vs. Ne, or Si vs. Se, or Ti vs. Te, or Fi vs. Fe?

(Note: Any words in italics aren't my original notes. All credit goes to CSJoseph and his team and their efforts to build on top of Jung and Berens and Nardi's collective work. Their website-- and other information and disclaimers-- will be at the bottom of this post.)

Ni: Source of hope. Willpower: my choice, my future, my decisions, my wishes, my goals, my results, my objective, my options. ALL about hope. Tenacious (tenacity and its stubbornness and relentlessness is attached to Ni.) Where there’s a will there’s a way. Relentless and dauntless. Choice translates to ownership. Objective Function: what do I want?  Expects absolute freedom of choice. The asking function. 

Ne: Metaphysics, consequences, aware of what others want, gives choices and options. Potential energy. Always seeking desire. The “why?” Envious (whereas Se is jealous.) Ne is seeking hope and are drawn to Ni Types to alleviate their hopelessness. Subjective Function: what do others want? 

Si: Not tenacious; it’s long-suffering and endearing, perseverance. “Made my wounds my work.” Ni is relentless and dauntless by comparison. The sharing function. “I perceived/saw/etc.”

Se: Tenacious, short-term energy and memory, more in-tune with physical surrounds and others' movements than one's own internal sensations. Jealous (whereas Ne is envious.) “They doubted me…”, anything to do with doubt is an Se Statement. Treat objects or people like totems to store their memories "in" (“...there on the page for me”: treating book like totem.) “You this, you that…”

Put in the effort (Si) to create something (Se) possible (Ne) that they want to have (Ni) and experience (Si). A complete cycle.

Ti: Wants to know the actual truth, not what is believed to be true. "What I think or know to be true." Ti user must become hyper-aware of their thoughts, exploring how they impact their mind and outlook of themselves and the world. Thoughts are free to be released and watched as they pass by. One can manually inject thoughts into the stream of consciousness. This process can be used to build new patterns of thought.

Te: Believes in the tried-and-true. Tied closer to collective belief rather than distilled truth. "I believe I can fly if proven statistically." Seeks recognition. Drawn to Ti's unadulterated opinion and fact to extract and test its theories. “We can act if we understand the situation"/“The fact that you are listening to me now shows what technology can do.”

Fi: Personal beliefs and principals take precedent over collective ethics. Self-belief is tied to Te's status and recognition. Evaulates one's own emotional needs.

Fe: Collective beliefs, community ethics, inclusion. Self-worth is tied to reception or exclusion from the group. Evaluate others' emotions and meet their needs. “Beautiful cities, beautiful country, incredible places, etc.” [talking about place visited]/“Very much appreciated…” 

Difference between Ti and Fi

Ti User: They expect action→ “You heard what I said, but you didn’t do what I said to do”

Fi User: Wants to be heard, not listened to and obeyed. Fe/Fi both want validation. “Free to use it if he/she feels like it.”

The Workings of Each Extroverted Function

Your physical surroundings (Se), your desirous surroundings (Ne) your intellectual surroundings (Te), and your emotional and evaluative surroundings (Fe).  

FUNCTIONAL PAIRINGS

The Armaments: Sword and Mace, Spear and Bow

Sword and Mace, or Ti/Fe Types, bases its decisions on logical deduction and the broader ethics of the community: "if this, then that", then followed by external fact-checking. It is very aware of the feelings of others, coming to their aid quickly of their own freewill but also because Ti/Fe people can be easily guilted and exploited. Although an expert at spotting contradictions in the thinking of those around them, it's also at risk of being at fault if there is clouding personal bias or incomplete research (and is also prone to the bad habit of not listening to important Te/Fi data.)

ESTP, ENFJ, ESFJ, ENTP, ISTP, INFJ, ISFJ, INTP

“You know what?…”  [Ti giving personal thought.]

“In normal speeches, it is less than x/y/z. In the case of political speeches, the number is zero...” [Ti is aware of cause and effect.] 

"That was so stupid, x..." [Ti critiquing action, not person]

“I’m sorry this/that…” [Fe readily giving comfort.]

“However many people who can’t speak also have disabilities that don’t allow them to use a keyboard, like me” [Fe aware of the struggles of the community.]

“That’s a good question because…” [Ti is pleased with the logic, and Fe is praising.]

"That’s such an honor, thank you." [Fe gratitude.]

“[I] Didn’t care...” [Ti personal thoughts and Fe emotional outreach.]

"I can do this!" [Sword and Mace and Fire and Wind statement: overcoming a physical test.]

Spear and Bow, or Te/Fi Types, bases its decisions on statistics and data, running through aggregated, respectable sources before applying their own individual moral standard and crafting an applied principle. It's very aware of its own emotions and values. Curating rather than creating knowledge, it indispensably extracts a Ti idea then crunches it through a process until it can be replicated. It often defines behaviors or people by labels to better categorize them.

ESTJ, ENTJ, ESFP, ENFP, ISTJ, INTJ, ISFP, INFP

“Your arguments…” [Te acknowledging or debunking others' opinions.]

“The proof is in the pudding…” [Te statistics and data.]

“...not very disrespectful”/“... is very respectful to me” [Te awareness of acceptable behaviors.]  

“So you believe in it?” [Te outsourcing for others' opinions.]

"This book is a go to source...” [Te curating sources.]

“When you really value and love a person…”/“When these guys put so much into a woman…” [Fi personal investment.]

“x/y/z/ [other person/thing] has a positive view of Communism.” [Fi aware of the moral implications of that statement.]

“I represent [x] person/thing” [Te branding and Fi pride at being part of something great.]

“x person is stupid"/"She’s crazy/she’s fanatic” /“I’m too cool for that…” [Te label and Fi personal morals.]

“I might not have been awarded, but I was venerated for it” [Fi personal satisfaction and Te awareness of awards]

The Elements: Fire and Wind, Earth and Water

Extraverted sensing (Se) likes to give experiences to introverted sensing (Si), so it’s like the wind blowing upon the earth, basically. Introverted intuition (Ni) is kept in check by extraverted intuition (Ne) water and fire.

Fire and Wind, or Se/Ni Types, is the awareness of one's physical environment and how to exert willpower to affect an outcome or begin progress forward. They need freedom of choice; and look to others' actions and results to determine their own course. Giving instead of receiving sensorial experiences is preferable to them; and their short-term memory focuses fully on either the present or their own, personal future. More likely to reject before they're rejected.

ESTP, ENTJ, ENFJ, ESFP, ISTP, INTJ, INFJ, ISFP

“[x] is a movie star…” [Se aware of another's life choices]

“If there is more attention paid [to me] for whatever reason…”//“What I noticed about people…”  [Se awareness of others.]

“...didn’t want to mess up…” [focused on Ni's willpower and personal "I want"]

"The collaboration [between us]..." [an Se awareness of others and Ni focus of personal wants that have been achieved]

“...his mind was what I was after.” [Se awareness of others' capabilities and Ni focus on what one wants]

Earth and Water, or Si/Ne Types, is an awareness of all possibilities and probable outcomes, "predicting the future" by closely watching the actions of others around them. through the actions of others' desires and decisions. They change behaviors and routines only when necessary, preferring their habits and comforts (and, potentially, fear unpredictability); and warn others of past disastrous outcomes with their long-term memory and healthy concerns for safety.

ESTJ, ESFJ, ENTP, ENFP, ISTJ, ISFJ, INTP, INFP

“That’s why I did [x].../“I did this/that…” [focused on one's Si choices or motives]

"It could mean..."/"She didn't want him."/“They wanted x/y/z/…” [focused on that person's Ne wants]

"This is difficult to me." [Si focus on internal struggles]

“I was over here waiting…” [Ne wanting to be wanted]

"I have to tell you this, I have to share (my story)" [Si sharing long-term memory to bond]

“We will know what to do… people will want to take action”/You think… you have to be a part of this”... [Ne collective for future action.]

Bonus Ni/Se and Si/Ne Notes

If an Ni (/Se) User has a crush on an Ne (/Si) User, create an activity and invite them: automatic win because they want to be wanted/included. 

If an Si (/Ne) User has a crush on an Ni (/Se) User, schedule your own thing and invite them to come along if they want, leaving it up to their choice. 

If Ne Users aren't wanted, they despair and (can) become perpetually suicidal. They overcome this by realizing they can get through anything with hard work and self-improvement to achieve desirability. 

The strongest Ne User is one who can move through life despite despair. 

The strongest Ni User is one who can move through life despite paranoia. 

Bonus: Combining the Elements and the Armaments into Houses

The Four Houses are the Rubik's cube of the Armaments (Ti/Fe, Fi/Te) and the Elements (Ni/Se, Si/Ne, showing how each categorization clicks together to form a whole.

Crusader

Sword and Mace, Earth and Water: ESFJ, ENTP, ISFJ, INTP

Crusaders are the champions of fairness and protecting the innocent. They place their faith in truth and seek to bring about a just world. Crusaders seek to make others happy, yet have difficulty accepting happiness for themselves. They must have adversity in life lest they think something is wrong. Crusaders see hardship as ever-present and to be endured.

Templar

Sword and Mace, Fire and Wind: ESTP, ENFJ, ISTP, INFJ

Templars seek to make people better. They are interested in others' well-being and strengthening their character. Templars require freedom to make their own choices and find their own way in life. They teach, mentor, counsel. They forgive and help people heal, yet they can also ghost people who refuse to take responsibility for themselves or who betray them.

Philosopher

Spear and Bow, Earth and Water: ESTJ, ENFP, ISTJ, INFP

Philosophers are studious and academic. Faith, belief, ideas, and prestige are all important. They are drawn to civic duty, charity, and politics. Philosophers live their lives committed to doing the right thing. They also seek to create rules and guidelines for others to follow. They are focused on their own happiness and comfort over that of others.

Wayfarer

Spear and Bow, Fire and Wind: ENTJ, ESFP, INTJ, ISFP

Wayfarers are independent, realistic, and objective. They challenge rules and like to find better ways of doing things. Wayfarers need freedom to live life how they want. They are self-assured and competitive. They seek esteem and loyalty, but doubt others' ability to give it. They tend of be suspicious.

Another Bonus: The Temples

The Temples are another classification of four into groups of four... but this one's kind of cool.

Each Type has four sides to its mind, remember? The Ego, Subconscious (which are the 8 Functions), the Unconscious (what the Ego aspires to be), and Superego (what the Type transforms into when their needs aren't met.) The Temple takes those four sides of the mind and "houses" them in one place.

For instance: An ISTJ's Ego is (obviously) an ISTJ. Its Subconscious (or "Shadow") Functions are Se (Nemesis), Ti (Critic), Fe (Trickster), and Ni (Demon); and, as mentioned above, those form a watered-down version of an ESTP (ESeTiP.) Well, the Unconscious and Superego sides of an ISTJ's mind also have four separate Functions; and those Functions form an ENFP (Unconscious, Aspirational) and INFJ (Superego.) This means an ISTJ shares a Temple with an ESTP, an ENFP, and an INFJ; and those four Types all share a Temple with each other, too.

Soul Temple (ESTP, ENFJ, ISTJ, INFJ)

The defining characteristic of the Soul Temple is an overarching concern with character. 

Generally speaking, the Soul Temple is concerned with other people’s “Souls” or core identity. In specific terms, they are concerned with authenticity, and whether others are presenting themselves truthfully or not. Nothing enrages this Temple more than inauthenticity. 

The primary concern of this Temple is the character of themselves and others. Is their character deep or shallow? Strong or weak? Because this Temple is so focused on character, the types that inhabit this Temple often have extreme virtues and vices. They possess either very strong or very weak characters, with little in between. 

Whether you’re an ISTJ, ESTP, INFJ, or ENFP, you have a built-in focus on character, created by the “secret sauce” comprised of these four types swimming about in your psyche together.  

The focus of the Soul Temple is abstract.

Soul Temple: “I’m not in [x]’s body, I don’t know how they felt/thought…”/"[Depression is] just not wanting to wake up."

Heart Temple (ESFP, ENTP, INTJ, ISFJ):

The defining characteristic of the Heart Temple is passion.  

These types are all about passion and heart. They are drawn to human emotion, expression, and drama. ESFPs and INTJs are all about performance. The ESFPs want to embody the performance and INTJs want to guide the performance. ENTPs are about external passion. And ISFJs consistently facilitates drama around them if there is no drama for them to experience or be a part of. 

For these types, it’s not about the drama itself, but about the high emotional intensity that draws them into passion.  It is no surprise that many actors and stage performers belong to the Heart Temple.  

The focus of the Heart Temple is abstract. 

Heart Temple: “If you’re not a fan of yourself, who else will be?” 

Mind Temple (ESTJ, ENFJ, ISTP, INFP):

The defining characteristic of the Mind Temple is education.  

These types are all about teaching, education, and learning. ISTPs take something apart primarily because they want to figure out how it works, not just because they have mechanical awareness. It is no coincidence that the ENFJ is often referred to as “The Mentor” in personality circles. You will often find INFPs and ESTJs in the education system, or in some field where they are able to educate those around them in a professor-like role.   

This entire Temple is about exploring, developing, and understanding the mind. 

The focus of the Mind Temple is concrete. 

Mind Temple: “My father was my teacher… and when I got old, he gave me all the instruction, he used to teach me to encourage me. No doubt my father [was inspiration.]” 

Body Temple (ENTJ, ESFJ, ISFP, INTP):

The defining characteristic of the Body Temple is creation.  

The word “Body” is related to the sense of physical connection that these types have with the world, and their ability to manipulate it. This can be done by producing things, and sometimes “production” is refined through consumption. They need to consume in order to produce.

A piece of art, money, a new system, or an invention all have physical results. Even beginning a family, often started by ESFJs, is an act of physical creation. 

The Body Temple is all about the physical manifestations of creation.  

The focus of the Body Temple is concrete. 

Body Temple: "x was hugely generous..." often talk about generosity or legacy.

AND THAT'S ALL FOR NOW

What started as a "Type with Me" project turned into a massive undertaking from out of nowhere.

I dedicate this to those of you who were curious, wanted to learn more, but didn't have the time to comb through hours and hours of articles and transcripts and videos.

Now that I've dumped a few years' work into your laps-- with the hope that most of it was legible--

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

Disclaimers: This is a self-assessed analysis. This information is not based on the abominable MBTI system (which has been butchered from its original Jungian typology since ~WWII); instead, it’s a combination between the works of Jung’s type psychology, Dr. Linda Berens’ Communication styles, Dr. Dario Nardi’s EEG brain scans and compiled research, and others’ data and practices as accrued and simplified by CSJoseph. This system is based only on the Nature side of Nature/Nurture; and each “Type” is not a “box” to fit everyone into– simply a tool to help understand the basics of the human mind that science has only begun to fathom in its limited scope.

Second Disclaimer: While CSJoseph is indispensable for the information he provides, I must warn that his anecdotes separate from the science are not statements I always agree with (and can be down-right frustrating.) If you hop onto his website, take his opinions separate from the Types with a heaping grain of salt.

And lastly: here is the link to the Companion Guide I use.

[open-hearth-rpg]

#RPGCovers Week Twelve Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (2018) Tithi Luadthong aka grandfailure

While they’re since become a regular go-to for many people’s stock art (a good thing, I’ve used them for the Age of Ravens collections), Legacy was the first place I really noticed Luadthong’s work. I’m sure I’d seen their images elsewhere but here the cover grabbed my attention. Then, as I went through the rest of Legacy, I was struck by how much the interior art by Luadthong felt consistent and right. 

I don’t know if it is a question of exposure and mental connections, but I can’t imagine any other art with this– the core book or the two supplements. I remain shocked that the art wasn’t commissioned specifically for these concepts and materials. Maybe they were all then released as stock art, but I don’t think so. I’m focusing on covers, so let me stick with that– but understand that the interior art in these is great, evocative, and smartly chosen. 

Part of what makes Luadthong’s work so good is that it presents a rich story, but one which leaves open a great deal of imaginative space. Things are in silhouettes, abstractions, or slightly blurred, leaving you to fill in the details. 

For our main cover, we have an orange sky– is it dusk or dawn? Or is the sky that color from some fallout? The lightest color falls about a third of the way down the page–so there’s a spectrum of light and dark from the top and bottom. We only view our figures from the back, but we can see that weird mix of archaic tech and cobbled together tech scrap. Just above them we see the ruins: titanic and collapsed.

But below them, where we’re looking down, we see a settlement. Are our figures returning home or is their purpose more sinister? The village below is the only place in the color scheme which shows us a true green, hinting that this is a place of life and growth. The logo at the top and the settlement below balance out the composition of the page. 

Legacy has a couple of supplements which use Luadthong’s work. The two most significant are The Engine of Life and End Game. The former is more green and filled with life, as is appropriate for the subject matter. We actually see the faces of our characters, but we’re still left with questions, like what is this structure they’re sitting in? On the other hand, End Game works in harsher reds and oranges. The sky behind burns, and it feels more like an explosion than a dawn. Unlike EoL the figure here is shadowed and uncertain, hidden from us. What is this “swing”? A metaphor or a literal harness for some flying craft?

We don’t know and again that’s its strength: letting us find our stories. 

I should also mention the Legacy logo is pretty good. I like the combination of a distressed font with an almost stencil approach for certain letters. I hadn’t noticed until I really examined this closely, but the letters are cut away by a ruined skyscape. At first I assumed that was an element added to the main title, but it’s actually part of the font itself and appears across the lettering. It’s subtle and great.

[sadekulsayad]

Location logo

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Get an custom logo: https://www.fiverr.com/s/ljYjEqy

[rie-kay]

A Voice through Type

The typeface is the voice of a text—so they say. But what kind of voice? On closer inspection we are mostly talking about well-behaved ones. For corporate logos they need to have enough general appeal to appease the largest possible audience. For most articles they are more comparable to ambience in order to serve the message. Wouldn’t it be fun to take this statement more literal and apply it to (fictional) people? Giving the textual representation of speech a visual indicator regarding the character of the speaker and the quirks of their voice. Sounds fun—at least as an experiment.

(Reading time ~9 mins)

A limit to our fun

A few limitation beforehand. What I propose here is not a method. It is more like a thought-process that I hope can help to decide on a typeface representation of a character. Voices are wonderfully complex. We change our voice depending on speaking context or emotion. Picking various fonts or designing a super-family that would feel cohesive while also being meaningfully different for each situation would be super cool, but also very overwhelming. We are talking more of a proof of concept here. So I focus more on a general representation. Broad strokes often are a good thing when we are talking about details of details (the thing letters are in the context of a page or screen). I’m also gonna brush over the intricacies of characterization of people. To keep it simple let’s say we work mainly with a adjective-based framework that can be extended by whatever association comes to our mind in regard to the character.

It’s not a rigid system but a fun experiment after all. Talking about fun: The limit to our fun isn’t the sky, but legibility and readability—to a degree. Namely how well the letters are decipherable and how easy it is to read the text based on the merits of the chosen font. If we pick something very out there and expressive we might jeopardize the legibility. Same goes for readability. If the font causes discontent in the reader, they might hate it when the character speaks. On the other end: Maybe that is exactly what you want. Another way to circumvent these issues would be to limit the expressive font to the speakers name. The actual dialog could then be set in a more general font. The name would then function as a kind of logo that by proxy colors the words of the speaker. But it would also introduce a form of abstraction, as the typographic voice wouldn’t be as immediately connected to the words. Also, you are missing out on a lot of cool glyphs with this method. As a time-saving alternative it is still interesting.

The establishment

Now to the actual task at hand: Drawing a connection between typeface and characterization. In essence this process comes down to dealing with readers expectations. That doesn’t mean you need to meet all these expectations. I’m operating under the assumption that typographic connections are somewhat arbitrary. Arbitrary in this case doesn’t mean random. Readers’ associations can be wildly different, based on their personal experiences and preferences. A blackletter font can look edgy-cool to one person, to someone else it might look traditionalistic. One person might find Helvetica timeless, someone else might find it overstayed its welcome. A Font that looks exciting to one viewer, someone else might find pretentious. As designers we can’t look into other peoples’ heads. But we can make an educated guess. 

Because even though everyone is an island, no one actually is an island. Our associations with typefaces are based in a common learned visual language that is shaped by the context in which we see fonts used. For example for the longest time Apple used lightweight sans serif typefaces to promote their technical gadgets. This resulted in the association of light sans with luxury. On the opposite site the usage of Comic Sans by many small businesses resulted in an association by the wider public with affordability. Futura still can be associated to futurism and space-travel because of “2001: A space Odyssey.” 1 Blackletter fonts are perceived either iffy due to the appropriation for nazi propaganda or traditionalistic due to the usage in traditional restaurant signage (at least in Germany). Typographic associations are of course subject to change. This can come in the form of trends or simply new use-cases.2 To use Blackletter as an example again: The young folks (that definitely doesn’t make me sound old) first association with this letter type is more likely to be with urban street wear.

For our purpose established associations can serve as shorthand. Similar to the way stereotypes are used for writing characters. When we use typography tropes in such way, the shorthand should not be the end-goal. Just as a stereotype in character writing is not the end-goal for characterization but a “conversation opener.” The more interesting character—typography connections come from subverting expectations or building onto them.

Spiky means angry

Another well to draw from are haptic and kinetic associations. A letter with spiky features will probably evoke the haptic feedback of touching a spiky object. In contrast, a font with very round features will cause associations with smooth and round surfaces just by proximity. A light typeface can be perceived as flimsy or as filigreed. Bold letters can be associated with heaviness. A font with a wide letterform can be perceived as steady and immovable. Oblique weights often imply a form of movement. For our little experiment we could use these associations to refer to unique features in a character’s appearance or personal traits.

A final aspect to consider when associating typefaces with characters is the “well-it-just-looks-cool” aspect. As with most things in design picking something you like because you think it looks cool, is a valid reason. One could argue that what looks cool to a designer is not just personal preference but (also) the result of research and exposure to different designs. To pick something that looks cool in this case is also a good way to create new typographic associations. So that is an added bonus.

While all these aspects are important when considering font associations, more often than not typographic nuances go right over most readers heads. 3 This means on the one hand to be blunt with your choices. Tiny letter details that you consider important to convey a characters personality are likely to get overlooked. If not due to the text size than because typographic nuance is often not perceivable to laypeople. The latter aspect could also be considered freeing, as you can try a lot of type shenanigans that go under the radar.

Words into actions

Enough overthinking. Time to put these concepts into action. For that we need a volunteer. May I propose we go with everyone’s favorite android songstress Hatsune Miku.

Hatsune Miku is a fictional character that was created for the software synthesizer ›Vocaloid‹ in 2007. The software is able to not only interpret notes with different pitch and velocity but also with vocals—hence the name. The sound is based on the voice actress Saki Fujita’s voice. The resulting sound is a very distinct robotic, and high-pitched voice, fitting for idol pop music. The software found a wide-spread following—which can in large parts be attributed to the iconic character design by Kei Garō. The concept for the character was that of a singer-diva android in a future where all songs are lost and need to be reinterpreted. As the character started to gain a life of its own through a large fan community and motion-captured life concerts with her as a hologram, the character is a bit more of a Japanese idol than a diva.

Hatsune was imagined as an android—a machine build in the image of humans. Considering this, references to the digital would be out of place, as she is meant to exist in the physical world of the future. Existing typefaces associated with technological progress have a tendency to look dated. Dated, in the sense that you can tell what idea of future shaped its design (think for example of ›Eurostyle‹). Going the “2001” route—using Futura as a shorthand for futurism—wouldn’t fit due to its mechanical construction principle. A more contemporary mix-style of geometric and grotesque sans could fit the “machine-imitating-a-human“ theme. Than again, to me this seems a bit too sterile, considering Miku’s implied extroverted-ness. Therefore I think focusing on this aspect is more promising.

The typographic style that caries the most diva-ness for me is the modernist serif form principle (Didot). It is often used in the context of high fashion, where it communicates carries an air of aloof-ness, quality and beauty. Typefaces in the modernist style emphasize verticality, and feature constructed shapes, as well as extreme stroke contrasts. 

I want to draw a connection between the constructed letter shapes and the artificial construction of an android like Miku and her singing voice. I think the modernist form principle transports this better than geometric type, as it is less streamlined in its construction and allows for more decorative elements. Also the high contrasts read to me as eccentric and therefore fitting well with the diva aspect. Because androids are modeled after humans but are still distinct from them, I think it could be cool to add a detail that implies human behavior was imitated but in a wrong way. I thought mirroring the shadow axis of the “o” in a transitional serif type could be a nice nod in that direction. That will put the font more in the category of transitional Serif instead of modern, but that’s fine. I like the transitional Serifs more anyway. Also I want to add prominent ball terminals—just to be extra.

In case I would look for a font—not make one from scratch—I would need to make more compromises. But working with existing fonts also creates other association possibilities. Like, seeing some feature in a font and come up with an association afterwards.

Anyway, this process like I said is very biased and subjective. But, I still think it is a fun way to approach typeface selection. I’m also sure there is a certain applicability outside of characterization of fictional people. Why not use this thinking process to pick fonts for a logo?

——————————————————

Notes:

Funnily enough “2001” doesn’t get nearly as much flag for its rather literary connection to its title font than “Avatar.”

Speaking of trends: Type Campus’ Whitepaper “The 2022 Type Trends Lookbook” and “The 2023 Type Trends Lookbook“ do a very good job outlining recent font trends and putting them in the contemporary and historic societal context.

Jeanne-Louis Moys was able to show in her survey that far more important were how the text was spaced, what weight was applied, or if the text was set in cursive font. Jeanne-Louis Moys. (2011). Typographic Voice: Researching Readers’ interpretations. (p. 14–15). In: Technical paper 6, Simplification Centre. simplificationcentre.org.uk/ressources/technical-papers (accessed April 2022).