Le visage des textes
Abstract
How do we read faces? And how do we read texts? The hypothesis we present in these pages is that the habits of exploring faces are transposed in the exploration of written texts. In other words, the habit of reading faces leads to favoring certain dynamics of exploration of visual surfaces and organization of visual elements. In fact, the two–dimensional graphic space for displaying signs, whether on the page or on the screen, is structured on the two axes top–bottom (vertical) and left–right (horizontal). The third axis is represented by the relationship between the center and the periphery: the reader’s attention is directed “inwards” due to the fact that the center of a shape or frame has a more attractive power. These habits generally guide the exploration of surfaces and, more specifically, of writings as they guide the exploration of faces.