What is with tiny text?

[auronlu]

I see that as a design element it occasionally adds zing to icons. I am not sure why. I also have a vague feeling that the emperor has no clothes. Tiny text delivers no content and merely serves as another kind of texture, so why is it so "cool", so popular? I wonder if it is really delivering some sort of subliminal message that the aliens are coming to destroy the earth and we must all bow down and worship the Vorlon god Boojie. What gives?

Comments

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

My question was rhetorical -- I know that they're textures, and I also can see what muggy's saying: the teensy little text tends to make the icons resemble movie posters or book covers with blurbs, which our eyes are used to seeing.

What puzzles me is why that looks more polished. It really does!

And on the other hand, with my bad vision, there's a part of my brain screaming, "What does it say? What does it say?" I tend to keep my computer's font bumped to 14 point so that I don't have to squint.

I'm always struggling to find ways to integrate legible text with my icons. I don't always succeed, mind!

[daluci.livejournal.com]

From what I can see that you've made in your userpics... you've done rather splendidly. And much better than some people who call themselves experienced icon-makers. ♥