Thinking About Adaptation

I have used the word ‘adaptation’ to underpin my thesis work as I begin. This seems to suitably encapsulate the process I am interested in taking apart and better understanding. My reading so far has focused on adaptation from book to film. Within this realm, it has been useful to observe how this process occurs – and if this model might shed light on my own notion of adaptation.

In moving from book to film, there exists the basic problem of inventing actions (correlatives) that reflect the novel’s psychological drift. Being a visual medium, in film emotions are displayed or enacted, rather than declared. The verb differs, it is not about telling, but about performing.

I have begun to consider the repercussions within graphic design – and particularly how one may adapt content to type and motion, two areas I am interested in. How may type perform a narrative without simply telling it? Can a visual language constituted of type be created?