Enric Jardí: "Why is there no serious literature that incorporates emojis?"

An inscription engraved in Roman capitals with the letters EN and others that are only hinted at. Jardí has chosen for his profile picture a fragment of a tombstone from the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona, which could –could, he says– coincide with part of his name.They told me I was affected for writing with certain fonts.

— Until two days ago, printers had a limited repertoire of typefaces. But now we all act as designers and choose the font based on what we believe it communicates. It is like fashion: they are conventions, not a final truth.

So it makes no sense for an algorithm to filter resumes by letter?

— It is like filtering by the photo: unfair, a bad decision, but based on prejudices that we all have. How do you react when you receive an email all in capital letters?

I hide. Arial, Times New Roman, Tahoma... Do typefaces return like bell-bottom trousers?

— All the designs that are killing it are copying those from the 70s. What is cool is retro, everywhere: in visual culture, in music, in cinema. Nolan's Odyssey, new, it is not. Rosalía is very good, but she is made of little pieces of the past. Mark Fisher said that we are trapped in the 20th century.

Will artificial intelligence get us out of this?

— Quite the opposite. AI must be sure of things; it needs the past.

You design books and magazines. Can the book, as an object, be perfected?

— It is very difficult. You can put the page number in another place, you can change the order of things, but if it hasn't changed it is because it is very hard to improve it. Writing, on the other hand, yes.

What does it propose?

— New punctuation marks could be introduced. Or something else: why is there no serious literature that incorporates emojis? A few of them, well placed, would give you an expressiveness...

What should a book cover express?

— You simply have to identify it; you will read it later.

Did he achieve it with Libros del Asteroide?

— Yes, they are identified immediately. Their design fulfills the task that editors often ask of you: that it be noticeable that those books belong to that publisher.

Twenty years on, would I change anything?

— When you have succeeded and people identify you, the best thing is not to touch it.

He said that design is the child of industry and commerce, not of art. Why is it different?

— Because design does not start from zero. The most visible designs, those that appear in yearbooks and win awards, might be done motu proprio. But 99% come from a commission. In practice, design is a branch of marketing. Another thing is that the elements that give shape to the object are more related to art.

And isn't a cathedral a commission?

— Yes, but it is not comparable: it is a project of years and with other needs.

Any order you are glad you did not have to do?

— Well. There is a pictogram that is not resolved and ends up always being represented with text: the one for pushing or pulling a door. Expressing three dimensions is extremely difficult.

Did the emergency exit actually manage it?

— It was made by Yukio Ota, a Japanese designer who died this August. At first, it may seem strange that the pictogram is green, and not red, but he precisely sought to create the feeling that it was a safe place to go.

Hm. Doesn't he go through life analyzing everything he sees?

— No. Perhaps I notice things that others overlook, but it is like a linguist who notices the phonetics of the people they talk to. One can live perfectly fine.

What have you noticed today?

— In the roadworks no-entry sign: it is an open hand that stops you and, at the same time, is crossed out. It is a double negation. What is it telling me, that I should not-not pass? And, even so, it works perfectly.

Which other pictogram would you say is not very well resolved?

— The one about restrooms. It is always a euphemism. For example, on the English railways, they used to put a bow and arrows for men, and a spindle for women. Absolutely incomprehensible. At the same time, the euphemism allows for jokes: that is why, in a Far West bar, they put cowboy hats on the figures.cowboyon the figures.

Is there a generic masculine in pictograms?

— The generic human figure is a man; the woman is only drawn when it is specifically meant that something is for women. Visual language carries the same problems as verbal language.

And does it also drag fossils?

— The “Save” icon is still a three-and-a-half-inch floppy disk, an object that has not been used for years. Or the level crossing sign, which is a 19th-century locomotive. But verbal language also has this: we do not pull any chain when we pull the chain of the toilet.

What if we update them?

— It is not a good solution. They are codes that everyone already knows.

But isn't it said that young people don't understand what they see?

— I do not agree with the idea that young people are visually illiterate: they are precisely the ones who have seen and will see the most images; it is another matter that they do not know how to verbalize it. Four or five generations ago, many people hardly saw any images in their day-to-day life; there were those who did not even have a mirror.

Did they at least know how to identify Saint Luke in a painting?

— Neither. The knowledge about who this one and that other one is was held by four scholars and a priest. To say otherwise is just the contempt of the elders towards the young that has occurred throughout all of history.

It is a pity, but since we have started with a tombstone: do you know what lettering you would like on yours?

— [River] I am not sure about it.

But do you know which one I wouldn't want?

— The Comic Sans.