PERMANENT SEMINAR 2026
April-December 2026

SESSION 2
28 May 2026

From chapter to screen: typography as word-image and mediation of meaning
Emília Dias da Costa (FBAUP)

This session proposes looking at typography as a word-image: not just text, but form and a visual presence that guides the eye before inviting reading. From the illuminated chapter house – where letter and figure intertwine – to the baroque frontispieces, where the title page stages authority and meaning, to the modern poster, where the letter takes on a public voice and political power, to the screen, where it also becomes an interface – rhythm, navigation and attention management – typography is observed as a mediation device, responsible for hierarchizing, making legible and building expectations. Through the operations of translation, mediation and contagion, continuities and metamorphoses that cross media and eras are discussed, showing how typography remains central to the construction of contemporary verbo-visual ecologies.

FLUP, Room 306 | 17h00
Link to Teams: https://bit.ly/4sADbDj

Organization: CITCEM-FLUP – Sociabilities and Religious Practices (CITCEM Research Group)
Organizing committee: Nuno Resende (CITCEM-FLUP)

Emília Dias da Costa is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, where she has taught since 2006 in all three cycles of study. She has a Master’s degree in Multimedia Art and a PhD in Design. She teaches, researches and curates in the areas of visual communication design, information design, infographics, information visualization, visual literacy and visual culture. Her research focuses on the relationship between image, perception, legibility and knowledge production, with particular attention to scientific communication and graphic devices for synthesis and dissemination. He regularly participates in academic projects, research initiatives, conferences, publications and curated exhibitions.