The P Word

This morning I went to  GR Detectives Day at the GR Public Library, which included six speakers delving into specific and unusual aspects of GR architecture and history. Tom Dilley, a very popular local historian, talked specifically of Egyptian Revival Art in GR's Oak Hill Cemetery. In his discussion, Dilley repeatedly referenced symbols and icons of Papyrus, and every time he said it, I flinched.

For a graphic designer, "Papyrus" is the dirtiest of all the dirty words. It's one step past "Clip Art". But I knew Dilley wasn't saying it to torture me, clearly there was another form of Papyrus out there....

Ancient Egypt was perhaps the first country to recognize national plants. These were the Lotus (water lily) and Papyrus, which symbolized Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively. 

The lotus and papyrus plants both symbolized the waters of Nun, from which the Egyptians believed life began. The papyrus, which grew in thickets along the Nile, became the symbol of fertility and life itself. As such, fresh papyrus stalks became a part of the offerings that the deceased took to the grave, and stylized papyrus stalks, with their sweeping flower umbels, were commonly used in architecture design.

 

The plant itself is much less offensive than the font, and given the proper climate, I'd consider adding it to my yard - though in the US the plant has proven to be somewhat invasive... how odd... that kinda sounds like the other Papyrus we know and hate...

You can read much much more indepth descirption of the flowers role in Eygptian art and sybolism at touregypt.net

A Hate-Hate Relationship

Over the past several years, I have taught many how to recognize and detest Papyrus.


Papyrus was created in 1982, but it wasn't until over a decade later, when it was released on the Mac OSX standard platform in 2003, that it became a noticeable problem. The first year of it's Mac release Papyrus didn't ruffle my feathers, I may have even used it once or twice. But by 2005, I had grown to passionately despise the typeface.

My objection is simply overuse. It's everywhere: organic products, non-organic products, alternative healing methods, teas, snack foods, menus, cosmetic products, storefronts, Nathan Fillion movies (!), animated shows and multi-million dollar movies (including the subtitles???). It can also be seen all over basically any resort or beach town—I've been known to twitch when walking through the towns in the Outer Banks of North Carolina because I couldn't point out violations fast enough.

I'm not the only one startled (and annoyed) by the universal infatuation with a typeface that should really be used in moderation and in niche markets. And I'm not alone in the fight to educate civilians.

Here's some great Papyrus-centric Blogs:
Papyrus Watch: (Incidentally I've eaten at this deli in Camden, Maine, that they are posting about here and it's amazing! Also, Camden makes my list of top 5 US cities I wouldn't mind living in)
Attack of Papyrus
Say it With Papyrus

People were pretty irritated with Papyrus' Appearance in Avatar:
Fonts.com writes:
One would think that, in the $300,000,000+ budget for Avatar, there would have been some room for hir­ing a let­ter­ing artist or cal­li­grapher. If there was only $30 allot­ted to the sub­title typeface (which appears to be the case), designs like ITC Noovo™, ITC Tem­pus™ Sans, Briem™ Script or Car­o­lina™ would have car­ried off the alien and beau­ti­fully exotic demeanor of the Na’vi quite well – and would not have reminded the audi­ence of a res­taur­ant menu.

Papyrus has become a common punchline. Here's one of my favorite comics: (click to enlarge)


So familiarize yourselves with the type specs and be on the lookout. It won't be long before Papyrus slaps you in the face. And over the next few weeks, watch out for the holiday season's version of Papyrus: Almonte Snow.