Mo'a Ti
Can Poetry Be Still? On Movement, Meaning, and the Poetic in Design
November 2024
/
5 min
Can graphic design or concrete poetry still be poetic if there’s no fluidity?
This question sits at the intersection of language, perception, and form. Poetry is often associated with movement—rhythm, transformation, flow. But does poetic experience require literal motion? Or is there something deeper, more internal at play?
The Role of Fluidity in Poetic Expression
Traditional poetry thrives on rhythm and progression—whether through syntax, line breaks, or the breath of spoken word. Fluidity reflects the natural movement of thought. But this movement doesn’t have to be visible. It can be semantic, perceptual, emotional.
Can graphic design or concrete poetry still be poetic if there’s no fluidity?
This question sits at the intersection of language, perception, and form. Poetry is often associated with movement—rhythm, transformation, flow. But does poetic experience require literal motion? Or is there something deeper, more internal at play?
The Role of Fluidity in Poetic Expression
Traditional poetry thrives on rhythm and progression—whether through syntax, line breaks, or the breath of spoken word. Fluidity reflects the natural movement of thought. But this movement doesn’t have to be visible. It can be semantic, perceptual, emotional.
Can graphic design or concrete poetry still be poetic if there’s no fluidity?
This question sits at the intersection of language, perception, and form. Poetry is often associated with movement—rhythm, transformation, flow. But does poetic experience require literal motion? Or is there something deeper, more internal at play?
The Role of Fluidity in Poetic Expression
Traditional poetry thrives on rhythm and progression—whether through syntax, line breaks, or the breath of spoken word. Fluidity reflects the natural movement of thought. But this movement doesn’t have to be visible. It can be semantic, perceptual, emotional.
Concrete Poetry: Still, Yet Poetic
Take the work of Augusto de Campos, for example. His poem Código spirals inward, word by word, yet remains static. The visual structure guides the eye, creating an internal motion.
Or consider Eugen Gomringer’s Silencio—a quiet square of repeated “silencio” with a void in the center. The stillness becomes part of the message. The poem performs silence.
These works do not move, but they activate movement in the mind.
Graphic Design and the Rhythm of Meaning
Poetry in graphic design doesn’t require motion graphics to be expressive.
A piece can be poetic when it contains:
Rhythmic typography (through scale, weight, or spacing)
Sequential layout (unfolding meaning across a page or scroll)
Emotional tension in form, color, contrast
Absence—through negative space, interruption, or quiet
Even a brand identity, when stripped to essentials and designed with care, can evoke a poetic quality.
Can Something Be Poetic Without Movement?
Yes—if it allows for transformation, perception, or resonance.
Poetry is not movement. Poetry is experience.
A static design can hold poetic charge through how it asks us to look, pause, or feel.
Lack of fluidity can be a statement itself: about stillness, structure, or control.
Fluidity isn’t required for poetry—but perception is.
If a piece (design or poem) invites engagement, opens interpretation, allows for depth—it becomes poetic, even in stillness.
Motion is not only visual. It’s cognitive. Emotional. Philosophical.
INSIGHTS is a collection of thoughts, fragments, and reflections on design, poetry, and visual language. Sometimes structured. Sometimes spontaneous. Always in dialogue with the work.
Concrete Poetry: Still, Yet Poetic
Take the work of Augusto de Campos, for example. His poem Código spirals inward, word by word, yet remains static. The visual structure guides the eye, creating an internal motion.
Or consider Eugen Gomringer’s Silencio—a quiet square of repeated “silencio” with a void in the center. The stillness becomes part of the message. The poem performs silence.
These works do not move, but they activate movement in the mind.
Graphic Design and the Rhythm of Meaning
Poetry in graphic design doesn’t require motion graphics to be expressive.
A piece can be poetic when it contains:
Rhythmic typography (through scale, weight, or spacing)
Sequential layout (unfolding meaning across a page or scroll)
Emotional tension in form, color, contrast
Absence—through negative space, interruption, or quiet
Even a brand identity, when stripped to essentials and designed with care, can evoke a poetic quality.
Can Something Be Poetic Without Movement?
Yes—if it allows for transformation, perception, or resonance.
Poetry is not movement. Poetry is experience.
A static design can hold poetic charge through how it asks us to look, pause, or feel.
Lack of fluidity can be a statement itself: about stillness, structure, or control.
Fluidity isn’t required for poetry—but perception is.
If a piece (design or poem) invites engagement, opens interpretation, allows for depth—it becomes poetic, even in stillness.
Motion is not only visual. It’s cognitive. Emotional. Philosophical.
INSIGHTS is a collection of thoughts, fragments, and reflections on design, poetry, and visual language. Sometimes structured. Sometimes spontaneous. Always in dialogue with the work.
Concrete Poetry: Still, Yet Poetic
Take the work of Augusto de Campos, for example. His poem Código spirals inward, word by word, yet remains static. The visual structure guides the eye, creating an internal motion.
Or consider Eugen Gomringer’s Silencio—a quiet square of repeated “silencio” with a void in the center. The stillness becomes part of the message. The poem performs silence.
These works do not move, but they activate movement in the mind.
Graphic Design and the Rhythm of Meaning
Poetry in graphic design doesn’t require motion graphics to be expressive.
A piece can be poetic when it contains:
Rhythmic typography (through scale, weight, or spacing)
Sequential layout (unfolding meaning across a page or scroll)
Emotional tension in form, color, contrast
Absence—through negative space, interruption, or quiet
Even a brand identity, when stripped to essentials and designed with care, can evoke a poetic quality.
Can Something Be Poetic Without Movement?
Yes—if it allows for transformation, perception, or resonance.
Poetry is not movement. Poetry is experience.
A static design can hold poetic charge through how it asks us to look, pause, or feel.
Lack of fluidity can be a statement itself: about stillness, structure, or control.
Fluidity isn’t required for poetry—but perception is.
If a piece (design or poem) invites engagement, opens interpretation, allows for depth—it becomes poetic, even in stillness.
Motion is not only visual. It’s cognitive. Emotional. Philosophical.
INSIGHTS is a collection of thoughts, fragments, and reflections on design, poetry, and visual language. Sometimes structured. Sometimes spontaneous. Always in dialogue with the work.
Antonija Škugor
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© Mo'a Ti 2025.
© Mo'a Ti 2025.
© Mo'a Ti 2025.
