EXPRESS YOURSELF

It’s Time to Reimagine What We Think of When We Think of Reading

Enough with the tropes. Let’s get real.

Alt text for this illustrated essay appears below the photos

Alt text:

When my Kindle goes to sleep, it shows me images that are clearly some user-experience engineer’s idea of Things What Denote the Writerly or Readerly Experience.

These images are usually close-ups of implements, en masse.

Pencil points (watercolor image of three pencil points all in a row; a little ant nearby comments, “HOW IMPRESSIVE.”)

Offset-type blocks (watercolor image of three different types of As on wooden blocks, an ant nearby says, “THIS IS POTTERY BARN LATE 90s, NO?”)

Fountain-pen nibs (watercolor image of thee fountain pen nibs; ant nearby says, “HOW SHINY!”)