Elmer Fudd did, judging from his use of it, but most designers do too.
The symmetry of the form, that doubled shape, the pure
geometry of the outline. Whether standing
boldly on its toes in upper case, or resting gently on rounded cups in lower, there is just something very satisfying about the letter. Typographers who work with it must tip their hats to both architecture and dance.
boldly on its toes in upper case, or resting gently on rounded cups in lower, there is just something very satisfying about the letter. Typographers who work with it must tip their hats to both architecture and dance.
But W is not just a pretty face. It is also a letter with a sense of humor. It is only one of three
that are made of doubled shapes, one of only twelve that can be
horizontally mirrored, and one of only two that form a different letter upside
down. Who would expect such
excitement back there at the 23rd position?
The letter W was developed from a symbol used by the Semites of ancient Palestine
called waw or
vav, which meant hook. Its history is inextricably tied up with the letters U and V, which derived from the same symbol. Readers of these alphabetic odes will recognize the familiar world travels of the letter as it was adapted by the Egyptians as a hieroglyphic that represented a supporting pole and which looked a lot like our modern Y, then by the Phoenicians, and then the Greeks who called it upsilon, and then the Romans who gave it the austere form of the V.
vav, which meant hook. Its history is inextricably tied up with the letters U and V, which derived from the same symbol. Readers of these alphabetic odes will recognize the familiar world travels of the letter as it was adapted by the Egyptians as a hieroglyphic that represented a supporting pole and which looked a lot like our modern Y, then by the Phoenicians, and then the Greeks who called it upsilon, and then the Romans who gave it the austere form of the V.
During the 1000s, French scribes first doubled the V and wrote it as W – or sometimes as UU – in order to write the Anglo- Saxon letter wen as they used it to represent a sound for which they had no symbol. This
variation was later called the "double u" when the symbol and its sound
were adapted for early English.
Like all of its alphabetic siblings, W can be many things. It can stand
for west or watt or wolfram, which is also known as tungsten. In modern
times it has served duty as the name of a magazine, the nickname for a president, the infamous W2 form for the IRS, and when repeated three times it becomes a magical incantation for entry to any website in the vast World Wide Web.
W can be the strong and silent type as in wrong and answer, quiet as a whisper as in wise or wanton, and brash and loud as in whoa!
and whoopee!
In other words…it is also versatile.
But perhaps the most enticing thing about the letter W has
nothing at all to do with its typographic form
or even its linguistic uses. Maybe the letter is most appealing simply for the sound it represents and the way it forces us to pucker up and blow softly into the air. Like kissing an admirer, which we all should be...admirers, that is, of the letter itself. That alone should be enough to recommend W for the alphabetic Hall of Fame. Or at least the Type Tunnel of Love. After all, it may take three letters to make a kiss with a keyboard, but only the letter W can make you form one on your lips.
or even its linguistic uses. Maybe the letter is most appealing simply for the sound it represents and the way it forces us to pucker up and blow softly into the air. Like kissing an admirer, which we all should be...admirers, that is, of the letter itself. That alone should be enough to recommend W for the alphabetic Hall of Fame. Or at least the Type Tunnel of Love. After all, it may take three letters to make a kiss with a keyboard, but only the letter W can make you form one on your lips.
Try it.
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