The Quick and the Dead

Quick not only means “fast”, but as a noun, it also has the meaning of raw flesh (under nails or light skin) and the most emotionally sensitive part. It is also a dead word meaning “living people” in a similar context. “And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” It is a phrase from the Apostles’ Creed. There is a movie with the same name. Directed by Sam Raimi, Sharon Stone, Gean Hackman, Russell Crowe, and (young) Leonardo Dicaprio appeared. I liked the title with the word Quick, which has more ambiguous meanings, than the movie itself.

The Korean Typography Society editorial department asked me to create an ambigram for Upside Down, a special article in LetterSeed, a journal they publish. Despite the difficulty in making an ambigram, the first phrase that came to mind was the Quick and the Dead.

Design: Jaemin Lee
Year: August 2021