Begin with the unmodified letter
Set the glyph in a clear typeface first. Study its counter, joint, terminal, crossbar, and silhouette. If the plain letter is not readable at the intended size, decoration will not rescue it.
Choose one structural moment
The strongest move usually happens in one place: a counter becomes an orbit, a crossbar becomes a bridge, or a terminal becomes a path. One place is enough to carry the idea.
Test the silhouette again
Blur it, shrink it, and show it without the explanation. The changed letter should still be named correctly before the viewer notices the metaphor.


