Pictorial Letter Substitution

C what they did there?

This is when letters, punctuation, and the like are replaced with pictures of things shaped like them. For instance, a round object such as a ball may stand in for an "O". Alternatively, the object may replace only part of the letter, such as the dot of an "i" or the hollow part of an "A".

This is commonly done with logos to make them more interesting and give them visual ties to whatever they're advertising. When given to fictional characters as a handwriting quirk, it can indicate their interests and personality, such as a Girly Girl dotting her "i"s with hearts.

See also Character in the Logo, which can overlap with this, and Lucky Charms Title, which is when symbols are mixed into a title. Sister tropes are Letters 2 Numbers (replacing letters with numbers), The Backwards Я (replacing them with characters from other alphabets), and Anthropomorphic Typography.

When somebody actually writes with objects, it's Couldn't Find a Pen. When a character's speech bubbles use pictures instead of words, it's Pictorial Speech-Bubble. See also Cypher Language, which is when letters are substituted with different ones to make a fictional language. If the logo is for a sequel entry, it may be an example of Thematic Sequel Logo Change.

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Examples:

Animation

• Mechamato: Overlapping with Character in the Logo, MechaBot is present in two versions of the show's logo. A pre-release logo◊ has him in the middle of it as the first "a". In the finalized logo◊, his circular body makes up the "o".
• Noonbory and the Super 7 is an overlapping Character in the Logo example, having Noonbory's head appear where the first "O" in "Noonbory" in the logo would be.

Anime & Manga

• The logo◊ for Ayakashi Triangle renders the Japanese text in a bizarre, incredibly angular font that draws the "あ (a)" kana and the dakuten as equilateral triangles. The English translation of the same logo is written in all-caps with all the As drawn to emphasize their triangular shape, sometimes filling them in with red. The English release eventually uses a slight variation of the latter where the A in "TRIANGLE" is replaced with a triangle (or perhaps the Greek letter delta).
• The title logo of Bastard!! (1988) replaces the "T" with a downward-pointing sword.
• A lot of (but not all) logos used in the Dragon Ball franchise use a one-star Dragon Ball in the place of the letter O.
• A subtle one in Dr. Slump where the handakuten in the last katakana of "スランプ (Slump)" is replaced with a heart (and in the 1997 revival, a mechanical nut).
• The Japanese title of Laid-Back Camp is Yurucamp△, using the upper-case delta to represent a tent. This is somehow retained in the English translation, as the covers always replace the "a" in "Camp" with the same delta, as Laid-Back C△mp.
• One Piece: The title logo◊ has a skeleton with a straw hat for an "O", a silhouette of Luffy as as "I", and an anchor as an "E". An early volume's Q&A segment features a Japanese reader referring to the series as "NEP ECE," which the author said was very common at the time.
• Pretty Cure:
  • The logo for Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure replaces the little bubble in "プ" with a rice ball. The English logo puts the rice ball as the "e" in "Pretty" and dots the "i" in "Delicious" with a heart.
  • The English logo for HappinessCharge Pretty Cure! has a curly heart dotting the "i" in "Happiness".
  • The logo for Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure replaces the two small lines in "グ" with leaves. This was altered to dotting the "i" in "Healin'" with a leaf in the English logo.
  • The English logo for Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure (dubbed Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure) dots the "i" in "Soaring" with a cloud-like heart.
  • The logo of HuGtto! Pretty Cure dots the exclamation point with a heart.
  • The English logo for Maho Girls Pretty Cure! (dubbed Witchy Pretty Cure!) has a sideways heart dotting the "i" in "Witchy".
  • The logo for Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure weaves a star into the end of the word "Star", and replaces the small line in "ン" with a star (changed to dotting the "i" in "Twinkle" with a star for the English logo).
  • The logo for Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure replaces the two small lines in "ジ" with water droplets.
  • The logo for Wonderful Pretty Cure! replaces the bubble in "ぷ" with a dog-eared heart, and the two small lines near the bottom with hearts.
• In Sailor Moon Crystal, the font used in the word Crystal has two ornamental typographic quirks. The "C" is a stylized, overextended crescent moon, while the "t" is oversized and pointed at both ends of the vertical, with a curving flourish on the bar, suggesting the crossguard of a sword.

Comic Books

• InvestiGators is about a pair of alligators who solve crimes together. The title logo has a magnifying glass standing in for the "o".
• The Judge Dredd logo replaces the U in "Judge" with Dredd's badge.
• Loop has the two "o"s in its logo substituted with an infinity symbol to represent the time loop in the story.
• Marauders has a skull with an X-logo on the forehead in place of the second "A".

Companies

• People Fun has the "u" in its logo substituted with a smiley face.
• Vertical Entertainment has a group of volume bars for the first "I" in its logo.

Film — Animated

• Arlo the Alligator Boy: The hollow in the "O" in Arlo is replaced with the titular main character's footprint.
• Coraline: The film's title in the poster has the letter O replaced by a button and the L is replaced by light coming out of a doorway covered by a cat sticking out its tail.
• Over the Hedge: Gladys's license plate reads "GLADY$".
• Invoked in the intro to Pixar movies — a lamp stomps on the "I" in the word "Pixar" and takes its place.
• The period abbreviating "Mr." in Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a bowtie.
• The Princess and the Frog: In the title logo, a crown makes up the hollow of the "O".
• Robots by Blue Sky Studios has all the letters in its logo composed of mechanical components, such as an escapement gear for the "R," and a flywheel-driven actuator for the "ts."
• The Simpsons Movie: The title logo has the "O" in "Movie" replaced either with a donut or with a ring-shaped stain where a donut used to be (with the donut itself being eaten by Homer).
• Toy Story 3: Ken turns out to have very stereotypically girly handwriting, including drawing hearts in place of "O"s at one point.

Film — Live-Action

• Steven Spielberg's sci-fi drama A.I.: Artificial Intelligence has the "I" in "A.I." formed by a profile of the main character. The "A" has its negative space in that same profile shape. Both letters have a finish similar to brushed aluminum, suggesting the character (a robot boy) was stamped from sheet metal.
• The "A" in Argylle is stylised to resemble a mountain.
• Black Lightning (2009): The opening credits mix up physics formulas with the names in production.
• Cold Pursuit: Some posters turn the "O" into a gun scope, complete with crosshairs.
• The Day of the Beast (Spanish title: El Día de la Bestia): In the original poster, the Devil stands for the "i" in "Bestia".
• Elf: On the poster, Buddy stands in for the "L".
• In the logo for Eragon, the "e" is a curled up dragon.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: In the featurette "Putting Everything on a Bagel: Cooking up the Multiverse", when the cast/crew members' names appear on screen, sometimes an "o" is replaced with a googly eye.
• Ghostbusters: Sometimes, the "O" in the title is replaced with the main logo: a ghost under a "no" sign.
• Holes: On the poster, a shovel is thrust into the title's "O", with its blade forming the O's center.
• Prisoners has the "O" switched out with a circular maze, which is significant as it ends up being a key clue to the identity of the kidnapper.
• Spider-Man: Homecoming Trilogy: Each movie's title logo has an "o" replaced with Spider-Man's mask.
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts uses an Autobot logo in place of the "O", and the trailers sometimes make it alternate with the Maximal logo and the Terrorcon logo.
• Youth (2017): In the logo for the Chinese title, 芳华, the bottom part of the character 华 is the silhouette of a dancer balanced on the toes of one foot, with one arm stretched out in front of her (making up the left-pointing part) and her other arm and leg pointing backwards (making up the right-pointing part). The movie is about a performing arts troupe, which includes dancers.

Literature

• * The "A" in Argylle is stylised to resemble a mountain.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: On the cover of the eighth book, Hard Luck, the "u" in the title is replaced with a horseshoe.
• Harry Potter:
  • The American editions of the novels feature a lightning bolt as the left half of the letter "P" in the series word font logo. The same logo would later be used for the film adaptations.
  • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, there's reference to a letter Albus Dumbledore had written a long time previously, where the first letter of his first name was replaced with what we later find out to be the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.
• Holes: The cover of the 20th anniversary edition◊ has a view of the sky from the bottom of a hole, with the hole's opening making up the "O" in the title.
• Midnight Pals: On the cover of the first collection, the "L" in "Pals" is a combined skeleton foot and scythe, and the "i"s in "Midnight" are dotted with skulls.
• In the short story Mr. Sticky, a girl with a pet snail writes her name, Abigail, and dots the "i"s with snails.
• Ramona Quimby: Whenever Ramona signs her name, she draws cat ears and whiskers on the "Q" to stick out. Also, when she writes "book" for spelling class, she draws frowny faces in the "O"s out of boredom.
• Warrior Cats: Many of the foreign publishers - including the Polish◊, Spanish◊, Ukranian◊, and Vietnamese◊ publishers - give the letter "O" in their logos a slitted pupil in the center to make it look like a cat's eye.

Live-Action TV

• The Americans is stylized in the title sequence with a hammer and sickle symbol in place of the "c".
• For some two decades (from 1981 to 2008^note The opening titles used for the soap's final two years (2008-2010) included an "o" in the lower-case show title, appearing in front of an image of the Earth), the opening credits of As the World Turns used a depiction of a rotating Earth to represent the "O." The end titles, however, had that very same rotating Earth depiction enlarged, with a normal ATWT title over it, and credits as normal.
• The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, each with a wedding ring where the o would be.
• In 2021, Blue Peter got a new logo in which the "U" is a Blue Peter badge.
• When Family Double Dare aired on FOX, a ticking clock was used in place of the "o". No other title used this variant, except for the contestants' shirts on the 1990 season of Family Double Dare.
• The logo for House of Anubis uses half of a stylized eye of Horus as the "A".
• Iron Fist (2017): The dragon brand on Danny's chest serves as the "o" in the show's logo.
• The original logo for The Love Boat had the second "O" replaced by a ring buoy (made more obvious by the stencil font used for the rest of the letters).
• One Piece (2023) does the same thing as the source material as part of its Couch Gag, swapping the I with an item associated with a major character (Zoro's Wado Ichimonji, Buggy's knife, Usopp's hammer, Zeff's peg leg, etc.). Arlong's logo even has his sword stand in for the last E, and the Sun Pirates' logo as the hole inside the P.
• The Rotten Tomatoes Show inserts two different tomatoes for the o's in "Tomatoes."
• The Sopranos: A Beretta pistol pointed downwards serves as the "r" in the show's logo.
• Stargate-verse: The "A"s in "Stargate" are always rendered in the show's titles as the Ancient symbol "At" (A symbol resembling the Greek letter Λ; crowned by a small circle). Until the first one changes back to a plain ol' A.
• Star Trek: Picard: In the series title, the "A" in Picard's name is rendered as a Starfleet arrowhead.
• Taken: The "A" in the series logo is a silhouette of a person, their legs forming the legs of the A.
• The logo for the first and second seasons of T.J. Hooker replaces the second 'o' with a cross-hairs target.
• Vega$ (1978) uses a $ for the "s".
• WTVC Channel 9 in Chattanooga, TN (the ABC station of that Tennessee area) had an Action News title in the 80s that had the O in Action replaced with the Channel 9 circle logo of the time (making the title seem to read Acti9n News).

Magazines

• The French comic magazine Pif has the "i" in some versions of its logo dotted with the face of the character Pif the dog.
• The Steve Jackson Games web-magazine Pyramid has the "A" of the title replaced by the Eye of Providence.

Music

• David Bowie: ★ features a series of star fragments at the bottom of the front cover, which are shaped in just the right ways to read "BOWIE."
• FAKE TYPE.:
  • The band's usual logo has the A in "FAKE" replaced by FAKE-chan, one of the band's mascots, while the Y in "TYPE" is drawn like a radio tower, complete with signal.
  • On the FAKE BOX album, in addition to the FAKE-chan A and radio tower Y, the O in "BOX" is drawn with swirls inside it.
  • The FAKE JAZZ album replaces the two Zs with high heels, and Mochi-kun, one of the band's mascots, is sitting on top of the second high heel.
  • The in-video logo for the "FAKE LAND" music video has the hole in the first A replaced with a grin, while the hole in the second A is an eye.
• Kesha's name was originally stylized as Ke$ha to parody what she saw as "the gluttony and excesses of a lot of people in the limelight." After going through rehab to address her struggles with bulimia, she dropped the dollar sign from her name, later stating that she did so as part of her efforts to separate herself from former collaborator Dr. Luke, who she accused of sexual abuse later that year (and who suggested adding the dollar sign in the first place).
• Prince:
  • His 1987 album Sign o' the Times is stylized with the "O" as a peace sign (☮︎).
  • Prince's official writings (including song titles, lyrics, and press releases) were in "Princebonics," an idiosyncratic style that includes replacing words with appropriate letters, numbers, and symbols. The most prominent element of this is replacing the first-person pronoun "I" with a stylized eye symbol, introduced with the Lovesexy track "👁 No" before becoming standard in the mid-90s. Most fans Romanize the eye symbol as "Eye," which Prince himself nodded to with the Musicology track "If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life".
• Sabaton's logo includes a piece of plate armor as part of the S, a reference to the name of the band referring to the boot on a suit of plate.
• In SimpleNursing's "Urinary tract infection", a medical-themed parody of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball", the word "wrong" uses a "prohibited" sign in place of an "o".

Newspapers

• The Scottish newspaper The National has a masthead in which the "i" in its name is replaced by a map of Scotland. Inevitably referred to as "The Nat Onal".

Tabletop Games

• Betrayal at House on the Hill: The title logo for the 3rd edition has a crow standing in front of the first "A" in "Betrayal", forming the hollow.
• In the Break The Safe logo, the hollow of the second "A" is a keyhole.

Theatre

• The Book of Mormon: The second "o" in "Mormon" is represented by a doorbell on the official poster.

Toys

• The iDog logo has the toy's seven-LED face where the first letter's dot would be.

Video Games

• The "A" in APICO's logo looks like an apiary.
• Dead Island: The "I" in Island is formed by a corpse hanging from a tree.
• Many Dragon Quest games use a sword in place of the letter "t" at the end of the title.
• Friday Night Funkin': The I in Friday is replaced by a stylized microphone.
• Kirby: The "b" in "Kirby" has a star inside the space.
• Minecraft's logo replaces the hollow part of the A with a creeper face.
• Mother:
  • In the first two games, the "O" is replaced with a stylized picture of Earth.
  • Mother 3 has the "O" in the Mother logo replaced with a metal sphere instead to represent its themes of technology encroaching on nature.
• The title screen of OMORI replaces the second O with a black, glowing lightbulb.
• One Shot replaces the O in One with a lightbulb, though its state depends on the ending you achieved or, in the original release, if quit the game before you completed it.
• Many Pac-Man games like to use a Pac-Man-shaped wedge in place of the letter "C", such as in Pac-Man World.
• Pikmin:
  • The general series logo has the hollow in its "P" replaced by a white Pikmin flower.
  • Pikmin Bloom: The "O"'s in "Bloom" are replaced by flower symbols.
• The logo of Quilts & Cats of Calico has the ampersand made of yellow thread and a sewing needle replacing the horizontal part of the "A" in "Calico".
• The "T" in Roots of Pacha is replaced with a hammer.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Sonic Heroes: The "O" in "Heroes" has its hollow replaced by Sonic's head.
  • Sonic Frontiers: The "O" in "Frontiers" is replaced with a Portal.
• Splatterhouse: The remake of the game has the Terror Mask for the O in "house".
• Spore: The "O" in Spore is typically replaced with a stylized picture of a spiral galaxy to tie in with the "universe in a box" pitch of the game with emphasis on creating your own universe of creatures and cultures.
• Spore Creatures: Being a spinoff of Spore, the "O" in the title, like that of Spore's, is replaced with a stylized spiral galaxy, this time more closely relating to the "exploring the galaxy" nature of the game's plot.
• The three games in the Steven Universe Light Trilogy — Attack the Light, Save the Light, and Unleash the Light — have the hole in the A replaced with a star (second A for Attack).
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Super Mario Sunshine: The O in "Mario" is replaced by a stylized depiction of the sun, fitting the game's beach theme.
  • Super Mario Odyssey: The O in "Mario" is replaced by a globe, referencing Mario and Cappy hopping from kingdom to kingdom in search of Princess Peach and Tiara.
• Inverted in There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension. The user uses a letter H from a dialogue balloon as a piece of rail.
• Toem: In the title logo, the "O" is a camera.
• Tsuki's Odyssey: In the title logo, Tsuki the rabbit takes the place of the "u", their ears suggesting the shape of the letter.
• In Wordscapes' logo, a yellow circle (representing the sun) stands in for the "o", and a mountain peak stands in for the "a".

Visual Novels

• Danganronpa:
  • Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc has the crosshairs of a gun as the dot of the 'i' in 'Trigger.'
  • Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony has a stylized version of Monokuma's eye acting as the '3.'

Web Animation

• The title logo of Helluva Boss has the "v" replaced by a pair of imp horns while the "o" is replaced by a pentagram.
• The Murder Drones logo substitutes a skull for the "O".
• The "B" in the logo of Humans-B-Gone! is replaced by mantis arms.
• Spooky Month: The holes of the two Os in "Spooky" are pointed stars, the symbol of The Eyes of the Universe, while the hole of the O in "Month" is a diamond, resembling the amulets the cultists wear.

Webcomics

• DeadEndia: The "D" in the logo is a D-shaped ghost, with its gaping mouth making up the hollow part.
• Homestuck: In Lord English's name, the letter "o" is replaced by a gif of rapidly cycling billiard balls, representing his general billiards theming.
• Huckleberry:
  • On the cover of issue 2, "At war with a worm", the "o" in the title is an apple with a hole in the middle, representing Mechaworm and his apple armor.
  • In "Diamondback: Under the Desert", the "i" in the title is dotted with a diamond.
  • For issue 4, "World of worms", the "o" in "World" is a picture of an Earth-like planet, the "o" in "worms" is a donut, and the rest of the letters in "worms" are worms arranged into the appropriate letter shapes.
  • When Huckleberry and Mechaworm meet again in issue 4, they both say "You!" The letters making up the word are angry/tough-looking faces shaped like a "Y", "O", and "U".
• Shen Comix:
  • In the logo for Little Firefighter, the last "i" is dotted with the Little Firefighter's face.
  • In the logo for My Life as a Skeleton, the "o" is the skeleton's face.
  • In the logo for Catalogue of Increasingly Normal Stories, the "o" in "Normal" is a vertical eye, and the "o" in "Stories" is a door.

Websites

• The logo for Liam Vickers's website has a dabbing stick figure forming the "K" in his surname.

Western Animation

• Amphibia's logo has the shape of a frog's foot making up the hollow in the first "A".
• Family Guy's logo dots the "i" with a small image of a television.
• The Dr. Seuss special Halloween Is Grinch Night has a jack o' lantern in place of the "o" in "Halloween".
• Hazbin Hotel:
  • The "Hazbin Hotel" title logo has the "t" replaced by a key.
  • In the official Lyric Video for "Poison", the "poison"s in the chorus have the second "O" replaced by a spinning skull.
  • In some valentines posted by the official Twitter for 2024, Cherri's, which reads, "You make my heart go BOOM", replaces the Os with two of her bombs.
• I ♡ Arlo: The hollow in the "O" in Arlo is replaced with the titular main character's footprint.
• Inspector Gadget: At the end of this cartoon series' intro song, the title character falls into place on the title card, acting as a substitute for the "I" in Inspector. He's upside-down, of course, because he's one klutzy detective.
• The Loud House: In "Funny Business", Leni dots the "i" in her name with a heart.
• Oddballs: The letter O in the show's title gets replaced by James' head. His crocodile friend Max wishes to be a letter in the intro.
• The Owl House: The logo has an owl symbol in the place of the "O" in "Owl".
• Phineas and Ferb: The title logo uses Phineas' head for the "P" and Ferb's head for the "F".
• Recess:
  • In "The Beauty Contest", the Ashleys (a clique of feminine Alpha Bitches) enter Spinelli into a beauty contest as revenge. Gretchen figures out they were the ones who entered her because the "i"s in Spinelli's name on the signup form are dotted with hearts.
  • In "My Funny Valentines", TJ makes Valentine cards for all the girls in his grade. For tough tomboy Spinelli, he dots the "i"s with skulls.
• The Simpsons: One episode is called "$pringfield".
• Steven Universe: The U in "Universe" has a five-point star inside it, with the long line of the U serving as the top point.
• The logo of both Xiaolin Showdown and Xiaolin Chronicles has the "o" in "Xiaolin" replaced by Omi's head.

Real Life

• Word-As-Image is an AI tool that can automatically generate this sort of letterforms. The examples provided on its website include e.g. 'CAT' where the letter 'C' is a silhouette of a sitting cat, or 'PANTS' where 'P' is formed by a pair of trousered legs.

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