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I wonder if there is an adjective to describe orthography that deliberately aims for the kind of irregularity or defects one might find in a young child, but is an obvious and deliberate style, rather than an attempt to fake a child’s handwriting. The Spanish artist Joan Miró came to mind, but on checking his signature it isn’t quite what I thought. Anyway, the question was actually provoked by the derivative design on a bottle of chianti (shown below).

faux-infantile text

“Faux-infantile” is the best I can come up with myself. “Naïve” might fit the design.

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  • This is tangential, but your question reminded me of this Atlantic piece on how contemporary English is following a similar trend: theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/05/…
    – CynicallyNaive
    Commented Sep 21, 2020 at 19:52
  • I see it as rustic, and not childlike.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Sep 21, 2020 at 21:43
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    @YosefBaskin — Of course we all see different things looking at art. The varied height of the letters and the contrasting angles of the uprights suggested to me an incomplete mastery of the pen, which might be the case for a young child. Likewise the stylized moon and stars, which recall Miró more than the actual writing.
    – David
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 17:26

1 Answer 1

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What about faux-naïf:

of a literary or artistic style, that pretends to be simple, childlike or unsophisticated.

(Collins Dictionary)

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  • Blush. Why didn’t I join the dots myself? Will wait and see if anything else comes up before accepting.
    – David
    Commented Sep 21, 2020 at 19:50
  • @David there's always 'childish' or 'immature'.
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented Sep 21, 2020 at 21:31
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    @marcellothearcane — Yes you could describe it that way just looking at it, but the extra information you have that the artist is neither of these is what I was after, and this answer uses a recognized artistic term.
    – David
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 17:19

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