Typography

Within today's lecture, we were introduced to the history of typography and how it, alongside other features within graphic design, can affect an art piece's meaning and intention.

We were introduced to terminologies used within typography and given the definition between font and typeface: font is what you see (metal and computer pieces) and typeface is what you see (the way the type collection looks).

Example of typography terms

We were then given the history of typography, beginning with Johannes Gutenberg's Bible, the first book created through movable type and widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities. When he invented the first western movable type printing press, he and his apprentices hand-craved wooden type in the style of the handwritten Blackletter fonts. By doing this, Gutenberg not only created the engine behind a massive explosion of literacy, but also the first "font" in the reusable form we understand today.

We were then introduced to different typefaces used and created over the centuries by designers and artists, including Ornate Gothic, Railway type and Architype.

Ornate Gothic

Railway type

Architype Ingenieur

What I found most interesting was how words are made to reflect, express and perform content appropriate to a design; how the signifer is made to relate the signified. For instance, according to Massimo Vignello, its up to a designer what type they use, but some would think that when they write "dog", it should bark.

After that, we were shown how typography can be used to create interesting and unique designs through assorted means, as shown in these examples:

Detail of a Pirelli poster for a double-decker bus
1961
Alan Fletcher

Calligrammes, Poems of Peace and War 1913-1916
Guillaume Apollinaire

Silencio
1954
Eugen Gomringer

This particular lecture interested me, since I have never been interested in typography before, and introduced me to how to approach type and the possibilities you can do with for design, and the chance to experiment with type myself.


References:

• Terminology: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/30065/how-to-understand-typography-like-a-professional-designer/
• Bible: http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/content/ms-0015-f-046r2edited-1jpg-0
• Ornate Gothic: http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Brown-LettersAndLettering/pages/168-German-Gothic-Initials-J/
• Railway type: http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-66503.html
• Architype Ingenieur: http://desktopmag.com.au/features/type-feature-wim-crouwel/#.VkiyTSAeLDc
• Pirelli poster: http://www.petrolicious.com/alan-fletcher-is-the-godfather-of-british-graphic-design
• Calligrammes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calligrammes
• Silencio: http://visual-poetry.tumblr.com/post/19780544380/silencio-silenceschweigen-by-eugen-gomringer