A Saturated Transparency

Typography may seem quite superficial. In fact, this visually appealing medium is as complex to analyze as a King’s portrait or a modern sculpture. Typographic history spans centuries and therefore reflects human traditions and skills of that era. This art form is unique as it has a duty to attract attention and avoid distracting the reader from the text’s content. It is important to note that typography is much more than a choice of font. The topic includes the placement of items on a page or document, hierarchy of elements and more. It is truly and art form with endless possibilities. It is up to the artist to ensure the meanings of the writings are reflected in the typographic style. In day-to-day speech, one has clear indication of emotion thanks to body language or, in a phone conversation, at the very least, intonation. In written language, typography is the only way to convey such subtleties of emotion. From this comes the meaning of space and size. One cannot select styles based purely on esthetic. The reader has been habituated to visual languages. A newspaper is unable to drastically change styles because it may confuse their audience. It is difficult to sway from tradition because of the established understandings in writing. Artists may hold the key to promote new typographic styles by experimenting and pushing the medium to its limits.

I am surprised that the technology available to modern society today is not significantly used to convey human emotion through type. What I mean to say is, although it is easy to reproduce human handwriting, we still chose to utilize mechanical reproduction to illustrate text. This impacts the medium’s meaning. Type is an infinitely reproducible work of art. It may be because of this that the reader understands the piece without need for interpretation. I will not debate that typography conveys emotion. Why else would advertisers choose to select a style for their products and services and change it to reach its target audience?

Links:

This post is in Response to the readings of :

  • Drucker. The Visible Word, Chapter 2 Visual and Literary Materiality in Modern Art, pp. 49 – 68.
  • Bringhurst. Chapter 1 The Grand Design. Recommended: Chapter 7 Historical Interlude.
  • Spiekerman. Chapter 3 Looking at Type. Recommended: Chapter 4 Type with a Purpose.
  • Recommended: Solt. Concrete Poetry: A World View. pp. 89 – 251. [W]
  • Recommended: Williams. An Anthology of Concrete Poetry. [W]