AND PUBLIC TYPOGRAPHY
W R ITTEN A N D D ESIG N ED B Y CA ITLIN W O R KM A N
AN D PUB L I C T YPOG R APH Y
INTRODUCTION | 1
INTRODUCTION
We live in an era where information is transient and public typography is caught in the movement of time. Temporal type is everywhere from displays and digital signs to newsstands and magazines. Its existence is limited and its purpose is to relay information quickly and efficiently. However, often times the professionalism and craftsmanship is hurt as a result of its fast paced design.
HOW MANY INSTANCES ARE YOU EXPOSED TO NEW INFORMATION DAILY?
With new and increasing technologies, we are now given the ability to manipulate how typography interacts with time. Whether it is through physical design, the information it holds, or through digital media, the property of time is becoming more present as a design concern for typographers. As designer’s we can take this new factor and use it creatively to manipulate text in ways to increase its communicative properties other than through its obvious comprehensive use. According to Kerry Bodine and Mathild Pignol of the Human Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, “Text whose appearance changes over time, is emerging as a new form of expression due to its ability to add emotional content to text.” Thus, we analyze the ephemeral properties of its aesthetic and the purposes behind the design.
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SOMETIMES THE QUALITY OF TEMPORAL EXISTENCE MAKES THIS TYPE MORE VALUABLE TO THE VIEWER.
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One can see the ever-changing aesthetic world disintegrate from the wear and tear of everyday life. Posters on street corners blow away as if they were leaves in the fall. For designers, the materials we use and functionality of our type govern the length of time our audiences can be exposed to our messages. For example, a tombstone from the 17th century can have years of weathering and still tell of the person who lived years ago. However, a sign signifying the art fair downtown can be torn or washed away in the overnight storm if not designed
with the utmost concern.
On the other hand, the media it is created with defines type that is meant to be short-lived. Such instances as chalk messages on the sidewalk
Downtown Lawrence, is host to several bars and night clubs, which hang their signs all along the main drag, Massachusetts street. Lawrence
or dry erase messages on white boards are
is known for supporting its local
created with ease and quickness prioritizing over
businesses and most patrons have no
aesthetic quality and expressiveness.
problem displaying the electic culture of the city on their storefronts.
THE TANGIBLE COLLAPSE | 7
FOR DESIGNERS, THE MATERIALS WE USE AND FUNCTIONALITY OF OUR TYPE GOVERN THE LENGTH OF TIME OUR AUDIENCES CAN BE EXPOSED TO OUR MESSAGES.
INFORMATION DEFINES THE QUALITY AND PURPOSE OF THE TYPOGRAPHY. Many restaurants along Massachusetts street set out chalk boards to write weekly specials or sales to draw in customers. The information is temporary so the boards serve the purpose of being re-used to cater to changing messages.
THE TANGIBLE COLLAPSE | 9
Sometimes the quality of temporal existence makes this type more valuable to the viewer. When taking notes in the classroom, students don’t stop to ponder the sans serif qualities of their professor’s hand written lecture notes. No. They quickly jot own what ever sentence was
the instructor will not pick up the looming eraser
scribbled on the board in hopes that
before their pencil leaves their paper. Thus, the information defines the quality and purpose of the typography. Another example might be the daily menu of your favorite café, scrawled on a blackboard outside to entice hungry patrons.
THE TANGIBLE COLLAPSE | 10
MOVEABLE TYPE
Still, type itself is defined by its communicative
transitory nature of type. Often times, these
value. So what of type that remains in existence,
locations have constant letterforms that are
but relays different messages in its alterations?
changeable on a flat exhibition surface.
Moveable type. The words bring you back to the days of Gutenberg and ink printing. However today, it can have a variety of meanings. Messages that shift locations, digital billboards and marquis, children’s refrigerator magnets, and daily movie showings on venue displays are all examples of the
The Granada on Massachusetts street uses a movable type margui to display monthly performances. The large translucent type is moved above a light board, which projects light through the letters at night. The display is an iconic image of downtown Lawrence.
SO WHAT OF TYPE THAT REMAINS IN EXISTENCE, BUT RELAYS DIFFERENT MESSAGES IN ITS ALTERATIONS?
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THE DIGITAL WORLD IS CONDUCIVE TO THE CONCEPTS EMPLOYED BY KINETIC TYPOGRAPHY.
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Presently, there is a rapid increase in digital media leading to new and
analysts. Everything from email
innovative ideas in rapid communication. Typographic design in these
and text messaging to ichat and
instances is optimized for quick easy viewing. This amplified activity
Facebook is being revised with the
directly affects the market for interface designers and human factors
idea of readability and ease of use.
TYPOGRAPHY IN DIGITAL MEDIA | 20
EVERYTHING FROM EMAIL AND TEXT MESSAGING TO ICHAT AND FACEBOOK IS BEING REVISED WITH THE IDEA OF READABILITY AND EASE OF USE.
The digital world is conducive to the concepts employed by kinetic typography. Motion graphics and the animated experience uses time as a basis for establishing rhythm and expression within the information being presented. Motionographers deliver information
TYPOGRAPHY IN DIGITAL MEDIA | 21
MOTION GRAPHICS AND THE ANIMATED EXPERIENCE USE TIME AS A BASIS FOR ESTABLISHING RHYTHM AND EXPRESSION WITHIN THE INFORMATION BEING PRESENTED.
through time in a similar manner to graphic designers who manipulate how and what viewers read through hierarchy of a composition.
TYPOGRAPHY ON THE WEB
Of course, the introduction of new media for designers gives cause for new technical standards and tools of use. Digital designers, and those involved in web development often use what are called, “web-safe� fonts. These are typefaces that are used over a wide range of computer systems and used by designers to increase the likelihood that their content will be displayed in their chosen font. In order to ensure that all web users had a basic set of fonts, Microsoft started Core fonts for the Web initiative. The released fonts include Arial, Georgia, Times New Roman, and Verdana under a software license agreement, which made them freely distributable. Their high penetration rate has made them a staple for web designers.
modifications to the existing type treatment. Switching from a customized version of Futura, IKEA chose to go with the more functional typeface, Verdana. This backlash was provoked not only because of how it changed IKEA brand, but because Verdana was designed as a web-based font to be readable at small sizes on a computer screen and was not suitable for print production.
DIGITAL DESIGNERS, AND THOSE INVOLVED IN WEB DEVELOPMENT OFTEN USE WHAT ARE CALLED, “WEB-SAFE” FONTS.
TYPOGRAPHY IN DIGITAL MEDIA | 24
In 2009, Swedish furniture store, IKEA caused global design uproar with their
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DESIGNERS ARE WORKING TO PRODUCE MORE EFFECTIVE TYPOGRAPHY IN MORE EXPRESSIVE WAYS.
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ANNUAL TYPOGRAPHY
Even though public typography is becoming less static, the platforms on which they are being created determine the quality of their design. Take for example, magazines, periodicals, and newspapers. They are produced annually and the labor and design that goes into them are fairly extensive. Typography manipulation and placement is tedious and worked to enhance the reader’s experience. Eventually though, all this information and print design ends up in the garbage; usually within a week to month. The entertainment value from these writings is what makes them valuable
EVENTUALLY… ALL THIS INFORMATION AND PRINT DESIGN ENDS UP IN THE GARBAGE; USUALLY WITHIN A WEEK TO MONTH. THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE FROM THESE WRITINGS IS WHAT MAKES THEM VALUABLE AND THUS DESIGNED WITH MORE CARE AND EFFORT. and thus designed with more care and effort. Production designers are aware that the typography will be viewed on a wide scale and need to fulfill the purpose of legibility. In other instances including e-chatting and text messaging, the type may have a short life. However, designers are working to produce more effective ways of using typography in a more expressive way.
Flyers that hang around Lawrence are casually taped up and don’t last long. They become mock graffiti as they adorn sides of buildings and other public areas. These posters were tacked onto the temporary wall of a construction site.
COMMUNICATIVE PLATFORMS | 34
Major cities such as Kansas City, Missouri, have many different annual newspapers and periodicals available in newsstands or along street corners. As the publications change, the landscape of the city changes as well. The Revolving cycle of new information is continued their prouction. More importantly, because the information must reach a wide audience, the typography is designed in a clear structured fashion that is legible and targets the broadest audience.
K.I.M. COMMUNICATION
At Carnegie Mellon University, designers are working on a new instant messenger called KIM that integrates kinetic typography with instant messaging. Kinetic Typography as a conveyer of information, works well due to its ability to relay emotions, personality, and tone. Currently, Instant messaging has attempted such through the use of emoticons and IM shorthand language, which are based off humanistic gestures and expressions. This new software uses the same premise of instant messaging, but incorporates a composition window that displays the animated conversation for both viewers.
THE INFORMATIONAL POSTER
Back to basics, one must look at the foundation of time-based typography. The
COMMUNICATIVE PLATFORMS | 38
informational poster. Whether it details the date for a concert or the location for a public event. The poster was and has been the common medium used for the distribution of information for hundreds of years. Though the typography has conformed to the techniques of computer output. The poster serves as a way to display information openly to the public as it pertains to current events. Their occasion dependent
information is what causes them to be so quickly produced and discarded. Which leads to poorer design and typographic attention. Though the simple poster on the bar window still exists, it has evolved into formats such as displays, advertisements, and billboards, all of which are still transitory in nature.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Though temporary type is quickly discarded and sometimes neglected. There has been an uprising of smarter design for time based typography and it’s functionality in communication. Furthermore, history has shown us that type designs that are short lived are sometimes venerated for their contributions in history and art. When Henri de ToulouseLatrec was designing posters for the Moulin Rouge, he never imagined them to be hanging in an art gallery one day. He was designing to attract people to the club. In a similar sense, the temporary typography of today could also be valued for its temporal purpose as documentation of history. In any case, public typography is expanding due to new pathways of displaying and communicating information.
CREDITS
1) Baines. “Naming Places and Defining Spaces.” (1960): 96-103. Print. 2) Bodine, Kerry, and Mathilde Pignol. “Kinetic Typography-Based Instant Messaging.” CHI ‘03 (2003): 914-15. Print. 3) Ford, Shannon, Jodi Forlizzi, and Suguru Ishizaki. “Kinetic Typography: Issues in Time-Based Presentation of Text.” CHI ‘97 (1997): 269-70. Print. 4) Myers, Chris. “The Value of the Narrative in the Education of the Typographer.” 126-33. Print. 5) Tosh, Paul. “The Un-Cultured Word: Vernacular Typography and Image.” (2007): 38-41. Print. 6) Abend, Lisa. “The Font War: IKEA Fans Fume over Verdana.”(2009), TIME (<http://www.time.com/time/business/ article/0%2C8599%2C1919127%2C00.html> 7) Web Typography <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web-safe_fonts>
This book was designed as a student project for Patrick Dooley’s Typography 03 class, Fall 2010. Photos were taken using a Nikon D40X and edited in Adobe Photoshop. Layout was designed using Indesign and typefaces used include Archer and Univers. Locations of photos include Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.
New technologies are beginning to manipulate how typography interacts with time. Through physical design, the information it holds, and through digital media, the property of time is becoming more present on a public stage. Designers can use this factor to creatively expand the communicative value of text.