Voice

SAY IT WITH TYPE SAY IT WITH TYPE

BACK

TO

BASICS: STOPPING SLOPPY COPY

Finding typographic errors you never knew about John D. Berry

TYPE CASTING

Lessons learned during a lifetime in the type industry Steven Brower

GROOMING

THE

FONT

A selection from Bringhurst’s Elements of Typographic Style

ack to Basics: Stopping Sloppy Typogrphy Type Casting Grooming the Font Identity: A Typogrphic Installation

Robert Bringhurst

IDENTITY: A TYPOGRAPHIC INSTALLATION

Archiving St. Augustine through an interactive installation India Stephenson

Fall 2014

Cover Design: India Stephenson

EDITOR & PUBLISHER:

India Stephenson indiastephenson@gmail.com indiastephenson.com indiastephenson.weebly.com

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR After months of anticipation and preparation, I am proud to present the premier edition of Voice, a magazine established with the desire to insire designers and typographers become the voice of their generations.

Through a delicately refined curation of articles, written by the most prominent names in typography, this edition including Steven Brower, John D. Barry, and Rohert Bringhurst, the magazine aims to showcase the best of the best in typography education, and highlights the power and influence of typography.

Typography is everywhere. It is essential to our society. By educating designers and typographers through informative essays, trick tips, interviews with top designers, design examples, and inspiration, they can go on to let their type speak for them, to communicate effective messages, and to use typography as a voice to be heard; a voice to be reckoned with.

SAY IT WITH TYPE

With a modern yet elegant design, “Voice” provides typographers with everything they need to be heard.

QUARTERLY PUBLICATION Stephenson Publishing Inc. Distributed by: Flagler Distribution Ltd, 1 King Street, St. Augustine FL 32084

I am privileged for the opportunity to be part of a magazine that aims to influence designers to speak up (or type up) and change the world. I would also like to extend a big thank you to Luciana Gassett for inspiring me delve deeper into the world of design.

Please Sumbit Manuscripts to: Editor@voicemagaine.com

I am proud to present the premier issue of Voice and invite all readers to “Say It With Type” and let their “Voice” be heard

For Questions and Comments: Customerservice@voicemagazine.com

--India Stephenson

SAY IT WITH TYPE

PREMIER EDITION FALL 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorials

Columns

PG.1 Who’s Who in Typography?

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE LAMBERT

BACK

TO

PG.11 BASICS: STOPPING SLOPPY COPY

Ilene Strizver thetypestudio.com.

Finding typographic errors you never knew about John D. Berry john@johndberry.com

PG.14 Tricks of the Trade TYPOGRAPHIC CHEAP TRICKS

PG.23 TYPE CASTING

Allan Haley linkedin.com/pub/allan-haley/4/26a/17a

Lessons learned during a lifetime in the type industry Steven Brower sbrower@marywood.edu

PG.33 Good vs. Bad Design HOW GOOD IS GOOD?

GROOMING

PG.42 THE FONT

Stefan Sagmeister stefan@sagmeisterwalsh.com

Things to consider when tuning a font Robert Bringhurst webtypography.net

PG.52

PG.66 IDENTITY: A TYPOGRAPHIC INSTALLATION Archiving St. Augustine through an interactive installation

Inspiration INSIDE THE SKETCHBOOKS OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST TYPE DESIGNERS Maria Popova brainpicker@brainpickings.com

India Stephenson indiastephenson@gmail.com

PG. 59 Type Talk WHEN TYPOGRAPHY SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS Jessica Glaser J.Glaser@wlv.ac.uk

Image: Zoe Lake

1

Who’s Who in Typography?

An Interview with Steve Lambert by:

Ilene Stritzver images courtesy of:

Steve Lambert

Steve Lambert cannot be categorized. Although I was first attracted to his intriguing typographic neon work, further exploration revealed a depth of self-expression, purpose, and humor rarely found in traditional typography and graphic design.

His work, which often contains an element of ‘performance art’, engages the viewer (sometimes literally!) with both medium and message in a social, physical, and occasionally political way.

I immediately became ‘hooked’, and asked Steve to tell a bit more about his work, his process, and his use of type.

2

Q.

How would you describe yourself: graphic designer, fine artist, performance artist, or perhaps visual communicator?

A. It depends on who’s asking. As an artist, I am free to combine the skills of a researcher, a designer, a provocateur, an organizer, a prankster, a software developer, and whatever else I may need – those just came to mind first. Describing myself as an artist gives me the most latitude.

Q. How did typography and signage (especially neon) become part of your work?

A. Starting around 1999 I began studying advertising and public space. Over the years, that format – both the aesthetics and the directness of the messages – became part of my visual language, so when it came time to express certain ideas I jumped straight to text and signs. My background is fairly working class and I didn’t go to a contemporary art museum until I was nearly finished with school. My instinct leans more on the side of clarity and accessibility than most contemporary art, which – even with two art degrees and a university level teaching position – I often find vague and inscrutable.

Regarding neon and lights, they’re a good tool to have on hand.

The light and flashing patterns can read as everything from joy to desperation depending on how they’re used. There’s also a warmth and nostalgia that a viewer brings, so they automatically *want* to like it, even before they know what it means – that’s helpful too, especially with the “Capitalism Works For Me! True/False” sign.

This interactive signage piece is complete with a voting station.

3

Q. Describe your process.

A. My ideas often start as a note or drawing in a paper notebook I carry around. I also obsessively photograph or draw signs and fonts as I see them as a way of building up a vocabulary I can use later. When moving from the initial note to a finished piece, having those references on hand keeps the process moving. Eventually I move to working in a vector editor because it’s so much faster to work through iterations of an idea. With my last show I started leaving myself a breadcrumb trail from the original idea just to see how many versions of a design I go through. When working on a computer it’s helpful to have some stand in fonts that do a good job of approximating what the final product will look like. I can change colors and layouts and then tweak or replace the letters in the final design.

A couple of sketches...

...that led to the final concept

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Q. Do you use commercial fonts, hand-drawn type, or something inbetween for most of your typography?

A. All three. But I am very careful about it. I worked my way through school at shop restoring old motorcycles and scooters like Vespas and Lambrettas There I really learned to tell the difference between something that was actually from the past and someone’s half-hearted attempt to make something look “vintage” that isn’t. I still can’t stand the latter and work really hard to steer clear of it. So I do use some commercial fonts in that process, but very few make it unscathed into a final piece. For one, many of them are too perfect and need to be deliberately messed up! Handmade signs have all kinds of idiosyncrasies that are very difficult to work into a piece, especially when you’re using a font that has precisely correct stroke weights, kerning, etc. So for example, I might use a commercial font up to a point and then try to put myself in the brain of a lazy sign painter from 1962, reworking details and add “mistakes.” This is more difficult that you’d think. In the end, the designs might be cut by a laser or a saw, sanded, or painted by hand so there’s all these points where they can collect little errors. I’ve also drawn my own letters based on photographs of hand made signs. I found a laundromat sign that read WASH and I used that to make “LOOK AWAY” and the word CAPITALISM in “Capitalism Works For Me! True/False.” All of those were extrapolated from W, A, S, and H. When I was done I had made about half the alphabet, so I reached out to type designer, Ksenya Samarskaya. We’re collaborating on finishing off the alphabet and releasing it as a font.I also have a font made from my own brushed letters which I later used in a digital video on a giant screen in Toronto (Close Your Eyes).

5

The following pieces are from Steve’s first solo show:

6

Q. What are the limitations for choosing a typeface for neon?

A. I haven’t hit any. When I work with neon I do it through Signature Sign in Cleveland, Ohio, who fabricated the “Capitalism Works For Me! True/False” sign. I send them drafts and they tell me if it will work.

So far, they have made everything work. Shipping it without it breaking is another matter...

Q. How did the “How Change Happens” piece come about, specifically the interactive aspect of it?

A. Over the last six years I’ve been learning more about electronics, circuits, and programming. What’s great is that it keeps opening doors to other ideas I didn’t know I had. I had a class I was teaching where I bought a box full of different sensors and one was a sonar sensor. It basically can tell you how far objects are from it. And they cost $9.

The brain is an arduino which costs about $30. Anyway, we were playing with it and got it measuring distance. I filed that away in my head – like “mental note: now I can have art works that know if people are in front of them.” I had the 100% cut out from another piece that stalled out. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together.

One light flashes on the sign all of the time; more lights turn on as more people stand in front of it.

7

Q. What part do humor, irony, social responsibility play in your work, and why?

A. It’s huge. I could write a book in answer to that question.

First, I actually don’t think of myself or my work as ironic. Everything comes from a place of total sincerity. Sometimes people are surprised to find how sincere I actually am. Of course that doesn’t mean it’s not funny. Humor allows me to reach people I normally wouldn’t and present ideas they may not be comfortable with. I can do that over and over and over again, as long as the laughs bring them up for air. Humor can also allow me to speak in a voice, or to take on the character of those I’m critical of. Signs and type, for example, can allow me to speak in a voice of authority. It’s like playing a role. Or wearing a metaphorical costume.As far as social responsibility... I try my best and I have these skills. Why wouldn’t I use my skills to be the best person I can be and do the most good I can?

Ilene Strizver, founder of The Type Studio, is a noted typographic educator, consultant, designer and writer. She specializes in all aspect of visual communication, from the aesthetic to the technical. Ilene has written and lectured extensively on type and typographic design to both students and professionals in the field. info@thetypestudio.com. www.thetypestudio.com

8

Image: Biblioease.com

9

There’s a billboard along the freeway in San Francisco that’s entirely typo- graphic, and very simple. Against a bright blue background, white letters spell out a single short line, set in quotation marks: “Are you lookin’ at me?” The style of the letters is traditional, with serifs; it looks like a line of dialogue, which is exactly what it’s supposed to look like. Since this is a billboard, and the text is the entire message of the billboard, it’s a witty comment on the fact that you are looking at “me”—that is, the message on the billboard—as you drive past. But, as my partner and I drove past and spotted this billboard for the first time, we both simultaneously voiced the same response: “No, I’m looking at your apostrophe!”

Back to Basics: Stopping Sloppy Typography John D. Berry

T

he quotation marks around the sentence are real

straight apostrophe is like a fart in a symphony—boorish,

quotation marks, which blend in with the style of the

crude, out of place, and distracting. The normal quotation

lettering—“typographers’ quotes,” as they’re sometimes

marks at the beginning and end of the sentence just serve to

called—but the apostrophe at the end of “lookin’” is,

make the loud “blat!” of the apostrophe stand out. If that had

disconcertingly, a single “typewriter quote,” a straight up-

been the purpose of the billboard, it would have been very

and-down line with a rounded top and a teardrop tail at

effective. But unless the billboards along Highway 101 have

the bottom. To anyone with any sensitivity to the shapes of

become the scene of an exercise in typographic irony, it’s just

letters, whether they know the terms of typesetting or not, this

a big ol’ mistake. Really big, and right out there in plain sight.

10

Don’t use straight apostrphes Image: fastcodedesign.com

Automated Errors As my own small gesture toward improvement, I’ll point out a couple of the more obvious problems—in the hope that maybe, maybe, they’ll become slightly less commonplace, at least for awhile.

Typewriter quotes and straight apostrophes are actually on the wane, thanks to word-processing programs and

11

The Devil Is in the Details

page-layout programs that offer the option of automatically

This may be a particularly large-scale example, but it’s not

changing them to typographers’ quotes on the fly. (I’m not

unusual. Too much of the signage and printed matter that

sure what has made the phenomenon I spotted on that

we read—and that we, if we’re designers or typographers,

billboard so common, but I’ve noticed a lot of examples

create—is riddled with mistakes like this. It seems that an

recently of text where the double quotation marks are correct

amazing number of people responsible for creating graphic

but the apostrophes are straight.) But those same automatic

matter are incapable of noticing when they get the type

typesetting routines have created another almost universal

wrong.

mistake: where an apostrophe at the beginning of a word

This should not be so. These fine points ought to be covered

appears backwards, as a single open quotation mark. You

in every basic class in typography, and basic typography

see this in abbreviated dates (‘99, ‘01) and in colloquial

ought to be part of the education of every graphic designer.

spellings, like ‘em for them. The program can turn straight

But clearly, this isn’t the case—or else a lot of designers

quotes into typographers’ quotes automatically, making any

skipped that part of the class, or have simply for- gotten what

quotation mark at the start of a word into an open quote,

they once learned about type. Or, they naively believe the

and any quotation mark at the end of a word into a closed

software they use will do the job for them.

quote, but it has no way of telling that the apostrophe at the

Maybe it’s time for a nationwide—no, worldwide—program

beginning of ‘em isn’t supposed to be a single open quote,

of remedial courses in using type.

so it changes it into one.

Make sure to use “real small caps” Image: tex.stackexchange.com

If it weren’t for a single exception, I’d advise everyone to just forget about the “small caps” command—forget it ever existed, and never, ever, touch it again. (The exception is

Anemic Type

Adobe InDesign, which is smart enough to find the real small

The other rude noise that has become common in the

caps in an OpenType font that includes them, and use them

symphony hall is fake small caps. Small caps are a

when the “small caps” command is invoked. Unfortunately,

wonderful thing, very useful and some- times elegant; fake

InDesign isn’t smart enough, or independent enough, to say,

small caps are a distraction and an abomination.

“No, thanks,” when you invoke “small caps” in a font that

Fake caps are what you get when you use a program’s

doesn’t actually have any. It just goes ahead and makes

“small caps” command. The software just shrinks the full-size

those familiar old fake small caps.) You don’t really need

capital letters down by a predetermined percentage—which

small caps at all, in most typesetting situations; small caps

gives you a bunch of small, spindly- looking caps all huddled

are a typo- graphic refinement, not a crutch. If you’re going

together in the middle of the text. If the design calls for caps

to use them, use real small caps: properly designed letters

and small caps—that is, small caps for the word but a full

with the form of caps, but usually a little wider, only as tall

cap for the first letter—it’s even worse, since the full-size caps

as the x-height or a little taller, and with stroke weights that

draw attention to themselves because they look so much

match the weight of the lowercase and the full caps of the

heavier than the smaller caps next to them. (If you’re using

same type- face. Make sure you’re using a typeface that has

caps and small caps to spell out an acronym, this might

true small caps, if you want small caps. Letterspace them a

make sense; in that case, you might want the initial caps to

little, and set them slightly loose, the same way you would

stand out. Otherwise, it’s silly. (And—here comes that word

(or at least should) with a word in all caps; it makes the

again— distracting.)

word much more readable.

12

“Don’t be sloppy. Aim for the best.

Words to live by, I suppose. And, certainly, words to set type by”

Pay Attention, Now There are plenty of other bits of remedial typesetting that we ought to study, but those will do for now. The obvious corollary to all this is, to produce well-typeset words, whether in a single phrase on a billboard or several pages of text, you have to pay attention. Proofread. Proofread again.

Don’t trust the defaults of any program you use. Look at good typesetting and figure out how it was done, then do it yourself. Don’t be sloppy. Aim for the best.

Words to live by, I suppose. And, certainly, words to set type by.

Use this checklist when typesetting next to avoid errors Image: Ilene Strizver

John D. Berry usually describes himself as an editor & typographer — reflecting his care for both the meaning of words and how they are presented. He is Honorary President of ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale) and the former editor and publisher of U&lc (Upper & lower case). He writes, speaks, and consults extensively on typography, and he has won numerous awards for his book designs. He has written and edited several books, including Language culture type: international type design in the age of Unicode(ATypI/Graphis, 2002), Contemporary newspaper design: shaping the news in the digital age (Mark Batty Publisher, 2004), and U&lc: influencing design & typography (Batty, 2005). He has been a program manager on the Fonts team at Microsoft, where he established improved typographic standards for Windows and other Microsoft products. He is Director of the Scripta Typographic Institute. He teaches typography and design at Cornish College of the Arts. He lives in Seattle with the writer Eileen Gunn.

13

Contact him at john@johndberry.com

Tricks of the Trade

Typographic Cheap Tricks by:

Allan Haley

Graphic design can be a high-priced proposition.

Photographs are pricey, clever die-cuts are costly and illustrations are expensive. Typography, however, is cheap. Even though the economy is supposedly on the road to recovery, it still makes sense to have a collection of low-cost typographic tricks in your arsenal of design tools. Typographic cheap tricks are great—and inexpensive—design solutions.

14

Make Your Own Alphabet One great typographic trick is simply not to use fonts. This can save money, and create graphic communication that is exceptionally expressive. Which is precisely why Jeremy Schwartz, senior vice president and creative director at Partners + Napier, chose handwritten “typography” for the Otetiana Council annual report he created. This pro bono project was produced with virtually no budget. “Sometimes being presented with the challenge of creating messaging and design with such limitations is liberating,” says Schwartz. “It makes you focus on what’s important—and it can become a showcase of what can be done without the benefit of a production budget.

“The client provided most of the content electronically,” Schwartz recalls, “so I started the design process by flowing the copy roughly The Otetiana Council annual report uses the cheapest of typefaces, handwriting, to create a feeling of humanity and straight forward honesty.

Image: Otetiana Council Annual Report

onto the pages to get a sense of how the information was to fit in the book. Then, I simply grabbed as many ordinary pencils as I could scrape together and started scrawling the copy on white paper.

“As I completed sections,” he continues, “I scanned my handwriting and mirrored the page layouts within Photoshop. Proofing tweaks and several rounds of client changes made the process laborious, but the analog and digital workflow suited the approach. The handwritten copy also produced a piece that represented the human side of the client far better than any font could have.”

Do

the

Unexpected

Another trick is as simple as doing the unexpected, like setting the type upside down. The Mammoth Unbound posters are part of a visual identity system that designers David Bates and Javas Lehn, of Hornall Anderson, created for Mammoth Mountain. Working off the positioning statement “Come as you are, do what you love,” their goal was to tell a story that focused more on the experience than on the destination.

Turning the type on its head echos the photographs on the Mammoth Unbound posters, while conveying the subliminal message that there are no limits at the resort.

Image: Hornall Anderson

“We designed the posters with the freedom of being unbound, taking it to the extreme,” says Bates. “We wanted the posters to reflect this attitude—hence the upside-down typography and logo.”

The design team chose Blender, which was influenced by Wim Crouwel’s Gridnik typeface, as the main font for the posters. “The face has a progressive, cutting-edge feel to it,” Javas says. “I thought it would connect well with the audience of Unbound—bold, simple and upside down.”

15

Make The Type Do Double-Duty Another way to get the most value from type is to make it do doubleduty. In addition to words, typography can also create illustrations, visual puns and memorable shapes.

Derek Lockwood, of Saatchi & Saatchi in New Zealand, used type—lettering, actually—to create both a typographic message and a delightful image for the packaging of an international lingerie manufacturer and retailer.

“Our solution was inspired by the origins of corsetry in Art Nouveau France,” says Lockwood. The forms of both the logo and the typographic illustrations imply craft, thread and the elegant curving brush strokes of an artist.”

When asked why he came up with the idea of a typographic pun, Lockwood’s answer was simple, “We wanted to embed the story into the brand applications in a beautiful, subtle way.

The calligraphic typography complements the Bendon lingerie logo while telling an evocative story in an engaging manner.

Image: Commarts.com

“After looking closely at the intricate lace patterns on lingerie—and with the brushstroke form of the logo as a starting point—we sought to mimic lace detailing,” he continues. “The desire was to make women look twice, ‘It’s lace. No wait! It’s words!’ We were fortunate that the solution worked so well”

Double-Duty

for a

Good Cause

David Ryan, at Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing, also used type and lettering to create a design solution that is charming, fun— and a little provocative—for a very different client. Ryan’s client was a co-worker, Ellyn Davidson, who needed a logo for her newly-formed breast cancer three-day-walk team.

“When Ellyn came to me with the name ‘ta ta breast cancer,’” Ryan recalls, “I came up with an idea almost immediately and sketched the concept on a scrap of paper in about two minutes. I submitted the rough sketch to Ellyn, and she loved it.”

Ryan chose to combine hand-lettering with the typeface Americana because, as he says, “I wanted a typographic solution for the logo but

The branding for the “ta ta breast cancer walk” team is simple and memorable—a perfect typographic solution.

Image: Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing

could not find the right typeface to illustrate the shape of a breast, so I drew the letter ‘t.’ The lowercase ‘a’ in Americana is a round and soft character and worked perfectly for the rest of the illustration.”

16

Simple But Not Easy Bradford Lawton arrived at a solution for the logo and branding for the 2008 annual San Antonio Zoo Ball through a more laborious and frustrating process.

“We inherited the theme ‘Monkey Business,’ and, I have to admit, it didn’t really inspire us,” recalls Lawton. “It was hard to not stray into referring to the Marx Brothers film, or doing something camp. After several false starts, I went back to my desk and began sketching monkey faces, using only circles, to see if I could create a simple but interesting design. That didn’t seem to yield anything noteworthy either, so, getting frustrated, I left my desk for a break. When I returned I Is it a monkey’s face or Helvetica numbers? It’’ both—and cheap type at its best.

Image: Bradford Lawton

happened to see my scribbled monkey face circles from a side angle and the ‘08’ appeared. It was one of those eureka moments when you feel more like a conduit than an author.”

The next step was to choose the best typeface to represent the concept sketch. “It was important that the idea be realized without manipulating the type,” says Lawton. “My goal was not to create something new but to invite people to see things they see every day—in this case numbers—in a new way.” He chose Helvetica Black.

A word of caution: Visual puns and multiple typographic images do come with a potential problem. If they are forced, if they are not absolutely clear, they can fall as flat as a bad joke.

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Masters

of

Typographic Cheap Tricks

There are a few designers, however, who are masters of typographic design窶馬ever making a false step, always delighting us with results

Michael Bierut

that seem to border on magic. Michael Bierut, Christopher Gyorgy and T.J. Tucker are three such typographic prestidigitators.

Christopher Gyorgy

T.J. Tucker

18

Ten Years

of

Typographic Posters

He’s been called a “design personality,” a “design generalist” and “the most powerful person in the design community.” Michael Bierut is also a masterful typographer.

This is readily apparent in the series of posters he designed for the Yale School of Architecture. All were created within the same simple format, 22 X 34 inches, printed in just one color, black, and almost all are purely typographic solutions. When asked why he made type such an important aspect of the posters’ designs, Bierut replied, “Most of the posters we’ve done are lecture series announcements or promotions for symposia, each of which involves multiple participants. This made it impossible to reduce to a single image. Even when there was a single subject, that subject was often more conceptual in nature. All of this led to a search for typographic analogs for each poster’s subject: The typography can always be more abstract.”

Bierut also knows his audience, which allows him to create typography that is intimate. The poster he created for the 2007 Fall Lecture series is a perfect example. Some may find it difficult to read, but Bierut’s audience should have little trouble. “I can’t say we actually try to make it hard for people to get the message,” says Bierut, “but we are aware that we’re communicating with a specific audience: architects, architecture students and people who write and think about architecture. This means that we can include elements that might not mean anything to someone outside the target audience. The 2007 Fall Lecture series is one of several posters in which we made reference to the striking vertical cast concrete exterior of the Yale Art and Architecture Building designed by Paul Rudolph.”

Many of the posters, like the one for the 2008 Open House, are typographically lighthearted. “Our clients,” says Bierut, “have a good sense of humor. They know that the best way to portray the school is as a place that is lively and vital—and, often, fun.”

In other posters, like the Open House poster for 2009, Bierut used very large type to create an engaging graphic illustration. We are accustomed to seeing type at small sizes, but when it is set very large, it yields a dramatic and unexpected solution.

Bierut also believes that limitations can be good things. “They free us The posters for the Yale School of Architecture are powerful and engaging typographic statements.

Images: Michael Bierut

19

up to concentrate on content and function, which vary from poster to poster,” he says. “I love assignments that try to find a balance between consistency and diversity. It’s the essence of what creating a graphic identity is all about.”

Cheap Type Branding Christopher Gyorgy may not be the household name that Michael Bierut is, but he, too, has a number of typographic tricks up his sleeve.

Gyorgy is a creative advertising consultant specializing in brand building through TV, print, radio and the Web. Like Jeremy Schwartz, Gyorgy also chose to make his own alphabets as part of the design solution for one of his clients. “The Adobe PDF ads are aimed at persuading college professors to use Acrobat to produce course material,” Gyorgy recalls. “The idea was to make them aware of the stability and security of PDF documents. My partner, Tyler McKellar, and I came up with the idea of depicting the message as ephemeral content.

“The cake was made of fiberglass and was pretty expensive,” explains Gyorgy, “but the lettering didn’t cost too much.”

For the Etch A Sketch piece, Gyorgy found an illustrator who works exclusively with the toy. “He does portraits, landscapes, still lifes—and now typography,” says Gyorgy. “He created the lettering and, using a special technique, made it (ironically) permanent.”

The right typeface can also easily, and inexpensively, create the look and feel of a time or place. Gyorgy chose typefaces for the posters he created for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the International Surfing Museum specifically to create a nostalgic flavor.

“When I worked on the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum poster,” says Gyorgy, “I was able to pore through the museum’s archives to get a sense of the graphic and typographical idiosyncrasies of the era.

I was able to find the timeless, classic letterforms I used in the ads.

Through the compositional and typographical variation in the posters, I was able to make each poster distinct, while maintaining a consistent aesthetic.”

Gyorgy created the Surfing Museum posters while working at DraftFCB in Chicago. He selected typefaces that he felt were harmonious to each poster theme. “In the case of the Giants poster,” Gyorgy recalls, “the treatment was a marriage of typography you might see in a book of Brothers Grimm fairy tales and gothic-inspired surf graphics.”

The right typeface can capture the reader’s imagination and take it to a different time and place.

Images: Christopher Gyorgy

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Tucker Knows Type T.J. Tucker has proven that he’s a master of typographic cheap tricks in his many years with Texas Monthly magazine. His issues have won numerous awards and serve as inspiration for designers around the world.

Tucker is not afraid to break a few rules in the creative process. We were taught not to stack type in Typography 101, yet Tucker pulls it off with aplomb in the “True Grit” spread. “I’ve been fascinated with cattle brands since I was a kid,” says Tucker. “The stacked headline does two things. It pays homage to the vertical (welded together) design of cattle brands. And it mirrors the expressions and attitudes of the physically and mentally tough cowboys we photographed in this piece.”

And the flush right caption at the top of the right page? “I don’t normally like to put captions on photographs,” says Tucker, “but I felt that the in-your-face nature of the portrait begged for a more prominent identifier. I wanted the text to cut against the cowboy’s gaze and compel the Image: T.J. Tucker

reader to engage it before turning the page.”

Neither is Tucker afraid to do the typographically unexpected. In the “Willie’s God” spread, for instance, he chose to add exuberant swashes to the headline opposite the photo of Willie Nelson’s gnarled face. “Willie’s hair inspired the addition of the swashes,” recalls Tucker.

“Willie is usually represented graphically with rough and rugged type treatments. I didn’t get that vibe from him at the photo shoot. He had a very quiet, intelligent and gentle manner. Yet there he was with his long hair and worn-out boots. You could see the years and miles in his hands and face. He’s a combination of cowboy, gypsy song man

Stacked type and over-the-top embellishments tell a story beyond the words.

Image: T.J. Tucker

and beloved outlaw. Si Scott’s lettering for the headline echoed this persona: ornate, modern and quiet. It’s a little messy, yet wonderfully cohesive.”

Tucker uses type in a very different—yet simple—manner to add drama and focus to the “Soldier” spread. The deck and lead-in copy draw the reader into the soldier’s eyes and the headline. The circles in the soldier’s eyes? “You’re seeing the reflection of the ring light that was mounted on the photographer’s camera,” says Tucker. “We knew we were after this look from the beginning. The circles reinforce the notion that the author is a modern-day warrior with a mission. They also make it feel as if he’s targeting something. The circles ultimately ended up being the driving factor for the headline solution.”

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Cheap But Not Always Easy No doubt about it, typography can be a powerful and inexpensive design tool. It takes common sense and a careful eye, however, to create communication that is inviting, makes an impression, focuses attention, engages the reader and creates a mood, ultimately giving life and personality to the printed word. Only one of the above design solutions “just fell into place.” All of the others were carefully planned.

Some were achieved only after several false starts. Typography may be cheap—but it’s not always easy.

Allan Haley is Director of Words and Letters at Monotype. He is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of all things related to typeface designs and content for the Monotype Imaging and International Typeface Corporation websites. In addition to his responsibilities at Monotype Imaging, Allan is Chairperson of the steering committee for AIGA Typography, a past President of the TDC, and past Chairman of the Board of Directors of SOTA. Haley was made an ex officio member of the SOTA Board in 2008. He is a prolific writer, having penned numerous books on type and graphic communication and hundreds of articles for publications such as U&lc, HOW, Dynamic Graphics, and Step-By-Step Graphics. https://www.linkedin.com/pub/allan-haley/4/26a/17a

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23

Lessons learned during a lifetime in the type industry

TYPE CASTING

My first job in book design was at New American Library, a publisher of mass-market books. I was thrilled to be hired.

It was exactly where I wanted to be. I love the written word, and viewed this as my entrance into a world I wanted to participate in. Little did I suspect at the time that mass-market books, also known as “pocket� books (they measure approximately 4" x 7", although I have yet to wear a pocket they fit comfortably into), were viewed in the design world as the tawdry stepchild of true literature and design, gaudy and unsophisticated. I came to understand that this was due to the fact that mass-market books, sold extensively in super- markets and convenience stores, had more in common with soap detergent and cereal boxes than with their much more dignified older brother, the hardcover first edition book. Indeed, the level of design of paperbacks was as slow to evolve as a box of Cheerios.

By Steven Brower

Image: Ron Brinkman

24

O

n the other hand, hardcover books, as if dressed in evening attire, wore elegant and sophisticated jackets. Next in line in terms of standing, in both the literary and design

worlds, was the trade paper edition, a misnomer that does not refer to a specific audience within an area of work, but, rather, to the second edition of the hardcover, or first edition, that sports a paperbound cover. Trade paperbacks usually utilize the same interior printing as the hardcover, and are roughly the same size (generally, 6� x 9�).

Mass-market books were not so lucky. The interior pages of the original edition were shrunk down, with no regard for the final type size or the eyes of the viewer. The interiors tended to be printed on cheap paper stock, prone to yellowing over time. The edges were often dyed to mask the different grades of paper used. The covers were usually quite loud, treated with a myriad of special effects (i.e., gold or silver foil, embossing and de-bossing, spot lamination, die cuts, metallic and Day-Glo pantone colors, thermography, and even holography), all designed to jump out at you and into your shopping cart as you walk down the aisle. The tradition of mass-market covers had more in common with, and, perhaps, for the most part is the descendant of, pulp magazine covers of earlier decades, with their colorful titles and overthe-top illustrations, than that of its more stylish, larger, and more expensive cousins.

25

What I Learned

So, when I made my entry into the elite world of literature, I began in the “bullpen” of a massmarket house. I believed I would be afforded a good opportunity to learn something about type and image. Indeed, in my short tenure there, I employed more display typefaces in a year and a half than I will in the rest of my lifetime. And, I abused type more than I ever dreamed possible.

There, type was always condensed or stretched so the height would be greater in a small format. The problem was that the face itself became distorted, as if it was put on the inquisitionist rack, with the horizontals remaining “thick” and the verticals thinning out. Back then, when type was “spec’d” and sent out to a typesetter, there was a standing order at the type house to condense all type for our company 20 percent. Sometimes, we would cut the type and extend it by hand, which created less distortion but still odd-looking faces. Once, I was instructed by the art director to cut the serifs off a face, to suit his whim. It’s a good thing there is no criminal prosecution for type abuse.

The art director usually commissioned the art for these titles. Therefore, the job of the designers was to find the “appropriate” type solution that worked with these illustrations to create the package. It was here that I learned my earliest lessons in the clichés of typography. Massmarket paperbacks are divided into different genres, distinct categories that define their audience and subject matter. Though they were unspoken rules, handed down from generation to generation, here is what I learned about type during my employ:

Typefaces

Genre

Square serif

Western

Script and cursive

Romance

LED faces

Science Fiction

Nueland

African (in spite of the fact that the typeface is of German orgin)

Latin

Mystery

Fat, round serif faces

Children’s

Sans serif

Nonfiction

Hand scrawl

Horror

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Book covers designed by Steven Brower

And so it went. Every month, we were given five to six titles we were responsible for, and every month, new variations on old themes hung up on the wall. For a brief period I was assigned all the romance titles, which, themselves, were divided into subgenres (historical, regency, contemporary, etc). I made the conscious decision to create the very best romance covers around. Sure, I would use script and cursive type, but I would use better script and cursive type, so distinctive, elegant, and beautiful that I, or anyone else, would recognize the difference immediately. (When, six months after I left the job, I went to view my achievements at the local K-Mart, I could not pick out any of my designs from all the rest on
the bookracks.)

Soon after, I graduated to art director of a small publishing house. The problem was, I still knew little of and had little confidence in, typography. However, by this time, I knew I knew little about typography. My solution, therefore, was to create images that contained the type as an integral part of the image, in a play on vernacular design, thereby avoiding the issue entirely. Thus began a series of collaborations with talented illustrators and photographers, in which the typography of the jacket was incorporated as part of the illustration. Mystery books especially lent themselves well to this endeavor. A nice thing about this approach is that it has a certain informality and familiarity with the audience. It also made my job easier, because I did not have to paste up much type for the cover (as one had to do back in the days of t-squares and wax), since it was, for the most part, self-contained within the illustration. This may seem like laziness on my part, but hey, I was busy.

Eventually, my eye began to develop, and my awareness and appreciation of good typography increased. I soon learned the pitfalls that most novice designers fall into, like utilizing a quirky novelty face does not equal creativity and usually calls attention to the wrong aspects of the solution. The importance of good letterspacing became paramount. Finding the right combination of a serif and sans serif face to evoke the mood of the material within was now my primary concern. The beauty of a classically rendered letterform now moved me, to quote Eric Gill, as much “as any sculpture or painted picture.� I developed an appreciation for the rules of typography.

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The Rules

As I’ve said, it is a common mistake among young designers to think a quirky novelty face equals creativity. Of course, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. If anything, for the viewer, it has the opposite of the intended effect. Rather than being the total sum of individual expression, it simply calls attention to itself, detracting from, rather than adding to, the content of the piece. It is no substitute for a well-reasoned conceptual solution to the design problem at hand.

As a general rule, no more than two faces should be utilized in any given design, usually the combination of a serif face and a sans serif face. There are thousands to choose from, but I find I have reduced the list to five or six in each category that I have used as body text throughout my career:

Serif Bodoni Caslon Cheltenham Garamond

Sans Serif Franklin Gothic Futura Gill Sans News Gothic

You should never condense or extend type. As I stated, this leads to unwanted distortions.

Much care and consideration went into the design of these faces, and they should be treated with respect. There are thousands of condensed faces to choose from without resorting to the horizontal and vertical scale functions.

Do not use text type as display. Even though the computer will enlarge the top beyond the type designer’s intention, this may result in distortions. Do not use display type as text. Often, display type that looks great large can be difficult to read when small.

Do not stack type. The result is odd-looking spacing that looks as if it is about to tumble on top of itself. The thinness of the letter I is no match for the heft of an O sitting on top of it. As always, there are ways to achieve stacking successfully, but this requires care. Also, as I noted, much care should be given to letterspacing the characters of each word. This is not as simple as it seems. The computer settings for type are rife with inconsistencies that need to be corrected optically. Certain combinations of letterforms are more difficult to adjust than others. It is paramount that even optical (as opposed to actual) spacing is achieved, regardless of the openness or closeness of the kerning. It helps if you view the setting upside down, or backwards on a light box or sun-filled window, or squint at the copy to achieve satisfactory spacing.

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The Rules

I would caution you in the judicious use of drop shadows. Shadows these days can be rendered easily in programs such as Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator, and convincingly, too.

The problem is, it is so easily done that it is overdone. Thus, the wholesale usage of soft drop shadows has become the typographic equivalent of clip art. Viewers know they have seen it before. Rather than being evocative, it mainly evokes the program it was created in.

Hard drop shadows, ones that are 100 percent of a color, are easily achieved in Quark and placed behind the main text. This method is generally employed when the main text is not reading against the background, because of a neutral tone or an image that varies in tone from dark to light. The handed-down wisdom is: If you need a drop shadow to make it read, the piece isn’t working. These solid drop shadows always look artificial, since, in reality, there is no such thing as a solid drop shadow. There should be a better solution to readability. Perhaps the background or the color of the type can be adjusted. Perhaps the type should be paneled or outlined. There are an infinite number of possible variations.

If you must use a solid drop shadow, it should never be a color. Have you ever seen a shadow in life that is blue, yellow, or green? It should certainly never be white. Why would a shadow be 100 percent lighter than what is, in theory, casting the shadow? White shadows create a hole in the background, and draw the eye to the shadow, and not where you want it to go: the text.

Justified text looks more formal than flush left, rag right. Most books are set justified, while magazines are often flush left, rag right. Centered copy will appear more relaxed than asymmetrical copy. Large blocks of centered type can create odd-looking shapes that detract from the copy contained within.

Another thing to consider is the point size and width of body copy. The tendency in recent times is to make type smaller and smaller, regard- less of the intended audience. However, the whole purpose of text is that it be read. A magazine covering contemporary music is different from the magazine for The American Association of Retired Persons.

It is also common today to see very wide columns of text, with the copy set at a small point size. The problem is that a very wide column is hard to read because it forces the eye to move back and forth, tiring the reader. On the other hand, a very narrow measure also is objectionable, because the phrases and words are too cut up, with the eye jumping from line to line.

We, as readers, do not read letter by letter, or even word by word, but, rather, phrase by phrase. A consensus favors an average of ten to twelve words per line.1 Lastly, too much leading between lines also makes the reader work too hard jumping from line to line, while too little leading makes it hard for the reader to discern where one line ends and another begins. The audience should always be paramount in the designer’s approach, and it is the audience—not the whim of the designer, or even the client—that defines the level of difficulty and ease with which a piece is read. As Eric Gill said in 1931, “A book is primarily a thing to be read.”

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The Rules

“Good designers can make use of almost anything.

The typeface is the point of departure, not the destination.”

A final consideration is the size of the type. As a rule of thumb, mass-market books tend to be 8 point for reasons of space. A clothbound book, magazine, or newspaper usually falls into the 9.5 point to 12 point range. Oversized art books employ larger sizes—generally, 14 point to 18 point or more.

Choosing the right typeface for your design can be time-consuming. There are thousands to choose from. Questions abound. Is the face legible at the setting I want? Does it evoke what I want it to evoke? Is it appropriate to the subject matter? There are no easy answers. When a student of mine used Clarendon in a self-promotion piece, I questioned why he chose a face that has 1950s connotations, mainly in connection with Reid Miles’ Blue Note album covers.

He answered, “Because I thought it was cool.” I lectured him profusely on selecting type simply based on its “coolness.” Later, I relayed the incident to Seymour Chwast, of the legendary Pushpin Group (formerly Pushpin Studios). He observed that Clarendon is actually a Victorian face, which he and his peers revived as young designers in the 1950s. When I asked him why they chose to bring this arcane face back to life, he replied, “Because we thought it was cool.”

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Breaking The Rules

It’s okay to express yourself.. make your own rules Image: Maytakr - Deviantart

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules. An infinite number of faces can be used within one design, particularly when you employ a broadside-style type solution, a style that developed with the woodtype settings of the nineteenth century. Another style, utilizing a myriad of faces, is that influenced by the Futurist and Dada movements of the early twentieth century. As Robert N. Jones stated in an article in the May 1960 issue of Print magazine: “It is my belief that there has never been a typeface that is so badly designed that it could not be handsomely and effectively used in the hands of the right...designer.” Of course, this was before the novelty type explosion that took place later that decade, and, again, after the advent of the Macintosh computer. Still, Jeffery Keedy, a contemporary type designer whose work appears regularly in Emigre, concurs: “Good designers can make use of almost anything. The typeface is the point of departure, not the destination.” Note the caveat “almost.” Still, bad use of good type is much less desirable than good use of bad type. When I first began in publishing, a coworker decided to let me in on the “secrets” of picking the appropriate face.

“If you get a book on Lincoln to design,” he advised, “look up an appropriate typeface in the index of the type specimen book.” He proceeded to do so. “Ah, here we go—‘Log Cabin!’”

While, on the extremely rare occasion, I have found this to be a useful method, it’s a good general rule of what not to do.

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Steven Brower is an award-winning former Creative Director for PRINT, a former art director at the New York Times and currently for The Nation, co-author and designer of Woody Guthrie Artworks (Rizzoli, 2005), and author and designer of Satchmo: The Wonderful Art and World of Louis Armstrong (Abrams, 2009).

In addition his writings on design and pop culture have appeared in several publications. He is the director of the “Get Your Masters with the Masters� MFA program for working professionals and educators at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. Contact him at: Sbrower@marywood.edu or visit his website: stevenbrowerdesign.com

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33

Good vs. Bad Design

How Good

is

Good?

by:

Stefan Sagmeister

In September design felt impotent and frivolous.

There is nothing inherent in our profession that forces us to support worthy causes, to promote good things, to avoid visual pollution. There might be such a responsibility in us as people. In August, when thinking about my reasons for being alive, for getting out of bed in the morning, I would have written the following down: 1. Strive for happiness 2. Don’t hurt anybody 3. Help, others achieve the same

Now I would change that priority: 1. Help others 2. Don’t hurt anybody 3. Strive for happiness

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M

y studio

was engaged in cool projects, things designers like to

do, like designing a cover for David Byrne. We had a good

time designing them, and since the products and events these pieces promoted were fine, I don’t think we hurt anybody who bought them.

One of the many things I learned in my year without clients, a year I had put aside for experiments only, was that I’d like a part of my studio to move from creating cool things to significant things.

The 80s in graphic design were dominated by questions about the layout, by life style magazines, with Neville Brody’s Face seen as the big event. The 90s were dominated by questions about typography, readability, layering, with David Carson emerging as the dominant figure.

With prominent figures like Peter Saville recently talking about the crisis of the unnecessary and lamenting about the fact that our contemporary culture is monthly, there might now finally be room for content, for questions about what we do and for whom we are doing it. The incredible impact the First Things First manifesto had on my profession would certainly point in that direction.

The first sentence on page 1 of Victor Papanek’s “Design for the Real World” reads: “There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier: Advertising design. In persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others that don’t care, it is probably the phoniest field in existence today.”

I do know that bad design can harm our lives. From the problems this little piece of bad typography caused in Florida to unnecessary junk mail and overproduced packaging, bad design makes the world a more difficult place to live in.

At the same time, strong design for bad causes or products can hurt us even more.

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Good Design + Bad Cause = Bad Just consider the swastika, the age old and powerful symbol and its transformation into a very successful identity program by the Nazis.

Context is all-important: The Christian cross had one meaning in 16th century Europe and another one in 20th century India.

Nazi Swastika

Bad

design

+

good cause

=

Image: Hip Gallery

good?

On the other hand, bad design for a good cause can still be a good thing. We designed the logo for The Concert for New York, a huge charity event for the fire and policeman in Madison Square Garden, involving among others Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, The Who. From a design point of view, the statue of liberty playing a guitar is a trite clichĂŠ. I am not suggesting that the logo had much to do with the over $ 20 million raised for the Robin Hood Foundation, well, actually, a tiny portion was raised through the logo in the from of merchandize sales.

Concert for New York Album Cover

Image: Stefan Sagmeister

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How To Be Good?

Well, does help by definition have to be selfless? Am I allowed to get something out of myself? If I do help, am I permitted to have fun while doing so?

I read an interview with an art director in England discussing his award winning campaign ad campaign for an association for the blind, featuring a striking image of a guide dog with human eyes stripped in. He mentioned that he knew that a picture of a cute puppy would have raised more donations for the association, but was more interested in winning awards. He had no problems with this attitude.

When GE gives 10 million to the WTC victim families, is it ok for them to look good for doing so?

Or, a more extreme case: Is it ok for Philip Morris to go and give 60 million to help out various charities and then spend another 108 million promoting this good deed in magazine ads?

If you are homeless and you just got a hot meal from St. Johns in Brooklyn, one of the organizations the money went to, you don’t really give a shit if the people who gave it to you tout their own horn afterwards.

Even though it really is a ridiculous case, isn’t it still preferable to blowing the entire 168 million on a regular ad budget?

And: Why are so many celebrities involved in charities? Five years ago, my feeling was they just wanted to promote their careers. Now I am somewhat less cynical. It is conceivable that many simply came to realize the pursuit of money/fame/success does not hold the contentment it promised and are on the lookout for more significance.

Poor Sting practically ruined his career with all his do gooding, transforming himself from the cool leader of the Police to just another sappy rain forest bard.

Where do the critics come in? If I make fun of Sting, do I keep other celebrities from following his lead and therefore somehow contribute to the destruction of the rainforest? If I do criticize Sting, do I have to have a better idea to help the world?

Winter Sorbeck, design teacher and fictional main character in Chip Kidd’s new novel The Cheese Monkeys, says at one point: “Uncle Sam is Commercial Art, the American Flag is graphic design. Commercial Art makes you BUY things, graphic Design GIVES you ideas.”

If I’m able to do that, to give ideas, that WOULD be a good reason to get out of bed in the morning.

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Good Design + Good Cause = Good Most of current graphic design done by professional design companies is used to promote or sell, which is fine, but design can also do so much more.

Design

can unify

Francis Hopkinson, a writer, artist and a signatory of the declaration of independence designed the American Flag (never got paid for it though).

Design

can help us remember

American Flag Image: Les Cunliffe

The towers of light by Julian Laverdiere and Paul Myoda, at this moment proposed as a temporary memorial down at Ground Zero, are a beautiful emotional response. They are ghost limbs; we can feel them even though they are not there anymore.

Design

can simplify our lives

Everybody who had to buy tokens in the New York subway system would agree that the Metro card eased the way we go around the city.

Towers of Light Image: Shivam Patel

NY MetroCard Image: Mr.TinDC - Flickr

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Design

can help people rally behind a cause

Robbie Canals poster series wheat pasted all over New York in the 80ies probably spoke to the already converted, but showed me there are other people out there who are not happy with the administration.

I guess I picked these posters over the hundreds or thousands of posters designers created that would qualify as an example because I saw those actually pasted on the street. There is this entire subsection in design, the peace or environmental poster, where only hundreds are actually printed, only dozens go up in the street and the rest is Robbie Canals Poster Series Image: Robbie Canals

distributed to design competitions. This of course does NOT help people rally behind a cause, it only helps the ego of the designer.

Design

can inform and teach

From the abstract geometric signs and animals of the cave paintings to the graphs in the New York Times, designers give us a better understanding of the issues.

Design

can raise money

As a stand in for all the promotions and ads that raised money for Non-Profit organizations I am showing here the Breast Cancer symbol which made a an impressive amount of money for cancer research.

Prehistoric Cave Painting Image: Pichugin Dmitry

Design can make us more tolerant

Design

can make us more tolerant

Russian designer Andrey Logvin simple poster called Troika speaks for itself.

Breast Cancer Symbol mage: Dareen Al-Qurashi

Logvin’s Poster Image: Andrey Logvin

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Stefan Sagmeister is known for upsetting norms, tricking the senses through design, typography, environmental art, conceptual exhibitions and video. His diverse client list includes the Rolling Stones, HBO and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. A native of Austria, he received his M.F.A. from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and earned a master’s degree from Pratt Institute, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He resides in New York City where his firm, Sagmesiter & Walsh, is based. stefan@sagmeisterwalsh.com sagmeisterwalsh.com/

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Image: Luke Lucas

42

Grooming the Font A selection from Bringhurst’s Elements of Typographic Style Robert Bringhurst writes about designing with the correct typeface; striving for rhythm, proportion, and harmony; choosing and combining type; designing pages; using section heads, subheads, footnotes, and tables; applying kerning and other type adjustments to improve legibility; and adding special characters, including punctuation and diacritical marks.

The Elements of Typographic Style teaches the history of and the artistic and practical perspectives on a variety of type families that are available in Europe and America today.

For more information visit: webtypography.net

W

riting begins with the making of meaningful marks. That is to say, leaving the traces of meaningful gestures.

Typography begins with arranging meaningful marks that are already made. In that respect, the practice of typography is like playing the piano – an instrument quite different from the human voice. On the piano, the notes are already fixed, although their order, duration and amplitude are not. The notes are fixed but they can be endlessly rearranged, into meaningful music or meaningless noise.

Pianos, however, need to be tuned. The same is true of fonts.

To put this in more literary terms, fonts need to be edited just as carefully as texts do – and may need to be re-edited, like texts, when their circumstances change. The editing of fonts, like the editing of texts, begins before their birth and never ends.

You may prefer to entrust the editing of your fonts, like the tuning of your piano, to a professional. If you are the editor of a magazine or the manager of a publishing house, that is probably the best way to proceed. But devoted typographers, like lutenists and guitarists, often feel that they themselves must tune the instruments they play.

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10.1.1 Check the license before tuning a digital font.

Digital fonts are usually licensed to the user, not sold outright, and the license terms may vary. Some manufacturers claim to believe that improving a font produced by them is an infringement of their rights. No one believes that tuning a piano or pumping up the tires of a car infringes on the rights of the manufacturer – and this is true no matter whether the car or the piano has been rented, leased or purchased. Printing type was treated the same way from Bi Sheng’s time until the 1980s.

Generally speaking, metal type and phototype are treated that way still. In the digital realm, where the font is wholly intangible, those older notions of ownership are under pressure to change.

The Linotype Library’s standard font license says that “You may modify the Font’ Software to satisfy your design requirements.”

FontShop’s standard license has a similar provision: “You do have the right to modify and alter Font Software for your customary personal and business use, but not for resale or further distribution.” Adobe’s and Agfa Monotype’s licenses contain no such provision. Monotype’s says instead that “You my not alter Font Software for the purpose of adding any functionality.... You agree not to adapt, modify, alter, translate, convert, or otherwise change the Font Software….”

10.1

Legal Considerations

If your license forbids improving the font itself, the only legal way to tune it is through a software override. For example, you can use an external kerning editor to override the kerning table built into the font. This is the least elegant way to do it, but a multitude of errors in fitting and kerning can be masked, if need be, by this means.

Image: That Hartford Guy - Flikr

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10.2.1 If it ain’t broke….

Any part of the font can be tuned – lettershapes, character set, character encoding, fitting and sidebearings, kerning table, hinting, and, in an OpenType font, the rules governing character sub-situation. What doesn’t need tuning or fixing shouldn’t be touched. If you want to revise the font just for the sake of revising it, you might do better to design your own instead. And if you hack up someone else’s font for practice, like a biology student cutting up a frog, you might cremate or bury the results.

10.2.2 If the font is out of tune, fix it once and for all.

One way to refine the typography of a text is to work your way through it like by line, putting space in here, removing it there, and repositioning errant characters one by one. But if these refinements are made to the font itself, you will never need to make them again. They are done for good.

10.2.3 Respect the text first of all, the letterforms second, the type designer third, the foundry fourth.

The needs of the text should take precedence over the layout of the font, the integrity of the letterforms over the ego of the designer, the artistic sensibility of the designer over the foundry’s desire for profit, and the founder’s craft over a good deal else.

10.2.4 Keep on fixing.

Check every text you set to see where improvements can be made. Then return to the font and make them. Little by little, you and the instrument – the font, that is – will fuse, and the type you set will start to sing. Remember, though, this process never

10.2

Ethical and Aesthetic Considerations

ends. There is no such thing as a perfect font.

Image: Marek Uliasz Stock Photography

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10.3.1 If there are defective glyphs, mend them.

If the basic lettershapes of your font are poorly drawn, it is probably better to abandon it rather than edit it. But many fonts combine superb basic letterforms with alien or sloppy supplementary characters. Where this is the case, you can usually rest assured that the basic letterforms are the work of

10.3

a real designer, whose craftsmanship merits respect, and that

HONING THE CHARACTER SET

the supplementary characters were added by an inattentive foundry employee. The latter’s errors should be remedied at once.

You may find for example that analphabetic characters such as @ + ± × = • - − © are too big or too small, too light or too dark, too high, or too low, or are otherwise out of tune with the basic alphabet. You may also find that diacritics in glyphs such as å çé ñ ô ü are poorly drawn, poorly positioned, or out of scale with the letterforms.

José Mendoza y Almeida’s Photina is an excellent piece of design, but in every weight and style of Monotype digital Photina, as issued by the foundry, arithmetical signs and other analphabetics are out of scale and out of positin, and the copyright symbol at sign are alien to the front. The raw versions are show in grey, corrected versions in black.

46

slots such as ¢ ÷ 123 ™ 0/100 l, which can be reached Frederic Goudy’s Kennerley is a homely but quite pleasant type, useful for many purposes, but in Lanstons’s digital version, the letterforms are burdened with some preposterous diacritics.

Above left: four accented sorts as issued by the foundry. Above right: corrected versions. All fonts are candidates for similar improvement. Below left: four accented sorts from Robert Slimbach’s carefully honed Minion, as origionally issued by Adobe in 1989. Below right: the same glyphs, revised by Slimbach ten years later, while preparing the OpenType version of the face.

through insertion utilities or by typing character codes or by customizing the keyboard.

If you need to add many such characters, you will need to make a supplementary font or, better yet, an enlarged font (TrueType or OpenType). If these are for your own use only the extra characters can be placed wherever you wish. If the fonts are too be shared, every new glyph should be labeled with its PostScript name and Unicode number.

10.3.4 Check and correct the sidebearings.

The spacing of letters is part of the essence of their design. A well-made font should need little adjustment, except for refining the kerning. Remember, however, that kerning tables exist

10.3.2 If text figures, ligatures or other glyphs you need on

for the sake of problematical sequences such as ƒ*, gy, “A,

a regular basis don’t reside on the base font, move them.

To, Va and 74. If you find that simple pairs such as oo or oe

For readable text, you almost always need figures, but most

require kerning, this is a sign that the letters are poorly fitted.

digital fonts are sold with titling figures instead. Most digital

It is better to correct the sidebearings than to write a bloated

fonts also include the ligatures fi and fl but not ff, ffi, ffl, fj or

kerning table.

ffj. You may find at least some of the missing glyphs on a

supplementary font (an ‘expert font’), but that is not enough. Put

The spacing of many analphabetics, however, has as much

all the basic glyphs together on the base font.

to do with editorial style as with typographic design. Unless your fonts are custom made, neither the type designer nor

If, like a good Renaissance typographer, you use only upright

the founder can know what you need or prefer. I habitually

parentheses and brackets(see § 5.3.2), copy the upright forms

increase the left sidebearing of semicolon, colon, question

from the roman to the italic font. Only then can they be kerned

and exclamation marks, and the inner bearings of guillemets

and spaced correctly without fuss.

and parentheses, in search of a kind of Channel Island compromise: neither the tight fitting preferred by most

10.3.3 If glyphs you need are missing altogether, make

anglophone editors nor the wide-open spacing customary in

them.

France. If I worked in French all the time, I might increase these

Standard ISO digital text fonts (PostScript or TrueType)

sidebearings further.

have 256 slots and carry a basic set of Western European characters. Eastern European characters such as ä ç î ö œ ç are usually missing. So are the Welsh sorts w and y, and a host of characters needed for African, Asian and Native American languages.

The components required to make these characters may be

Three options for spacing of basic analphabets in Monotype

present on the font, and assembling the pieces is not hard, but

digital Centaur: foundry issue(top); French spacing(bottom);

you need a place to put whatever character you make. If you

and something in between. Making such adjustments one by

need only a few and do not care about system compatibility,

one by the insertion of fixed spaces can be tedious. It is easier

you can place them in wasted slots – e.g., the ^ < > \ | ~

by far, if you know what you want and you want it consistently,

positions, which are accessible directly from the keyboard, or

to incorporate your preferences into the font.

47

10.3.5 Refine the kerning table.

y = ƒ(x) occur routinely in mathematics.) If you know what texts

Digital type can be printed in three dimensions, using zinc or

you wish to set with a given font, and know that combinations

polymer plates, and metal type can be printed flat, from photos

such as these will never occur, you can certainly omit them from

or scans of the letterpress proofs. Usually, however, metal type

the table. But if you are preparing a font for general use, even

is printed in three dimensions and digital type is printed in

in a single language, remember that it should accommodate

two. Two-dimensional type can be printed more cleanly and

the occasional foreign phrase and the names of real and

sharply than three-dimensional type, but the gain in sharpness

fictional people, places and things. These can involve some

rarely equals what is lost in depth and texture. A digital page

unusual combinations. (A few addition examples: McTavish,

is therefor apt to look aenemic next to a page printed directly

FitzWilliam, O’Quinn, dogfish, jock o’-lantern, Hallowe’en.)

from handset metal.

It is also wise to check the font by running a test file – a

This imbalance can be addressed by going deeper into two

specially written text designed to hunt out missing or malformed

dimensions. Digital type is capable of refinements of spacing

characters and kerning pairs that are either too tight or too

and kerning beyond those attainable in metal, and the primary

loose.

means of achieving this refinement is the kerning table.

It is nothing unusual for a well-groomed ISO font (which might

Always check the sidebearings of figures and letters before you

contain around two hundred working characters) to have a

edit the kerning table. Sidebearings can be checked, quickly

kerning table listing a thousand pairs. Kerning instructions

for errors by disabling kerning and setting characters, at ample

for large OpenType fonts are usually stored in a different

size, in pairs: 11223344 … qqwweerrttyy…. If the spacing

form, but if converted to tabular form, the kerning data for

within the pairs appears to vary, or if it appears consistently

a pan-European Latin font may easily reach 30,000 pairs.

cramped or loose, the sidebearings probably need to be

Remember, though, that the number isn’t what counts. What

changed.

matters is the intelligence and style of the kerning. Remember

too that there is no such thing as a font whose kerning cannot

The function of a kerning table is to achieve what perfect

be improved.

sidebearings cannot. A thorough check of the kerning table therefore involves checking all feasible permutations

10.3.6 Check the kerning of the word space.

of characters: 1213141516 … qwqeqrqtqyquqiqoqp

The word space – that invisible blank box – is the most

…(a(s(d(f(g(h(j(k(l … )a)s)d)f)g … -1-2-3-4-5 …

common character in almost every text. It is normally kerned

TqTwTeTrTtTyTuTiToTp … and so on. This will take several hours

against sloping and undercut glyphs: quotation marks,

for a standard ISO font. For a full pan-European font, it will

apostrophe, the letters A, T, V, W, Y, and often to the numerals

take several days.

1, 3, 5. It is not, however, normally kerned more than a hair

either to or away from a preceding lowercase ƒ in either

Class-based kerning (now a standard capability of font editing

roman or italic.

software) can be used to speed the process. In class-based

48

kerning, similar letters, such as a á â ä à å ã are treated as

A cautionary example. Most of the Monotype digital revivals

one kerned alike. This is an excellent way to begin when

I have tested over the years have serious flaws in the kerning

you are kerning a large font, but not a way to finish. The

tables. One problem in particular recurs in Monotype

combination Ta and Tä, Ti and Tï, il and íl, i) and ï), are likely

Baskerville, Centaur and Arrighi, Dante, Fournier, Gills Sans,

to require different treatment.

Poliphilus and Baldo, Van Dijck and other masterworks in the

Monotype collection. These are well-tried faces of suberb

Kerning sequences such as Tp, Tt and f( may seem to you

design – yet in defiance of tradition, the maker’s kerning

absurd, but they can and do occur in legitimate text. (Tpig

tables call for a large space (as much as M/4) to be added

is the name of a town in the mountains of Dagestan, near

whenever the ƒ is followed by a word space. The result is a

the southern tip of Russian Federation; Ttanuu is an important

large white blotch after every word ending in ƒ unless a mark

historical site on the British Columbia coast; sequences such as

of punctuation intervenes.

Monotype digital Van Dijck, before and after editing the kerning table. As issued, the kerning table adds 127 unites (thousandths of an em) in the roman, and 228 in the italic, between the letter Ć&#x2019; and the word space. The corrected table adds 6 units to the roman, none in the italic. Other, less drastic refinements have also been made to the kerning table used in the second two lines.

Professional typographer may argue about whether the added space should be zero, or ten, or even 25 thousandths of an em. But there is no professional dispute about whether it should be on the order of an eighth or a quarter of an em. An extra space that large is a prefabricated typographic error â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one that would bring snorts of disbelief and instantaneous correction from Stanley Morison, Bruce Rogers, Jan van Krimpen, Eric Gill and others on whose expertise and genius the Monotype heritage is built. But it is an easy error to fix for anyone equipped with the requisite tool: a digital font editor.

49

Her most recent project Analogue/Digital, Evelin Kasikov showcases the extent of her hand-crafted skill to â&#x20AC;&#x153;produce a tactile interpretation of analogue versus digital themes.

Image: Evelin Kasikov

10.4.1 If the font looks poor at low resolutions, check the hinting.

Digital hints are important chiefly for the sake of how the type will look on screen. Broadly speaking, hints are of two kinds: generic hints that apply to the font as a whole and specific

10.4

Hinting

hints applicable only to individual characters. Many fonts are sold unhinted, and few fonts indeed are sold with hints that cannot be improved.

Manual hinting is tedious in the extreme, but any good font editor of recent vintage will include routines for automated hinting. These routines are usually enough to make a poorly hinted text font more legible on screen. (in the long run, the solution is high-resolution screens, making the hinting of fonts irrelevant except at tiny sizes.)

50

The presumption of common law is that inherited designs, like inherited texts, belong in the public domain. New designs (or in the USA, the software in which they are enshrined) are protected for a certain term by copyright; the names of the designs are also normally protected by trademark legislation.

The names are often better protected, in fact, because infringements on the rights conferred by a trademark are often much easier to prove than infringements of copyright.

Nevertheless there are times when a typographer must tinker with the names manufacturers give to their digital fonts.

Text fonts are generally sold in families, which may include smorgasbord of weights and variations. Most editing and typesetting software takes a narrower, more stereotypical view.

It recognizes only the nuclear family of roman, italic, bold and bold italic. Keyboard shortcuts make it easy to switch from one to another of these, and the switch codes employed are generic. Instead of saying “Switch to such and such a font at such and such a size,” they say, for instance, “Switch to this font’s italic counterpart, whatever that may be.” This convention makes the instructions transferable. You can change the face and size of a whole paragraph or file and the roman, italic and bold should all convert correctly. The slightest inconsistency in font names can prevent this trick from working – and not all manufacturers name their fonts according to the same conventions. For the fonts to be linked, their family names must be identical and the font names must abide by rules known to the operating system and software in use.

If, for example, you install Martin Majoor’s Scala or Scala Sans

10.5

Naming Conventions

(issued by FontShop) on a PC, you will find that the italic and the roman are unlinked. These are superbly designed fonts, handsomely kerned and fully equipped with the requisite text figures and small caps – almost everything a digital font should be – but the PC version must be placed in a font editor and renamed in order to make them work as expected.

Example of Scala Sans in Use Image: Jaap van Triest

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Image: Sophie Strain

52

Inspiration

Inside the Sketchbooks of the World’s Greatest Type Designers by:

Maria Popova images courtesy of:

Steve Longbottom

From prolific design writer Steven Heller, and collaborator Lita Talari,comes a fine new addition to both the 10 finest books on typography and our favorite peeks inside the notebooks of great creators: Typography Sketchbooks is like a visual window into the minds of the world’s most exciting type designers and, in turn, into the intricate artscience of typography itself — a medium both creative and practical that has to walk the tightrope between centuries-old tradition and bleeding-edge innovation with equal parts grace and agility in an era of changing reading habits and design expectations.

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S

ketchbooks

are a part of our daily life; full of scribbles, notes,

ideas, musings, lists, names, numbers, people, places etc. etc.

They house our lives, and flicking back through old sketchbooks is always a wonderfully nostalgic experience. Often it’s less about the destination, and more about the journey. And for some talented designers, illustrators and typographers, their journeys are picturesque ones…

The hefty tome, weighing in at over 3 pounds and 350 pages, features work by more than 100 designers — including icons like Paul Shaw, Matthew Carter, and Erik Spiekermann, and Brain Pickings favorites Doyald Young, Maira Kalman, and Milton Glaser — each profiled in a micro-essay alongside the work.

Heller and Talarico’s exquisite selection reveals two key archetypes of type designer: the designer as artist, using letterforms as a medium of self-expression and creative experimentation, and the designer as scientist, applying precision and technical acumen to create stunning yet utilitarian type commodities.

“Sketchbooks are intentionally informal – a place to rehearse, experiment or just play around.”

—Steven Heller & Lita Talarico

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“A fine new addition to both the 10 finest books on typography and our favorite peeks inside the notebooks of great creators: Typography Sketchbooks is like a visual window into the minds of the worlds most exciting type designers and, in turn, into the intricate art-science of typography itself a medium both creative and practical that has to walk the tightrope between centuries-old tradition and bleeding-edge innovation with equal parts grace and agility in an era of changing Daniel Pelavin’s sketches illustrate a process of continuous improvement.

reading habits and design expectations.”

— Brain Pickings “Typography Sketchbooks is like a visual window into the minds of the world’s most exciting type designers and, in turn, into the intricate art-science of typography itself.”

— TheAtlantic.com “Typography Sketchbooks (Princeton Architectural Press 2011), covers just about every nuance of visual communication from just about every possible approach to type design, from the highly controlled sketches of Matthew Carter (Cambridge, MA) to the free-wheeling headline

John Baeder is an avid collector of primitive ‘non-designed’ signs.

sketches of Andy Smith (London, UK) to the sublimely beautiful photographic alphabets of Bob Aufuldish (San Anselmo, UK). It’s a must for musing and inspiration for visual narrators. And it includes URLs for the contributors.”

— DART: Design Arts Daily “Heller and Talarico have struck gold again with sketches revolving around type, type treatments, and letter forms... Any reader who doodles will feel an itch in their fingers looking at these pages.”

— Communication Arts

Daniel Pelavin’s sketches illustrate a process of continuous improvement.

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Morteza Momayez (1935–2005) liked to have fun with grids.

Katie Lombado’s ‘sketchbook’ surely can’t all look this amazing.

A more typical use of a sketchbook from Michael Hochleitner.

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Erik Spiekermann’s ‘sketchbook’ could be used as a diagram in any typographic dissertation.

The ‘sketches’ show a stellar level of detail that is to be expected.

Job Wouters (AKA Letman) shows-off his skills.

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The variation in working styles are there to see; Erik Spiekermann’s organised experiments and constant developments contrast Andy Smith’s loose, free hand sketches. I was looking forward to seeing Alex Trochut’s sketchbook work, however it seems that that detail can only be achieved through intensive Adobe Illustrator time. Something you get from leafing through this collection, is the love for typography. Occasionally you can spot the moment of inspiration where scribbles became a final idea. It has certainly inspired me to use my sketchbooks, less for writing lists of things to do, and more for actually doing them.

Typography Sketchbooks is a follow-up to Heller and Talarico’s 2010 Graphic: Inside the Sketchbooks of the World’s Great Graphic Designers, one of the five finest glimpses of creators’ private notebooks.

It’s an incredibly simple book, with the emphasis on the sketches and little in the way of interviews. The result is you can whizz through the book in an afternoon, however as an inspirational resource, this won’t be a book that will gather dust on a shelf.

Maria Popova is the mind behind Brainpickings.com, a highly influential and addictive curation of the best content from the web and beyond. Originally from Bulgaria, Maria is a reader, writer, interestingness hunter-gatherer, and curious mind at large. She has previously written for Wired UK, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Harvard’s Nieman journalism Lab. www.brainpickings.org brainpicker@brainpickings.com

58

Type Talk

When Typography Speaks Louder Than Words by:

Jessica Glaser

Clever graphic designers love to use typography to explore the interaction between the look of type and what type actually says. In communicating a message, a balance has to be achieved between the visual and the verbal aspects of a design.

Sometimes, however, designers explore the visual aspect of type to a much greater extent than the verbal. In these cases, the visual language does all the talking. This article explores when the visual elements of typography speak louder than words.

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C

al

Swan, author of Language and Typography, makes this point

well when he says, “These two distinct areas often come together

in practice as there is clearly a very strong relationship between the conception of the words as a message and their transmission in visible form.”

To avoid any misunderstanding, let’s clarify what the terms “visual language” and “verbal language” mean. In professional graphic design, visual language refers to the meanings created by the visual appearance of both text and image. In this article, the term “visual language” refers to the character and significance created by carefully selected typography. Verbal language is the literal meaning of words, phrases and sentences.

In this first of a two-part series, we will look at the powerful effect that typography has in taking control of meaning. We will discuss a range of examples, from verbal language that inspires and shapes visual treatment to visual language that dominates verbal meaning. The implications of typographic choices in meaning and interpretation will also be examined. And we will show how the same message can be presented in a number of ways to convey and encourage a diversity of responses.

We all have different cultural backgrounds and experiences that affect our perception of type one way or another. So, regardless of the designer’s skill and effort, a number of uncontrollable aspects remain, including the viewer’s perception, expectations, knowledge, experiences and preferences. And while accounting for all such unpredictable responses to type is impossible, awareness is critical.

For starters, let’s look at an interesting piece from an ad campaign by

The name style from Greenpeace’s campaign to raise awareness of the impact of deforestation.

Image: The Defectors

Greenpeace: In this ad, you are confronted with the familiar name style of one of the world’s favorite chocolate bars, the Kit Kat. The type style and letterform proportions and certainly the color, shape and angle all create an instantly recognizable connection with the Kit Kat brand — so much so that you would be forgiven for seeing the name Kit Kat before reading and taking in the actual written message. Your familiarity with the brand is an instant draw, and appreciating the change of message might take you a second look.

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Manipulating Feelings

and

Reactions

The visual language established when designing with type can bring into play not only emotions, but also physical responses. The following examples are simple illustrations of the varied and emotive effects and highly dominant control that can be achieved by changing the visual language of a message, while still presenting the same verbal language.

This first of a pair of illustrations shows a single large bold word, set in lowercase and closely kerned. The positioning in the frame makes the word dominant and loud, and the message comes across as enthusiastic, friendly and confident. The person speaking is pleased to see you and is coming towards you with a big smile on their face.

Image: Jessica Glaser

The second illustration contrasts dramatically with the first, despite featuring the exact same greeting. The font, case, scale, color and positioning all suggest a considerably more distant and hesitant meeting.

In fact, you would be forgiven for thinking that the person speaking here is not at all sure they even want to acknowledge you and would have preferred to ignore you completely.

Reading these examples aloud helps us instantly appreciate the different effects of visual language. If you read the first example out loud, it would be a loud enthusiastic call that exudes genuine delight, friendliness and openness. Reading aloud the second example, the exact same word, it would be delivered in a much quieter tone, an almost hesitant voice, lacking the assurance and delight of the first.

There is an infinite range of typographic alternatives that achieve subtle or dramatic changes in volume and tone of voice.

Image: Jessica Glaser

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Making The Most Of Visual Language Verbal language is often used to inspire and shape design and typography in order to get a message across, with the goal being to make the most of the viewer’s reaction. Carefully mixing a design’s implication with literal meaning can lead to a memorable outcome.

The following designs are great examples of the effects that can be achieved by employing verbal language that has helped to inspire a visual treatment.

Our first illustration is taken from the work of renowned American graphic designer Herb Lubalin, who was described in a monograph about him by Gertrude Snyder and Alan Peckolick as being “a tenacious typographer, whose graphic concept employed copy, art and typography, and he used available production methods to underline the drama inherent in the message. Idea preceded design.”

Given the subject of this article, this quote is especially fitting. It shows Lubalin as a designer who valued the combined communicative power of language, typography and composition. The book goes on to explain that he used production methods not just for effect but also as a way to emphasize the meaning and message of a project. In Lubalin’s time, these decisions would have entailed manual labor, posing greater limitations than we face today. Finally, this quote confirms that, for Lubalin, concept was of paramount importance and always came before design.

One of Lubalin’s many typographically expressive designs that have become iconic and inspiring to generations of graphic designers.

Image: Peter Gabor

One of his many entries in the Visual Graphics Corporation’s 1964 competition features a carefully selected quote by US editor and writer Caskie Stinnett.

Using delicate and well-considered composition of typographic detailing, Lubalin has succeeded in making an unpleasant message seem attractive and pleasing. The quote states “A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.” The focal point of this statement, being told to “go to hell,” is shown in an elaborate and elegant calligraphic form, enabling this mildly offensive statement to be mistaken for something that could be looked forward to with great anticipation at first sight.

The work of hand-lettering designer Alison Carmichael provides a range of current examples that beautifully illustrate the powerful effect of typography when it takes control of meaning. One such design is her award-winning self-promotional ad for the Creative Circle. Carmichael’s hand-lettering is engraved and inked in an elaborate style on the lid of an old school desk. At first sight, we seem to be looking at a beautiful, possibly historic, work of gothic lettering; seconds later, reality strikes and the rather unpleasant meaning of the text becomes clear.

Award-winning self-promotional ad by Alison Carmichael for the Creative Circle.

Image: Alison Carmichael

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Type Tarts is a UK initiative established to raise awareness of the plight of workers trafficked into the sex industry. Contributing designers are asked to send type-oriented “Tart cards” for exhibition. Many London prostitutes advertise their services by displaying promotional cards in phone boxes. Even in the age of the Internet and mobile phones and in the face of police crackdowns, these cards have achieved a cult following, being highly praised and collected as art.

Both examples below use expressive typefaces and type manipulation to visually reinforce the meanings of the provocative text. In the context of the campaign, figuring out the meaning of the cards is easy enough.

Both examples use expressive typefaces and type manipulation to visually reinforce the meanings of the provocative text. In the context of the campaign, figuring out the meaning of the cards is easy enough.

“Nice and Tight” by Duncan Bancroft

The designs use type to reinforce the meaning of their statements.

Meanwhile, the British Battleaxe Collection’s visuals for a proposed range of type-based tea towels feature quotes from strong UK female comedy characters. These designs are doing something slightly different; type is used primarily to reinforce the agenda and assertive tone of the speakers.

Another stunning example of the visual language of type is by American designer, Jason Munn, well known for his highly acclaimed music posters. This example for Liars is mainly typographic, with sections of each letter cleverly removed so that the viewer doesn’t get the full picture. What is the truth? The choice of typeface is also significant; its extreme contrasts of thick and thin strokes point to the contrast between truth and lies.

“Big and Bouncy” by Peter Fletcher

Jason Munn’s poster for the US band Liars

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The British Battleaxe Collection’s visuals for a proposed range of type-based tea towels feature quotes from strong UK female comedy characters. These designs are doing something slightly different; type is used primarily to reinforce the agenda and assertive tone of the speakers.

The example features a quote from the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. The words themselves are spoken by the program’s main character — the eccentric, social-climbing and bossy Hyacinth Bucket, a lady in her 60s with grand aspirations. Typographically, the letterforms have been selected and grouped to emphasize the desires of the character. The words “I want” and “my” stand out because of a dramatic change of scale. “Superiors” is emphasized with capital letters, whereas “your” is reduced in size and given lowercase letters, thus downgrading the importance of whom she is talking to, in keeping with the character’s bossy nature and tone of voice when speaking to her milkman.

British Battleaxe typographic tea towel design, inspired by the voice of the lead character in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.

Image: Bright Pink Communication Design

In this design, the typeface has been dictated by the character’s tone of voice. The serif typeface with its stylish italics and capital letters captures the meaning and cultural context of this statement from a “woman of a certain age.”

Typography is used to communicate tone of voice, personality, age, gender and mood, and it can be easily manipulated. If, instead of this serif font that so successfully represents this woman’s personality, we used a slab serif, suddenly the character changes, as does the emotional impact of the statement. Judging simply by the font, the narrator is no longer definitively female; she is no longer in their mid60s, and her mood is not merely pompous, but could be described as verging on angry. It’s a great example of how quickly the tone can shift with a simple change of typeface.

A different typographic treatment of this tea towel clearly manipulates the tone of voice and possibly even changes the gender of the speaker.

Image: Bright Pink Communication Design

64

The Power

of

Typography Cannot Be Underestimated

All the examples discussed in this article demonstrate that typographic treatment works alongside verbal language to create, enhance and alter meaning. While the aesthetic value of design is always important, the significance of type in influencing meaning should not be underestimated.

The role — and, in fact, the obligation — of the designer in establishing a tone that adds meaning to the verbal message is a matter of regular debate. Many graphic designers and academics argue that the designer has a responsibility to add “flavor” to their work, not only helping to convey and enhance meaning, but also making the message enjoyable and encouraging to “read” and also memorable.

In the second part of this article, we’ll continue looking at the relationship between visual and verbal language. We’ll touch briefly on the structure and semiotics of language, as well as showcase some remarkable examples, all helping to explain why subtle typographic changes make all the difference.

Jessica Glaser is an academic from the University of Wolverhampton in the UK, graphic designer, and prolific design writer. Her numerous books focus on topics including the use of space in graphic design, mnemonics and memory devices and the understanding and creation of visual hierarchy. Her company Bright Pink Communication Design, works in such areas as healthcare, construction, education, financial services and the public sector.

J.Glaser@wlv.ac.uk

65

ARTICLE AND IMAGES BY: India Stephenson indiastephenson@gmail.com

ID

A typographic installation in the heart of downtown St. Augustine

ENTITY 66

T

hree Flagler College students from Luciana Gassett’s Fall 2014 Art 227: Type Studio class set out with the goal of explaining typography’s importance to society through the design and creation of a site specific typographic installation in the heart of downtown St. Augustine, Florida. Myself, along with Hannah Chittum and Todd Juliano, were faced with a situation in which we investigated, gained insight, established ideas, researched, strategized, created a budget and faced challenges in what resulted to be an incredibly informative and enriching installation on November 7, 2014 during St. Augustine’s monthly First Friday Art Walk...

67

“TYPOGRAPHY IS EVERYWHERE.

IN TODAY’S SOCIETY, IT IS CRITICAL TO WHAT WE DO, HOW WE ACT, AND HOW WE COMMUNICATE, HOWEVER, IT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED”

INVESTIGATION: Research started with an in depth look at both the history of typography and the history of St. Augustine in order to uncover how typography may affect human relationships— and how it does so. The history of typography, being the culmination of artistic styles, as portrayed in movements in history, suggested that typography is an ever-changing field.

In researching the history of St. Augustine, the team unveiled

SITUATION:

that St. Augustine’s history is deeply rooted and defined by

Typography is everywhere. In today’s society, it is critical

a variety of typographic forms. Each team member pulled

to what we do, how we act, and how we communicate,

historic images of typography in St. Augustine and examined

however, it is often overlooked. It is an integral part of our

the characteristics of the typefaces and styles used as well as

day to day lives. Without typography we would loose much

and how they related to the historical era. When looking at

of the value and depth that modern society provides. The

St. Augustine in the modern era, it seemed as though many

purpose of this project is to explain the role of typography

people only saw typography on signs, they did not recognize

and its pertinence to our everyday lives. Typography is what

its value in other formats. This gave our team the insight we

gives everything, ourselves and our surroundings, its identity.

needed to delve into a typography installation project.

According to the Oxford dictionary, identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is, or a close similarity

INSIGHT:

or affinity. Typography allows us to have our own identities as

The insights gained from our investigation and research fueled

well as identifying with the things that make us unique. Our

the concept. Our team set out to draft, build, and install a

team’s goal was to incorporate a word and a pixel into site-

typographic installation in historic St. Augustine.

specific location in order to create a typographic installation that would lead visitors on a thought-provoking experience

Selection of the Word: The word identity defines typography

during the Frist Friday Art Walk of November 2014.

in St. Augustine today because St. Augustine is made identifiable by the specific historical sites in which it holds.

68

Our goals included giving insight into the grammar of the form-

Identity by definition, is the fact of being who or what a person

oriented design process, awakening the power of judgement

or thing is. Identity, in that case is what makes St. Augustine

and the ability to act with more competence in relation to

what it is, the culmination of historical importance as portrayed

the application of drawing, space design, and typography,

through the town’s beautifully preserved past events, all which

creating a photographic journal of the design process,

include typography in some form or another.

nurturing our ability to collaborate with others who have

Identity is a conceptual interactive typography installation

different skill sets, as well as exploring environmental graphic

that gives voice to how social identity may affect

design. These goals were achieved through the process of

individualization—in an indirect but surprising way. It leads

developing a design concept, developing a pixel and design

visitors on a thought-provoking journey through a popular

word, building the word and setting up the installation and

urban site, the intersection of St. George Street and King

finally, making it work.

Street.

IDEA: Our ideas centered on connecting the relevance of typography

The Typeface: A San Serif style evoking modernity and

with modern St. Augustine. St. Augustine is often identified by

universality. I had the idea of using Helvetica, a modern

its structural landmarks: the fort, the lighthouse, and Flagler

typeface designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger. Miedinger’s

College to name a few. In a city defined by its history, we

intention was to design a typeface that had no intrinsic

know very little about who and what it is that make up modern

meaning in its form and could be used on a variety of signage.

St. Augustine. In a city whose identity is bound so closely to its

It was based on the idea that type should have no meaning

history, we wanted to uncover the identities of those currently

and should be designed to have no identity. I thought that

in St. Augustine and discover who St. Augustine is today by

taking this idea of having no identity and juxtaposing it in St.

taking a modern approach to discovering the oldest city.

Augustine, a place with such a prominent historical identity

By taking a “Hello My Name Is” sticker, a very generic and

would create a unique image, much more modern and different

recognizable pixel, and using it in an installation in the Oldest

then the historical tone that the city currently provides.

City in America, we would take a modern approach to the Oldest City to unveil who it is that makes St. Augustine what it

The Promotion: Because our team was using stickers for the

is today.

installation, we thougt it woud be the perfect opportunity for some guerrilla advertising in order to promote the event. We

The Location: The selection of the location was important.

handwrote the date and location of the installation on the

The intersection of King Street, right near the Andrew Young

“Hello My Name Is” stickers and stuck them around town...

Crossing, where African American’s marched for their civil

shhh. This sticker would create a recognizable symbol that

rights in the 60s, with St. George Street, a street that has been

would allow the audience to associate the sticker to our

the heart of St. Augustine for years and is now a shopping

installation. We also created a postcard to pass out during the

area for tourists, was once home to many local business

event. With an image of a “Hello My Name Is” sticker and

owners and mom and pop shops during the 20s industrial

a description of our installation, the postcard established an

revolution. These two streets are also synonemous with the

informative and memorable aspect in which people could take

identity of St. Augustine; they are two of the most recognizable

it home and recall the installation.

street names in town. The intersection of these two streets seemed perfect. The location also has a great amount of foot

The interaction: We decided make this an interactive

traffic, proving our exhibit with lots of viewers and interactions.

installation by allowing people who were around during First Friday Art Walk to select one of the pixels and write and express themselves on it. Making the installation interactive would really engage the audience and help to uncover the goal of discovering who St. Augustine is today. Making this installation interactive would make it memorable and unique to the audience because

Beginning the design process: Hand sketches and computer generated mock-ups

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the people of St. Augustine would not only be able to look at it, but also interact with it by writing on it directly. The installation would be a way to express themselves. Although the pixel, “Hello My Name Is”, suggests that they would only write their name, we would encourage them to express their identity through whatever means they please, be it their name, their role, or their story. We planned to provide Sharpies, so they could express themselves as

Writing promotional stickers to “tag” around town

they pleased. The end result would be a unique compilation of the identies of the people of St. Augustine out on the First Friday Art Walk.

Although we know a lot about the history of St. Augustine, we do not know very much about its presence. This installation would serve as a way to archive the identities of people in St. Augustine in 2014. The final installation could be a piece of history in itself. We wanted to create a generic and recognizable exterior illustrated by the typeface choice of Helvetica as well as the pixel choice of the “Hello My Name Is Sticker”, to make the installation recognizable and approachable, yet have no inherent meaning. We woud allow the people of St. Augustine to give it character and its own identity by expressing their own identities on its surface.

As humans, we are always looking for a way to record information and store it. It is part of our dna, our identiy. This installation would also serve as a way to archive the identities of the people of St. Augustine, a city with so much historical richness. It would provide the future of St. Augustine with a history of the past… a history of St. Augustine in 2014.

In relating to typography, we were interested in examining the stylistic qualities of everyone’s handwriting who wrote on the installation and draw conclusions about who St. Augustine is today, based on the their written typography.

The fact that without typography, the people of St. Augustine, would not be able to express themselves by interacting and writing on the stickers furthers the argument of how important typography is in today’s society.

RESEARCH: Research was key to gaining insight for this project, which in turn, led to many thought provoking ideas. The team initiated research in early October, 2014 during the Fall semester of ART 227- Typo Studio at Flagler College. This stage of the project was focused on establishing knowledge and awareness. The team spent ample time online and in the library researching the relationship between the history of typography and the history of St. Augustine. What we found was unique and helped us to make connections that fueled this project.

Our efforts were compiled in a presentation on October 7, 2014 that discussed each individuals involvement in the team’s findings as well as their plans to further their project.

The presentation, Urban Typography: A Design Concept, was presented during class and allowed for feedback to help each team member further delve into their ideas. The presentation combined our extensive research with the development of our typographic idea for a site-specific narrative. Each presentation consisted of a culmination of words and images that they felt

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best described typography through history and its relevance

We also unveiled rules and regulations about typography in

to historic St. Augustine. Each student pulled at least five

St. Augustine that could potentially hinder its ability to thrive in

images of culturally relevant typography in St. Augustine

the city, as well as explored the newest forms of typography

throughout the years. These pieces included maps from St.

in St. Augustine including drawing inspiration from local St.

Augustine’s founding era that used script typefaces common

Augustine graphic design and typography firms including

to the Renaissance era, playbills from the Civil War era that

Spencer Charles, SpaceCamp, and WeAreCharette.

incorporated decorative flourishes of the Victorian era, signage on St. George Street from the early 1900 industrial era that

STRATEGY:

featured slab serif and Egyptian typefaces, advertisements from

The team decided on a word, a pixel, and a location,

the 40s in the Art Nouveau style, and a letter of response from

that would best portray the importance and relevance of

Dr. Martin Luther King written by a monospacing typewriter.

typography in modern St. Augustine. We finalized our selection of the word “Identity”, the pixel as a “Hello My

It was evident that typography has played a major role in the

Name Is” sticker and the location as the intersection of St.

history of St. Augustine and is a crucial element in forming its

George Street and King Street. By using the measurements

identity as we know it today.

of the physical site as well as the pixel, each team member mocked-up the design of the word in multiple ways and scaled

Our team also researched current typography in St. Augustine

it to the location size using Photoshop. Once we decided on a

and found a range of typography examples ranging from

finalized image we purchased our materials and got to work.

signage at the Alligator Farm, to menus at the Floridian

All in all, the build took about 20 hours to complete and

restaurant, to labels on St. Augustine’s Distillery vodka bottles.

consisted of our team working diligently to get the letters constructed. We began by outlining the letters of the word on cardboard and carefully placing the stickers. Once the stickers were in place we cut the letters out. We decided to added a third dimention to the letters by using corregated cardboard as siding. The corregated cardboard was glued in place by glueguns. Parts of the three-dimensional letters were backed in order to connect them to the wall during our installation using Velcro Command Strips. In order to promote our installation we stickered the town with “Hello My Name Is” stickers that stated the date and location of the exhibit. We also created postcard sized cards to pass to the audience during the installation explaining the exhibit and its relevance to typography and St. Augustine.

BUDGET: By using everyday materials, we attempted to keep our budget fiairly low, however, due to the size of our installation, we needed a lot of materials! While we gathered our flat cardboard for free, 600 “Hello My Name Is” stickers cost us $27.80, 250ft of corregated cardboard came in at $37.50, glueguns and gluesticks amounted to $26.78, and the 100 promotional postcards that we ordered via Vistaprint cost us $24.9. This amounted to a total of $117.06, excluding our labor of love for the project.

The initial phases of the letter building process

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their story. It was up to them.

We had printed 100 post cards to hand out during the exhibit and by the end of the night, we were left empty handed. Nearly all of the 489 “Hello My Name Is” stickers were filled up with identities; signatures, messages, stories and more.

At first, many

CHALLENGES:

passerbys were timid The final installation before “identification” initiated

to sign the installation,

We ran into a few minor challenges while creating our

as it may have seemed as though we were soliciting for

installation including struggling to keep our stickers clean as

signatures. We began asking onlookers to leave a message as

we worked on building our letters as well as a few letters

opposed to signing; this got their attention and gave them an

falling off the wall during our installation.

incentive to sign the installation. Making jokes about signing anything, including their credit card number or social security

The biggest challenge we faced was a last minute problem

number brought a bit of humor, helped to lighten people up,

with our location. We secured a verbal verification from

and got them involved.

the manager of the store on which our installation would be placed on its exterior. We also secured a verbal okay from

Our installation was in a key location and incredibly easy to

an officer at the St. Augustine Police Department. Realizing we

see from afar, even when it got dark. While, at the beginning

did not have written authority, we returned a few days before

of the night, we had to go out, find participants, and ask them

the installation was to be put up for a signature by police

to sign the installation, later into the night, when the installation

authority. We were quickly turned away from the police office

began to get busy, lots of people were coming up and signing

without a signature and told we probably wouldn’t be able to

without us having to ask them.

put up our installation. They suggested we discuss this with the department of Public Works who regulate signage throughout

The results were phenominal. We couldn’t keep ahold of the

the city. Our installation was already complete at this point,

multiple Sharpies we had in our hands… there was always

so there was no turning back. Knowing that the signage laws

someone signing! Everyone had a positive outlook on our

in St. Augustine are very strict, we skipped the discussion with

installation and wanted to know more, many exclaiming how

Public Works and took the initiative to put the installation up

much they liked the interactiveness of our public installation.

without signed authority the next day. Luckily the exhibit went off without a hitch and we had no hassle from the authorities!

EFFECTIVENESS:

The installation brought out so many stories about who and why different people were in St. Augustine that night. A group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who were visting St.

The installation was incredibly successful. On November 7,

Augustine for their daughter’s 16th birthday stopped by, as

2014, during the First Friday Art Walk in St. Augustine, we

well as multiple people who had lived their whole lives in St.

exhibited our installation on the corner of King St. and St.

Augustine.

George. We asked passerbys to identify themselves by writing on our installation. They could write their name, their role, or

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By the end of the night, the stickers on the installation nearly

fully signed up with names, dates, locations etc., all describing

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

those in St. Augustine who’s identities were captured in our

In conclusion to this project, we created a video that

installation that night. We had an incredible archive. Every

showcases our design process as well as the installation in

sticker was different in terms of typeface as well as messages.

action. To view it, please visit:

The responses on the stickers were unique, vast, and plentiful.

http://vimeo.com/113668390.

Identities ranged from names including Brenda, Heather, Brian, and Tom, to places where people were visiting from including

This project educated me on the importance of learning not

Altamonte Springs, FL, New York, NY, and Eugene, OR. Other

only about a place but who it is that makes up that place. It is

responses included birthday shout outs such as “Jane and I

the people, not the places that make history; the culmination of

are 65 today—lucky me”, as well as both funny and serious

their individual identities is what makes each city unique, rather

sayings and statements including “inchworm”, “perpetual

than the place itself.

cool”, “old female pilot”, and “all are equal with a name, Identity is who, not what you are”.

So take the time out of your day to get to know different people, they might even have something interesting to tell you.

Identity: A typographic installation in the heart of St. Augustine

Photographer Brandon Stanton gains insight into the humans of

was astonishingly successful and enriching. We set out and

New York City by photographing, communicating, gathering

accomplished our goal of identifying and archiving who

a quote, and archiving them on his website:

it is that makes up St. Augustine today, while discovering

www.humansofnewyork.com

and educating many of these people of the importance of typography in today’s society. We are grateful to have had the

WORKS CITED:

opportunity to engage in such an enriching exhibit and learn

Stanton, B. (n.d.). Humans of New York. Retrieved December

so much about the people that make up the beautiful city in

7, 2014, from http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

which we live.

Stephenson, I., Chittum, H., & Juliano, T. (2014, December 4). Identity: A Typographic Installation. Retrieved December 7, 2014, from http://vimeo.com/113668390

India Stephenson is a recent graduate of Flagler College. She looks forward to traveling, exploring, and discovering. She will continue to establish thought-provoking ideas and search for challenging tasks in hopes of uncovering unique insights as a result.

Contact her at: indiastephenson@gmail.com or visit her: website: indiastephenson.com blog: indiastephenson.weebly.com Identities revealed on the stickers at the end of the night

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SAY IT WITH TYPE