Reify verb
rē’ә-fĪ’
(ree-uh-fye)
Make (something abstract) more concrete or real
Reification is the constructive or generative aspect of perception, by which the experienced percept contains more explicit spatial information than the sensory stimulus on which it is based.
Designer
Year
Joe Boettcher
Spring 2015
About
Reify is a typeface based on principles of Gestalt Psychology mixed with Philosophy from the Bauhaus. Gestalt psychologists study the qualities of human perception; their theories attempt to explain how human perception can be manipulated through form and its spatial relationships with other forms around it. I took my understanding of these theories and applied them after looking to the Bauhaus for inspiration. The Bauhaus advocated for the use of simple, distilled forms based on the circle and square.
The letterforms of Reify were constructed using a system using four different shapes derived from circle and square. Individually the pieces used to create the forms don’t appear as letters; its only when the individual parts are arranged using a grid system do they appear as letterforms. Reify capitalizes on how we as humans organize and create meaning from abstract visual stimuli.
Content
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The Letterforms
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Research
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Type Detail
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Letterform Construction Letterform Structure
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Type Size Color
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Alternative Forms
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Final Letterforms
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The Quick Brown Fox
Aa Dd Gg Jj Mm Pp
Bb Ee Hh Kk Nn Qq
Cc Ff Ii Ll Oo Rr
Ss Tt Uu V v W w Xx Yy Zz 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (?; ! . , )
Research
Reify is a typeface which was designed and constructed taking influence from the Bauhaus school that flourished in Germany in the early 1900’s. The school’s philosophy combined with the works of various faculty at the school had a large impact on the development of Reify’s forms and structure. The way we approach and use typography today was influenced heavily by the theories and practices of Bauhaus in the early 1900’s. The school was formed on a similar foundation as the Arts and Crafts movement; without the emphasis on the hand made aesthetic. Both movements were concerned with elevating the level of art and design while putting an emphasis on craft. The Bauhaus demanded that objects be reduced to their simplest form in order to meet functional requirements for mass production. Walter Gropius headed this state-sponsored school at its conception in 1919; the leadership at the school changed multiple times due to political pressures before it was closed in 1933. This school brought the craftsman and artist together while bridging the gap between art and industry. Like gestalt psychological theorists, members of the Bauhaus considered how changes in composition and form affect one’s visual perception of an object. This perception is shaped largely on
how the forms interact with one another as well as on the page. To understand how the Bauhaus came to function; we must look at the history of production and design. Every item that people use today was a handcrafted object at some point or another. During the Middle Ages; craftsman came together and formed guilds. In these guilds laborers worked under master craftsman to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become proficient in their specific area of study. This was a time before heavily mechanized production; objects created were one of a kind and as a result they were very expensive.
The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution superseded the need for a craftsman in society. The Industrial Revolution marked a change in the way that objects were designed and produced. “The new steam engine driven machines replaced the craftsman system with faster and cheaper production but often greatly inferior results. The critical eye and artistry of the craftsman was sacrificed for speed. The worker now served the machine…” (Classes by Joost Schmidt) The once hand-made, one of a kind objects were now being designed in a way so that they
Left: The Steam Engine Printing Press
Right: The Ideal Book: William Morris and the Kelmscott Press
The Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany
The Arts and Crafts Movement
could be mass-produced for high efficiently and low cost. Punch cutters, type casters, typesetters, and printers all felt the sting of this boost in efficiency. The English upper class relished in pride from the profits of this new technology; critics at the time were not as impressed. They deemed work using industrial methods to be of poor design with unnecessary embellishments that did not improve the products as a whole. The pressures of materialism, capitalism and consumerism pushed some groups of people to revolt against the methods of the Industrial Revolution.
The movement of Arts and Crafts was born as a result of this rejection to the industrial aesthetic that was consuming the world of art and design. The movement began in the late 1800’s and was founded on the criticism of the poor working conditions and low quality of design that was created by the use of industrial processes. The forerunners of this movement, such as William Morris and John Ruskin, advocated the idea of bringing design to a level of art and craft. Morris and his associates believed, “that beautiful objects would improve individual lives adversely affected by the harsh industrial world.� (Classes by Joost Schmidt) They insisted on creat-
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Herbert Bayer’s Geometric, Sans-Serif Typeface; “Universal”
ing design that included detailed patterns and rich, time-consuming decoration. They wanted to return to the hand-made aesthetic.
tury. It included courses in art, architecture, interior design and communication design. The Three Locations
Morris adopted this craftsman workshop ethic and formed a private printing press known as Kelmscott Press. It was here that current the low standards of print production were revitalized. Kelmscott Press rejuvenated an appreciation for fine printing and typographic design that was lost during the industrial revolution. The Arts and Crafts movement was as much of a movement as it was an idea and philosophy for creating better design for all to enjoy. Unfortunately their design came at a high price because of its slow, hand-made process.
The first location of the Bauhaus was opened in the School of Arts of Crafts in Weimar, Germany. The architect Walter Gropius replaced Henry van de Velde and reorganized the school under the name Bauhaus School of Design in 1919. The students were required to take a six-month set of foundational art and design courses much like universities today. These classes, however, were taught by a set of both craftsman and artists who were the forerunners in their respective professional fields. Despite a successful first exhibit the school was deemed too liberal and closed in 1925.
The Bauhaus The Bauhaus was created as a reaction to the Arts and Crafts movement. “Its mission was to provide a new, affordable, plain and utilitarian design that could be used by every kind of person and in every area.” (Walker & Sala) The Bauhaus focused on creating better design that embraced industrial methods of production. It rejected the Arts and Craft’s handcrafted aesthetic and means of production. It was this school, headed by Walter Gropius, that brought the artist and the craftsman together in order to bridge the gap between art and industry. Bauhaus was essentially the guild of the 20th cen-
The Bauhaus relocated to Dessau, Germany in 1925. The school was welcomed by the mayor of Dessau and its location proved to be befitting because the Bauhaus could participate in the production of the heavy industry already thriving in Dessau. (Allen) The new building was designed by Gropius and was constructed completely out of glass, concrete and steel. These modern structures were asymmetrical in design and featured clean lines that emphasized the simplicity of the Bauhaus style. The classrooms, dormitories, and faculty housing was designed so that it formed an artistic community. Gropius and
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Research
his successor Hannes Meyer were removed due to their political views and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe replaced them. According to Nancy Allen’s article on DesignHistory. org, “To eradicate the subversive elements in the student body, Mies expelled all of the students and then readmitted only the ones who were perceived as politically acceptable.” The Bauhaus Dessau was closed due to the rise of the National Socialist Party (Nazi’s). The Bauhaus briefly moved to Berlin, Germany in 1933 but never had a chance to reestablish. Students were required to take two preliminary courses in lettering design taught by Joost Schmidt at the Bauhaus in Dessau. In these courses, Schmidt analyzed the structure Josef Albers’ of letterforms and reduced their forms down to circles, squares, and triangles. He was captivated by their flexibility in shape and size. The treatment of color and its texture on a surface also was included in Schmidt’s practices. His students were required to, “examine aspects of advertising such as language, visual effect, psychology and economy.” (Classes by Joost Schmidt) He pushed for a user-friendly reform of lettering which technically standardized how we see type today.
“Kombinations-Schrift” Typeface
was focused on the communicative power of letterforms and typographic layout. His compositions stressed the importance of geometric layout and the expressive use of color. This was a conscious shift away from the previous approach of handcrafted elements that was utilized by the Arts and Crafts movement; his focus was on preparing designs that met the functional needs for mass production. Herbert Bayer also made visual innovations that shaped how we approach modern typography today. He advocated for replacing the classic archaic Gothic alphabet that was used in German printing for a modern, “cosmopolitan” font. Gropius challenged him to create an, “idealist typeface” for
Herbert Bayer also was an influential figure for typography at the Bauhaus. After completing his four years as a student, Gropius appointed him to head the printing and advertising workshop in Dessau. His workshop turned into a professional studio for graphic design and commercial art. This workshop
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all Bauhaus communications and Bayer gladly accepted. The geometric sans-serif typeface, “Universal,” is credited to Bayer. He advocated for the elimination of capital letters. He deemed capital letters unnecessary because it would simplify typesetting and the layout of a typewriters keyboard. Although Bayer had very little calligraphic training himself; his contributions to typography at the Bauhaus are the iconic foundation of our modern typographic approach today.
According to DesignHistory.Org, The Bauhaus set fourth these elementary principles of typographic design:
Josef Albers followed the same principles of typographic design as laid out by Joost Schmidt, Herbert Bayer and the Bauhaus itself. He was both a student and teacher whose education focused on abstract painting, design, and typography. He created a modular lettering system, known as “Kombination-Schrift.” The system for creating this typeface was based on ten shapes derived from the circle and square. Following the ideals of the Bauhaus for streamlining objects for mass production; Albers created this face with the fundamental understanding that it would be easy to learn and inexpensive to reproduce.
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Typography is shaped by its functional requirements
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The aim of typographic layout is communication (for which it is the graphic medium Communication must appear in its shortest, simplest and most penetrating form.
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For typography to serve social ends, its ingredients need internal organization (ordered content) as well as external organization (the typographic material properly related).
The way we approach typography today is a culmination of influence from many different periods of art and design. The Bauhaus is regarded as one of the key contributors of what we consider, “modern type.” The Bauhaus was a school that bridged the gap between the artist, craftsman, and the industry. The level of craft in design was raised due to the Bauhaus’ focus on meeting requirements for mass production. The idea of reducing an object to its most essential parts was shared by both the Bauhaus and Gestalt Psychologists. These psychologists developed theories concerning visual perception that still benefit designers to this day. I want to embrace the ideals of the Bauhaus and Gestalt Psychologists to create a typeface that adheres to gestalt principles while maintaining its ability to be ready for mass production.
For my project I want to follow the ideals set fourth by the Bauhaus in terms of simplicity and ease of production. These ideas of simplicity lead me into looking deeper into the psychology of perception. Graphic artists manipulate the affect, or message that results from visual stimuli. Our minds take the overwhelming amount of visual confusion that is presented to us in our day-to-day lives and it organizes it into groups in order to simplify input. “Gestalt principles of visual perception describe our automatic and involuntary grouping of a set of visual stimuli. We visually group objects that are alike in size, shape, color and orientation.” How the brain interprets and organizes stimuli is a fundamental for our understanding of design.
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Type Detail This is a detailed look at how the uppercase and lowercase forms of Reify differ in terms of form when placed directly over one another.
Aa B b Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv W w Xx Yy Zz 0123456789 ?;!.,)( 16
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Type Detail
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Letterform Construction Each letterform is constructed using combination of these five forms below. The each piece is was formed using either a square or circle for its foundation. The idea of circle and square is remnicent to Bauhaus theology. The forms are then combined and arranged on a grid using a systematic process.
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Letterform Structure This is a detailed look at the structure of the letterforms. Each letterform is constructed out of individual pieces which are color coded for clarity.
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Letterform Construction Reify is best suited for use as display text or for slightly smalled sizes such as a header for larger copy. It is not meant for body copy or at small sizes. The legibility of Reify increases proportionally as size increases.
08 pt
Wow! TypEFacE SizE AFFEcts LEgibility.
12 pt
Wow! TypEFacE SizE AFFEcts LEgibility.
18 pt
Wow! TypEFacE SizE AFFEcts LEgibility.
24 pt
36pt
Wow! TypEFacE SizE AFFEcts LEgibility.
Wow! TypEFacE SizE AFFEcts LEgibility.
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Color Reify is shown here on a blue background which showcases how it functions when incorporated in a color system.
Aa B b Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk
Vv W w Xx Yy Zz 0123456789 23
Alternative Forms When constructing Reify, many alternative forms were created when the rules to design each system were varied slightly in terms of reduction of flourishing elements. The uppercase and lowercase forms of Reify are color coded and the alternative forms
are seen in grey. Some of these alternative forms are much more of an exercise in letterform design and are not intended to be used like the polished forms of the lower and uppercase.
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Alternative Forms
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Alternative Forms
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Alternative Forms
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Alternative Forms
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Final Letterforms
ab AB 35
Final Letterforms
cd CD 36
ef EF 37
Final Letterforms
gh GH 38
i j I J 39
Final Letterforms
kl KL 40
mn MN 41
Final Letterforms
op OP 42
qr QR 43
Final Letterforms
st ST 44
uv UV 45
Final Letterforms
wx WX 46
yz YZ 47
Reify Lowercase
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 48
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 49
Reify Uppercase
THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG 50
THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG 51
Reify Lowercase word with a capitalized first letter
The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog 52
The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog 53
Aa Dd Gg Jj Mm Pp
Bb Ee Hh Kk Nn Qq
Cc Ff Ii Ll Oo Rr
Ss Tt Uu V v W w Xx Yy Zz 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (?; ! . , )