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been have hers e r e h t ap sign pogr of de rs and ty iewed e y r o t n is v igne e his ite th ut th ents, des ow desig ade qu about o h g m e em rou at to h All th ant mov tributed ment th that cam ent y e m ic n h v if e o o p v o sign t have c ular m gra phy m Jan Typo a tic all th . One par the New Typogra grapher, n Die o w o s y toda ssion wa s. The Ne own typ focused visiting n d 0 r k e impr 1920s-193 one well spired an phy) afte s a in e r a in th ed from became w Typog ght it w aphic m u e g o o N m o h th e p r e ste hold w ie (Th 1923. He direct ty idn’t hav h ic p h a c d r d in a g n Ts n le o a g p Typ ple eo atin ibitio neue haus exh ate a sim t period. P about cre resting s te u re a Ba sary to c dustriali it was all isually in in v s d e e n n nec ue to th more a her tha t y d idea o read an essage ra t m e e tim cis , con iece. clear mplex p co and

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erfect typography is certainly the most elusive of all arts. Sculpture in stone alone comes near it in obstinacy.

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- Jan Tschichold

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Elementare Typographie: Once Tschichold became the leading man in the New Typography movement, in 1925 he published a special issue insert called elementare typographie that he deemed to be “a manifesto for the New Typography”. In this special issue it addressed ten principles, these four being the most important; “1. The purpose of the New Typography is functionality.

Cover of Elementare Typographie (a 24-page document), Jan Tschichold

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2. The purpose of any typography is communication (the means which are visualized).

This communication has to appear in the shortest, simplest and most compelling form. 3. For typography to serve social purposes, the inner form of the material employed must arrange the content whereas the outer form must establish a relationship between the different typographic means.

4. Inner organization means using as few basis constituents as possible: typefaces, numbers, signs, lines from the type cases, and the typesetter. In the modern world focused on optics, the precise picture, i.e. photography, must be considered as a basic constituent of the New Typography”.

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UNCTIONALITY COMMUNICATION orm hEIRARCHY sIMPLICITY

The New Typography was all about creating asymmetrical compositions and straying away from the traditional layouts A revolutionary book written by Tschichold himself called, Die neue Tyopgraphie, published in 1928 “further refined, recodified, and articulated the design concepts of the New Typography for the printing trade vigorously advocating the new ideas”.

Tschichold claimed that the New Typography should display movement and energy while maintaining a sense of balance with irregular layouts and asymmetrical compositions. In short, the goals of New Typography were to create simple, direct, energetic, interesting, and effective designs. This movement wasn’t about a strict set of rules of design but rather new ideas creating interesting and dynamic layouts while maintaining simplicity. Many designers at this time incorporated the ideas of New Typography with their own styles as well.

Walter Dexel, Die Sport Ausstellung (The Sport Exhibition), 1929

However, shortly after the start of World War II in the 1940s, Tschichold completely reversed his principles in New Typography starting with appropriate font styles. He reverted back to the classic typefaces such as Garamond, Janson, Baskerville, and Bell being the best options to use and symmetrical and traditional layouts being the most straightforward and legible.

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Typog le. A typo that t ore les th r y milita lt p y t e f s m exa am hold entu esign Tschic to create way of the d the 20th c vef n o a J y d mo t in Man nee s table abou Stijl, ted to was a e and rela he lifestyle came losely rela turism, De t iv g t n c in o e p c u f eff ased evelo o, were such as F haus all o sign b re of the d is being s s e u s t e d a c n B n h u e e T lt me h . t lu u n to g inf , and a and c round him ld of desig f Dada were stron much of a r o s world ed the wo ew ideas s which n’t have a chichold’s n le w o o ip t ll c a d id it ce prin s Ts ent u a y d m h t but d o e c p r v t mo impa be in w Typogra mmetr y, y wide pography hy used y e it y p T the N around as nt, simplic se New w Typogra to create e e d t s e base hy of con efaces. Th be did. N alistic idea for ward c p r y t d o ht hiera ns serif t elope of this v r minim nd straig e a o f s d a ope and eas were more direct ges. His h iples o many ar is each y of c r in o r a t p s was ts, t. Th ble t mes satilit ly prin , pamphle pplica ment gh its ver ven a e in v a o s m u m e le ple o n, ever, , ar tic ith a sim to le thr desig s d a peop peal. How te many is w e ed th ea ap allow be created fective du . print did cr ht about f h e c o e l t a h il . t g h s pro etc t yet le ap thoug s and brou rough his e s ib d g in le th n m and eue desig ea, it was Die n him direct s ly r id it la ed new , par ticu . g t allow writin aphie, tha nce he did r ie g d o u p Ty ea ch th to rea

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Philibi blon Pos ter, 19 24 ,

Although, just as the world can be so influential in inspiring new ideas, it can change them just as easy. When Hitler came about in the 1940s after World War II begun, Tschichold was accused of creating ‘un-German’ ways of design and thought himself that the ways of New Typography held principles of National Socialism and fascism. Which if you look at the beliefs and views of the Nazi’s (a National Socialist party) it becomes more apparent that the principles of the two could have some sort of relation.

Such as the idea of content hierarchy and the political view of racial hierarchy. Even though the two aren’t addressing the same two topics it is looked at as sharing the idea that one thing is better or more important than the other. Especially given the time period of this movement and these ideas becoming very prominent in society in a negative light, makes sense why Tschichold reverts back to embracing the classical fonts and traditions of design.

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Even though in the end of the movement of New Typography Tschichold went back to classical ideas the movement still happened, books were still published and the idea still became well known. Designers today still embrace and use Tschichold’s New Typography principles even though they may be seen as fascist or relatable to the Nazi movement. It’s an effective way to design prints that need to be read quickly and clearly.

The New Typography is a relatable style to almost any modern society today. Many seeing these types of prints need a clear, fast, and legible interpretation of information and the principles of New Typography embrace and utilize those values effectively.

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