ON A MISS ION TO M A K E C L E A R R EADABIL ITY THRO U G H L E G IB IL ITY P e ng uin B o o k s
Agent of Literacy, Vol. 1 1 May 2018 Printed and Published at IADT Kill Ave, Kill of the Grange Dublin, A96 KH79 Ireland Tel: + 080 123 1234 Email: fakeemail@melissadagostini.com Copyright © 2018 Melissa D’Agostini All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording or any information storageand retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Irish library. ISBN-13: 143-76993-553-9 Text and cover design: Melissa D’Agostini Printed in Ireland.
CONTENTS Legibility For Readability
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Tradition Tschichold’s Influence
Identity Sharing Readbility
Tradition Spreading Literacy
L E G I B ILIT Y F OR RE A DA B ILITY
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the New Typography puts it into deliberate he old typography ‘beauty’.”
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Legibility
“The essence of the Ne is clarity. This puts it opposition to the old whose aim was ‘beau JA N T S C H I C H O LD
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“We cannot alter th “We cannot alter th of a single letter wi of a single letter wi same time destroyi same time destroyi printed face of our printed face of our thereby rendering thereby rendering J AN TS C HIC HOLD J AN TS C HIC HOLD
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he essential shape he essential shape ithout at the ithout at the ing thwe familiar ing thwe familiar r language, and r language, and it useless� it useless�
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“The san serif only s simpler script. It is violently reduced fo For adults it is mor than serifed roman serifs were never m ornamental.” “The to be is a f redu For a to re J A N TS C H I C HOLD
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seems to be the s a form that was or little children. re difficult to read n type, whose meant to be san serif only seems e the simpler script. It form that was violently uced for little children. adults it is more difficul ead than serifed roman 7
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“Type production h its senseless outpo types... only in deg can personality (op nameless masses) b human developme JJAN OLD A N TS TSC CH HIIC CH HOLD
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has gone mad, with ouring of new generate times pposed to the become the aim of ent.�
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rfect typography is certainly the ost elusive of all arts. Sculpture stone alone comes near it in stinacy.�
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T SCHI CHO L D
Agent of Literacy
Perfect typography is certainly the most elusive of all arts. Sculpture in stone alone comes near it in obstinacy.�
J A N T SC HI C HO LD
Legibility
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TRADIT ION T S C H I C H OLD ’ S INFLUE NC E
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PAPERBACKS The Penguin Book Publishing Company was founded in 1935 by Allen Lane, John Lane and Richard Lane. Lane recounted how it was his experience with the poor quality of reading material on offer at Exeter train station that inspired him to create cheap, well designed quality books for the mass market. Penguin books were the first mass-market paperback produced in Britain. Penguin were republishing existing works of fiction and non-fiction to a higher standard. The books were mass produced to be cheap, and to be small and light in weight for people to travel with. There are two standard book sizes within the paper back industry: A format: The original Penguin size, 181x111mm. B format 198 x 129 mm, first used by penguin in 1945 for Russian Review and widely used over the last twenty years. For certain series other sizes were introduced, for example a Puffin Picture Books were approximately double Penguin. Also, A5 (210 x 124 mm) has occasionally been used for the Pelican History of Art series.
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“Standardization, in individualization. C instead of private p Active literature, in leather bindings.� J A N TS C H I C HOLD
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nstead of Cheap books, press editions. nstead of passive
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SYMMETRICAL IDEALS Before working at Penguin Publishing Books, between 1933 and 1946, Tschichold realised that a “symmetrical typographic treatment could fulfil the requirements of a successful book cover design and that asymmetrical compositions were less appropriate for the works of literature.” Tschichold stated that centred typography was allowable. He believed that title pages with short lines of text were more aesthetically appealing when centred, and symmetrical setting were easier for compositors. He also believed that title pages were being neglected, and therefore he put more time and emphasis on the title pages to convey a solid first impression of the book. This is a contrast with his earlier claim that grids should not be “rational” when making a modernist book design. However, by changing his mind to return to traditional layout, it will make the work familiar to the readers, and even though he rejects modern asymmetrical composition, there is still modern aspects of minimalism layout and space within the composition.
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COMPOSITION RULES Before Tschichold started working for Penguin, he had requested some of Penguin’s books for examination before starting any design projects for the company. He realised that there was a nonexistent compositions for their books. erefore, when working at Penguin, Tschichold developed the “Penguin Composition Rules.” ese rules included; “composition, indenting, punctuation marks, spelling, capitals, small capitals, italics, folios, figures, references, footnotes, make-up, and the printing of plays and poetry.” Within the rules, there was an unalterable grid system. This was “the foundation for the trimmed page area, the width and height of each book, the visual cover size, the type ares on the cover and the spine, the position and the style of the spine label and lettering of book titles on the labels or all the Penguin series.” With these ground rules, he was able to work within the composition. He added spacing to the author’s name and to the title of the book, which gave the appearance of a cleaner look. Setting up these rules created a clearer outlook for the readers. Elements of design had their designated areas, and with the decrease of type more negative space was given within the page.
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“The aim of every typographic work - the delivery of a message in the shortest, most efficient manner� JA N T S C H I C H OLD
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HORIZONTAL GRID Tschichold’s reform on Penguin’s cover design did not involve a dramatic change; in fact they were subtle. Edward Young was the designer prior to Tschichold, and he designed the tripartite divisions for the cover. The horizontal panels were flexible in its measurements and at times the top and bottom coloured panels varied in height from book to book. Tschichold made the distinguishing orange horizontal top and bottom panels even in size. In combination with these panels, the same coloured thin line is seen in-between the author’s name and the title of the book. Further matching coloured horizontal lines on the bottom and the top of the middle column added. The division of the thin line was a simple, subtle and elegant way to separate the information. Penguin Books published
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through other names such as Pelican, these would also incorporate the distinctive horizontal stripe designs which had become synonymous with the paperback format. Later, some designs became more elaborate, incorporating silhouetted designs, such as these for a series of crime novels. As with the pre-war covers, the horizontal grid was also adapted to allow for the inclusion of illustration. In 1951, the vertical grid appeared, and the horizontal grid was used occasionally. This format is still used by Penguin in their books today, and many people buy their books to adorn their bookshelves in orange and white flashes — something Penguin have taken to their advantage in their marketing.
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TYPOGRAPHY Tschichold brought modern fonts to Penguin’s covers. In 1923, Tschichold was influenced by the Bauhaus design when visiting the exhibition, especially when he saw Maholy-Nagy’s asymmetrical layout and the use of sans serif. Lissintzky’s abstraction work on sans serif typography influenced him too. Ideal typography for most modern designers meant achieving clarity and simplicity in their designs. Type is meant to be portrayed without ornament in its purest form.
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“Readers want what to be clearly laid ou read what is too tro J A N TS C H I C HOLD
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t is important ut; they will not oublesome�
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I D E NT IT Y S H ARING RE A DA B ILITY
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Identity
SYMBOL OF LITERACY In 1947, Tschichold modified Young’s penguin logo to a more simplistic form. Tschichold didn’t touch the initial pelican and puffin logo, but just made small changes to the existing penguin design. Tschichold moved the Penguin logo to the bottom centre of the page, which became consistent in his work. Eighty-two years later, the penguin logo is still well known. Penguin Books are seen as trustworthy company with the people in mind. Penguin is not afraid to change with the people. They update themselves as society changes too. It is seen by their modern cover designs and their social events. Up until today, the Penguin logo has been updated several times but it is still recognisable and popular. Penguin and Random House came together in 2013 to form the world’s first truly global book publishing company. Our purpose is to capture the attention of the world for the stories, ideas and writing that matter.
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1. Penguin, 1935 2. Puffin, 1968 7. Porpoise, 1948 8. Penguin, 1938 13. Penguin, 1949 14. Penguin, 1950 19. Kestrel, 1970 20. Penguin, 1948 25. Pelican History of Art, 1953
3. Penguin, 1946 9. King Penguin, 1948 15. Puffin, 1941 21. Penguin, 1967
4 1 1 2
4. Puffin, 1941 10. Puffin, 1940 16. Penguin, c. 1987 22. Puffin, c. 1959
5. Allen Lane, 1967 11. Pelican, 1947 17. Pelican, 1948 23. Allen Lane, 2003
6. Penguin, 1946 12. Penguin, 1947 18. Pelican, 1937 24. Penguin, 1949
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VISUAL LANGUAGE The appearance of the book - the bold colour with its surrounding white space - is the most effective way to portray the Penguin’s visual languange. It is consistent and even today the book cover is identifiable. When Tschichold started to work for Penguin, he was not able to redesign the cover of the book completely due to loyalty of the brand. Tschichold worked with what Edward Young left behind, and made slight but simple changes in the covers; keeping an eye on the details. The use of colour, as well as being a tool for attractiveness, had a function. Today Penguin’s job is to lead the field, creating formats that bring ideas and stories to life in compelling and contemporary way: From traditional printed books, ebooks and audio books to interactive apps, blockbuster films, TV shows, radio, theatre productions, live events and social media, the list is as vast as our imagination. Their books shape the broader cultural life of our society. Readers’ tastes are constantly changing: they are engaging with information in new and exciting ways. So Penguin is constantly thinking about the best means to share a story.
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“White space is to b as an active elemen not a passive backg J A N TS C H I C HOLD
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be regarded nt, ground�
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MANUJA WALDIA Manuja Waldia is a designer and artist who combines symbolism and storytelling through two unique styles of art. Manuja’s vector based illustrations—detailed and geometric, like her illustrations for the Penguin Classics Shakespeare series. Manuja Waldia was working with Penguin Classics, and she focused on a similar central composition styles with a mix of serif and sans-serif fonts. However, the visuals are modern. Waldia uses three-coloured line drawing on a black background. To create these sketched she would research, make a few thumbnails from the research, make final sketches and then digitilise her favourite drawings. To make the visual language for her book cover design she set a template at the start of the project, used three distinct background colors for the three categories: tragedies (black,) comedies (light blue) and histories (aubergine.) The use of the consistent line weight for all illustrations brings further consistency.
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ALEX TROCHUT Featuring a series introduction by number one New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, Penguin Galaxy represents a constellation of achievement in visionary fiction, lighting the way toward our knowledge of the universe, and of ourselves. From historical legends to mythic futures, monuments of world-building to mind-bending dystopias, these touchstones of human invention and storytelling ingenuity have transported millions of readers to distant realms, and will continue for generations to chart the frontiers of the imagination. Trochut designed the six Penguing Galaxy sci-fi/ classical series. His type is futuristic with the use of upper case sans-serif font. The type is left aligned occupying most of the composition. He has a strong visual language which has a very distinct glitch effect with vibrant colours. These designs are completely different to what Tschichold was doing, but in today’s time it is appropriate to be moving forward with society.
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CORALIE BICKFORD SMITH Coralie Bickford-Smith is a designer at Penguin Books. Her book covers have been recognised by the AIGA in the United States and D&AD in the UK, and have featured in numerous international magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Vogue and the Guardian. Her work on the clothbound series with Penguin Classics attracted worldwide attention and harks back to the world of Victorian book bindings. She has been asked to exhibit and speak about her work in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Portugal and the US. Smith created illustrations for classical books. These titles explore beautiful, timeless artefacts for people to enjoy, which cherishes and passes on. Sumptuous, tactile books that evoke a rich heritage of bookbinding while retaining fresh appeal to modern readers; that both stand out in bookshops and have a longevity appropriate to the contents.
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L EGACY S P RE A D ING LITE RAC Y
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PROJECT LITERACY Project Literacy is building a movement to advocate for greater investment in literacy. One of the biggest challenges we face is lack of awareness. This is a global crisis, but people just don’t realize it’s happening or how devastating the consequences are. Illiteracy is behind all kinds of ills, from gender inequality and unemployment to malnutrition and infant mortality. It affects people of all ages, from every country in the world, limiting the potential of one out of every ten people on this planet.Project Literacy wants to make the problem more visible by increasing public awareness of illiteracy and encouraging a diverse set of people to take action to help. Sixteen Project Literacy partners joined Pearson, the world’s learning company, to launch the petition and carry it to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where 193 global leaders were attending the UN General Assembly. This petition calls upon the world’s leaders to acknowledge the urgency of the international illiteracy crisis and pledge to take meaningful action to address it.
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KATE JAMES Kate James, Chief Corporate Affairs and Global Marketing Officer for Pearson as well as Project Literacy spokesperson. Kate James is the spokesperson for Project Literacy. Project Literacy is a global campaign founded and convened by Pearson to make significant and sustainable advances in the fight against illiteracy so that all people - regardless of geography, language, race, class, or gender – have the opportunity to fulfill their potential through the power of words.
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INTERVIEW: K ATE JA ME S
Sam Baker Kate James
I’m here in this amazing library at the Royal Institute with Kate James who is the chief Koper affairs and global marketing officer. Project Literacy is your baby; Tell us more about it.
Two years ago we were really thinking what should we focus on. And we looked across a pretty crowded space in lots of areas and we focused on literacy. Really one key reason we saw that it was 758 million people today don’t have basic literacy skills. But what really fixated me was that over the last ten years despite a huge amount of great work in space that number wasn’t moving. And that’s what really made us think as a learning company that we had an opportunity where we could make a difference.
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So that’s Project literacy. Tell us about the Project Literacy lab.
So the lab is an accelerator. With the view of focusing on how to tackle literacy. And it’s bringing together 16 entrepreneurs who are all working very different global challenges. But all of them with a commitment to tackle literacy. They really are super diverse and some of them are very focused on as you’d expect direct education interventions. But what’s interesting is we also have companies like Afri pads for example that is totally focused on sanitary protection. And you know the reality is that 1 in 10 girls in Africa each day are dropping out of school because of the issue that they don’t have access to sanitary pads because it’s regarded as a luxury in our society.
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INTERVIEW: C O N TINUE D
Sam Baker Kate James
There are 750 million illiterate people globally. Two thirds of those are women. So do you think illiteracy affects women more than men?
Yeah I think this is because we’re not dealing with a level playing field. I mean we just talked about the example of sanitary pad protection but generally you know in terms of access to quality education I mean I think that is a challenge and I you know and then you start to look at what does that mean in terms of impact. And it means you know if you look in sub-Saharan Africa. If you can double illeteracy rates amongst women. Then their kids have a 30 percent better chance of living beyond the age of five. Which really brings it home to that when we’re talking about literacy we’re really talking about a global humanitarian crisis and it’s really interesting because no one talks about it.
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So what’s the future for Project Literacy?
So our committed to these entrepreneurs is to continue to work with them. And that’s a mix of mentoring and coaching and hopefully also connecting them with other smart individuals with investors or with ability to keep on enabling them to scale and have a bigger impact. And all return maintaining that commitment to literacy and then we’re going to have the next group of entrepreneurs are meeting with Oleksy lab this year to be held in the fall. when we look to Project Literacy and we were thinking about where we made the biggest impact. We thought about how we could share best practice to help scale. It’s all about the power of innovation and we go about raising awareness and awareness then leading to mobilizing action.
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“The reality is that 1 Africa each day are school because of t don’t have access to K ATE J AM E S
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1 in 10 girls in dropping out of the issue that they o sanitary pads.�
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INTERVIEW: C O N TINUE D
Sam Baker Kate James
As creating I’m going ask you one more question. Adult Literacy versus. Toddler 6 obviously making sure the children have a basic level of education and areas discussed is really really crxucial to the future of the planet. But I thought that your thesis. It’s a different issue isn’t it?
Yeah and it’s really important because you all the data shows that it is an intergenerational part. So if parents were illiterate that likelihood of their children being illiterate is far greater. I think it’s also really important to recognize that it’s not just a problem of the developing world. You know there are 32 million adults in America who don’t have basic literacy skills which is hugely meditating. And the impact on a country’s economic progress never mind just thinking about the social impact on the individual the family is massive. They estimate that literacy is that you know a one point two trillion dollar problem.
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So if we were to be sitting here in a year’s time, what would you like to be saying about Project Literacy Lab?
I think what I’d like to say about Project Literacy is that we know that the Coalition hopefully is you know close to 500 partners because we have 100 now. I think the more we can do to raise awareness of the issue the more people also make the connection to the fact that literacy really is a fundamental component of the solution so many of these big development challenges we are talking about whether it’s malnutrition, whether it’s poverty, but we’ve got to you know really get up and tackle this and we can all make a difference so I think 500 partners. I think that’s an unreasonable and as far as the lab goes you know, we’ve gone from four and a half to 10 million. We’re going to have another group of entrepreneurs.
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IN T ERV I EW : F I N AL
Sam Baker Kate James
Just finally what are the most exciting things you’re seeing happening in education and learning globally?
I mean education is incredible at the moment I mean like so many sectors were facing massive destruction. And I think digital is throwing up a phenomenal opportunity. You know we saw one of the entrepreneurs you know on on the program this week is Robbie AI which is looking at artificial intelligence. The next step in personalized learning is you can predict, you know, what the emotional reaction is; Is a kid engaged? Are they bored? Are they enfused? which you know enables a whole new step in terms of tailoring learning going forward and of course mobile technology it means that you’re no longer confined to thinking about schooling in terms of bricks and mortar. And when we think about the challenges we’ve got with for example refugee populations when the
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kids are dying nomadic their home schooling is super fragmented. Moe I’ll gives you that consistent opportunity. So whether it’s the work that we’re doing with. With world we do in India where they are using mobile technology to get parents and kids access to a digital library or a partnership with Save the Children where we’re devising mobile solutions for refugee kids to help supplement their learning in maths. I mean again it’s just opened up a whole new sort of avenue in terms of learning.
That’s brilliant. Thank you Kate. Thank you.
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