T YPE 2 JOURNAL
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T YPE 2 JOURNAL
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CONTENTS
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Introduction 7 Week 1
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Week 2
16
Week 3
22
Week 4
28
Week 5
38
Week 6
46
Week 7
52
Week 8
56
Week 9
62
Week 10
68
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INTRO
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The goal of this course is to increase an understanding of the principles, theories, and history of typography. During this ten week course, we developed an understanding of how to use grids to organize text and graphic elements, refined technical skills for type composition, including the use of Styles and Master Pages in InDesign, learned how to distinguish among different type classifications, developed strategies for choosing and pairing different typefaces to suit both content and media, and we gained an understanding of font management. This is a collection of important notes taken throughout the duration of the course.
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WEEK 1
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LECTURE NOTES Point Size: Our measuring system for typography was originally developed for handset metal type, invented by Johann Gutenberg around 1450. This was at the same time as the Renaissance and the period of Enlightenment, which means that people were more receptive to printing and new inventions. Small sizes of text type needed a measuring system with extremely fine increments. There were no standards for typographic measurement until French type designer Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune introduced the point system in 1737.
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Points and Picas: There are 12 points in 1 pica, 6 picas in 1 inch. Measurements are written like this: 1p6 (1 pica, 6 points). Traditional Sizes: Traditional metal type had a range of text and display sizes in increments from 5 point to 72 point. How do you choose a point size? Factors to consider: • Typeface proportions and weight • Length of text • Format for viewing (printed on paper or viewed on screen or both) • Audience/reader of the text • Content of the text Screen vs Print: In general, body text point size should be larger when the text will be read on screen (laptop, tablet, e-reader, etc). A workhorse typeface has: • A good regular weight • Robust proportions • At least one bold weight, with noticeable contrast to compliment the text weight. • An italic version • Very legible numerals • Economy: it should be narrow enough to fit large amounts of copy into the available space
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Customize Leading: It should be 120–145% of the point size. Make sure your line length isn’t too wide or too narrow! Letterspacing Matters: If letters are too close together, the text is hard to read. Don’t just track your type willy nilly. Type set in small caps or all caps can handle more letterspacing. Don’t go less than -10 tracking. Avoid Fake Small Caps: Do not style text as “small caps”. Only use small caps if the typeface has an actual small caps style. (typeface Filsofia has nice small caps) Know Your Dashes: Hyphen: used if a word is too long for the column length. En Dash: (option + hyphen) used to indicate duration. Em Dash: (option + shift + hyphen) used to express a break in the flow of a sentence. Hyphenation: Customize hyphenation. Words with at least: 6 letters. After first: 3 letters. Before last: 3 letters. Hyphen limit: 2. Avoid hyphenating Capitalized words.
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LEGIBILITY EXERCISE: What effect does varying the typeface have on legibility? Some typefaces are larger or wider than others, so depending on the typeface you use, a smaller or bigger point size will work better or worse. Sans serif typefaces can generally work better at smaller point sizes that serif typefaces. What effects do the changes in leading have on readability? With the serif typeface, the best point size/leading combo is 9/13 and with the sans serif typeface the best point size/leading combo is 9/14. Since the sans serif typeface is a bit larger, it looks better with a bit more leading. What point sizes look best with the given column width? For sans serif typeface, size 10 looks best. For serif typeface, size 9 looks best. These are similar to each other in size even though they are different sizes. Which typeface in which point size and leading is the most readable? Sans serif: 9/14 Serif: 9/13 Which is the worst combination of all three and why? Sans Serif: 10/13. Very hard to read because the leading is way too tight for the point size. Serif: 9/15. Way too much leading for the point size. Lines of text almost don’t look like they belong together.
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Serif
Sans Serif
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
GARAMOND, 9/13
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. GARAMOND, 9/12
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display
FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/13
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/12
a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. GARAMOND, 9/14
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not
the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/14
communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. GARAMOND, 9/15
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if
first axiom of communication—“one cannot not com-
one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of al-
municate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider
phanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s
the effect of your message on the recipient, you may
first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it
inadvertently communicate that you do not care how
very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the
your message may be received.
recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
FRUTIGER LT STD, 9/15
GARAMOND, 8/13 Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received.
legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 8/13
GARAMOND, 10/13
Without typography, one could argue, messages will still be legible, but if one really wants to communicate rather than simply display a heap of alphanumeric data, some consideration would be helpful. Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication—“one cannot not communicate”—puts it very succinctly. If you fail to consider the effect of your message on the recipient, you may inadvertently communicate that you do not care how your message may be received. FRUTIGER LT STD, 10/13
Tara Ferrari
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READING: BUTTERICK’S PRACTICAL TYPOGRAPHY: TYPOGRAPHY IN TEN MINUTES, SUMMARY OF KEY RULES, AND FORWARD The quality of your document is determined by how the body text looks. Why? Because there’s more body text than anything else. So start every project by making the body text look good, then worry about the rest. Point Size: The size of the letters. In print, the most comfort able range for body text is 10–12 point. On the web, the range is 15–25 pixels. Line Spacing: The vertical distance bet ween lines. It should be 120–145% of the point size. The default single-line option is too tight. Line Length: The horizontal width of the text block. Line length should be an average of 45–90 characters per line (use your word-count function) or 2–3 lowercase alphabets. In a printed document, this usually means page margins larger than the traditional one inch. On a web page, it usually means not allowing the text to flow to the edges of the browser window. Font Choice: The fastest, easiest, and most visible improvement you can make to your typography is to ignore the fonts that came free with your computer (known as system fonts) and buy a professional font (like my
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fonts equity and concourse, or others found in font recommendations). A professional font gives you the benefit of a professional designer’s skills with out having to hire one. Never choose times new roman or Arial. The Four Most Important Typographic Choices: Point size, line spacing, line length, and font (pas sim), because those choices determine how the body text looks.
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WEEK 2
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READING: BUTTERICK’S PRACTICAL TYPOGRAPHY: WHY TYPOGRAPHY MATTERS Voting Ballot: The leading was too close. They could have spread things out on the page more. There was plenty of negative space so it didn’t make sense to put all of the text so close together. Having the fill bubbles in the center of the page is confusing and it is not clear which fill bubble goes with which candidate. Too many titles when it could have been listed at the top and not repeated on every line.
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Resumes: Violet: Needs more emphasis and hierarchy. Bullet points are very stylized and distracting. Bullets don’t make sense. There should be more break down and indents than there really are. Looks very template based and not original. The top bar where all of her info is should have more hierarchy. Everything on that line is in bold all caps. Everything runs to the end of the page. Trixie: Her resume got my attention more than Violet’s. Better use of space here than in Violet’s. Uses good margins. Better bullet points here than in Violets. Header sections are very small and hard to see at first. It is interesting to use a smaller header but it may be too small. Smart to put dates on the right as opposed to the city like Violet did. Good emphasis on the job titles. They are the only italicized text. The Crystal Goblet: Warde says the printed page is like fine wine and the typography is the container for all of that stuff. The typography should be invisible. People should be able to read and not be distracted by the typography. It shouldn’t call attention to itself. The author of this disagrees with this because typography IS the visual component so having it be invisible doesn’t make sense. If it’s invisible, the work wouldn’t even exist, it would be an audio book. You must have good typography, and good typography does not have to be invisible. It should be guiding the reader in the best way.
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CRITIQUE 1 OF PROJECT 1 Make title relate to the content. Make the second line of text in each block light instead of italics so that you can italicize the name of the publication. Also make second line of text in each block a bit smaller. Instead of having the quote set in Medium, make it Roman—too bold as medium.
TYPESETTING rules of typography
KURT CAMPBELL A “Face” for the New South Africa, 2011, page 79 “The popularity of Gill Sans owed much to its highly readable qualities as well as its classical hand-carved aesthetic.”
BARBARA HODIK AND ROGER REMINGTON Graphic Design History, Teal Triggs, 2010, page 3 “The history of graphic design has been scattered among the pasts of art, printing, typography, photography, and advertising.”
GAVIN AMBROSE AND PAUL HARRIS The Fundamentals of Typography: Second Edition, 2011, page 6 “Typography surrounds us: it adorns the buildings and the streets through which we pass, it is a component part of the ever-expanding variety of media we consume.”
MATTHEW CARTER Playing with Type: 50 Graphic Experiments on Exploring Typographic Design Principles, 2011, page 10 “Type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters.”
BRUCE WILLEN AND STRALS NOLEN Lettering and Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces, 2009, page 97 “Any typeface, whether inspired by geometric principles or by the individuality of handwriting, differs from lettering in that all of its characters must work together equally well, no matter how they are arranged.”
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CRITIQUE 2 OF PROJECT 1 Make it more interesting by doing something more with the title. Try using color as a background and using white text in some places. Don’t be affraid to experiment more. Better to try things that don’t work than to not try to push yourself at all.
QUOTES about design & typography
KURT CAMPBELL A “Face” for the New South Africa, 2011, page 79
“The popularity of Gill Sans owed much to its highly readable qualities as well as its classical hand-carved aesthetic.”
BARBARA HODIK AND ROGER REMINGTON Graphic Design History, Teal Triggs, 2010, page 3
“The history of graphic design has been scattered among the pasts of art, printing, typography, photography, and advertising.”
GAVIN AMBROSE AND PAUL HARRIS The Fundamentals of Typography: Second Edition, 2011, page 6
“Typography surrounds us: it adorns the buildings and the streets through which we pass, it is a component part of the ever-expanding variety of media we consume.”
MATTHEW CARTER Playing with Type: 50 Graphic Experiments on Exploring Typographic Design Principles, 2011, page 10
“Type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters.”
BRUCE WILLEN AND STRALS NOLEN Lettering and Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces, 2009, page 97
“Any typeface, whether inspired by geometric principles or by the individuality of handwriting, differs from lettering in that all of its characters must work together equally well, no matter how they are arranged.”
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about design & typography
THOUGHTS
PROJECT 1 FINAL
KURT CAMPBELL A “Face” for the New South Africa, 2011, page 79
“The popularity of Gill Sans owed much to its highly readable qualities as well as its classical hand-carved aesthetic.”
BARBARA HODIK AND ROGER REMINGTON Graphic Design History, Teal Triggs, 2010, page 3
“The history of graphic design has been scattered among the pasts of art, printing, typography, photography, and advertising.”
GAVIN AMBROSE AND PAUL HARRIS The Fundamentals of Typography: Second Edition, 2011, page 6
“Typography surrounds us: it adorns the buildings and the streets through which we pass, it is a component part of the ever-expanding variety of media we consume.”
MATTHEW CARTER Playing with Type: 50 Graphic Experiments on Exploring Typographic Design Principles, 2011, page 10
“Type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters.”
BRUCE WILLEN AND STRALS NOLEN Lettering and Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces, 2009, page 97
“Any typeface, whether inspired by geometric principles or by the individuality of handwriting, differs from lettering in that all of its characters must work together equally well, no matter how they are arranged.”
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WEEK 3
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LECTURE NOTES How do you choose the right typeface/font? Design Factors to Consider: • Content: how long is the text? What is it about? • Audience: What is the age of the reader? What is the demographic? • Format/Context: What is the size of the page/screen? Is the size set or will it vary? At what distance will the text be read? Technical Factors to consider: • Does the font have a full character set, including all punctuation and glyphs necessary for the job?
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• Does the font have foreign accented characters and glyphs? • Does the font have multiple weights and styles? • Does the font have small caps? • Does the font have lining and old style numerals? • What is the format of the font? Open Type fonts are cross-platform. • Does the font have a Web Font version? When You Buy a Font, You Purchase a License: A font license grants the owner the right to use a typeface in a specific manner as outlined in the license. As a designer, you need to ask: • Can I use this font for commercial work? • How much does this cost? • Can I use it online, or just in print? • What about apps, and ebooks? Some Places to Buy Fonts: Google Fonts, Lost Type, League of Movable type, Font Squirrel, Font Spring, House Industries, My Fonts, fonts.com Do I Really Need a Font Manager? Not technically. You can activate fonts by placing them into any of the Fonts folders on your hard drive and removing them when you want those fonts closed.
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READING: BUTTERICK’S PRACTICAL TYPOGRAPHY: TYPE COMPOSITION Type Composition: How to avoid dumb quotes: Preferences (command K)<Type<click on typogropher’s quotes. Question marks are underused and exclamation marks are overused. Never use more than one exclamation point in a row. Parentheses are for separating citations or other asides from the body text. Brackets show changes within quoted material. Braces—sometimes known as curly brackets—are not typically used except in technical and mathematical writing. (parentheses) [brackets] {braces} Hyphen, Em Dash, and En Dash: Hyphen (-) : Appears at the end of a line when a word breaks onto the next line. These hyphens are added and removed automatically by the automatic hyphen ation in your word processor or web browser. Em dash (—) : Used to make a break bet ween parts of a sentence. Use it when a comma is too weak, but a colon, semicolon, or pair of parentheses is too strong. The em dash puts a nice pause in the text—and it is un derused in professional writing.
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En dash (–) : has two uses: • It indicates a range of values (1880–1912, pages 330–39, Exhibits A–E). If you open with from, pair it with to instead of an en dash (from 1880 to 1912, not from 1880– 1912). • It denotes a connection or contrast be tween pairs of words (conservative–liberal split, Arizona–Nevada reciprocity, Sar banes–Oxley Act). Trademark Symbols: Set as superscripts—smaller characters positioned above the baseline of the text (Roxy’s Pizza™, Car ing Is Our Business®). If you use proper trademark symbols, they’ll appear at the right size and height. No space is needed bet ween the text and the trademark symbol. Copyright Symbols: Appear in line with the text (© 1999). Use a non breaking space bet ween the copyright symbol and the year to ensure the two don’t end up on differ ent lines or pages. Ellipsis: A sequence of three dots used to indicate an omis sion in quoted material.
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READING: BUTTERICK’S PRACTICAL TYPOGRAPHY: TEXT FORMATTING Don’t underline ever. To call attention to something, use bold or italics. Underlining makes the text harder to read. Monospaced Fonts are always going to be harder to read. System Fonts: Come with your compute. Choose wisely. Arial is a system font of Helvetica. Always use Helvetica over Arial. Don’t set giant chunks of text in all caps. The best way to emphasize a heading is to put space above and below because it is both subtle and effective. Mixing Fonts: Two typefaces us usually enough.
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WEEK 4
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LECTURE NOTES Control and customize your typography by using styles. You will save time by automating your text formatting. Paragraph Styles: Affect paragraph level attributes • Leading • Tabs • Indents • Space before and after • Hyphenation and justification settings • Rules above and below
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Paragraph Style General Settings: Shows an overview of the style settings and if the style was based on an existing style. Basic Character Formats: Basic text formatting: font, font style, size, leading, kerning, tracking and case. Tabs: There are 4 kinds of tabs you can use: • Align to left • Align to center • Align to right • Align to decimal point of a number Leader: Whatever you type will fill the negative space of the tab EX) having a menu with item then .......... and price. The series of dots are the leader. Paragraph Rules: Shows rules (lines) that can appear above or below the paragraph. Paragraph Shading: Text highlighting. You never know when you might use it. Spacing can be customized. Keep Options: If you want to keep all or a certain number of lines together in one paragraph. Avoids orphans. Hyphenation Settings: Make it 6, 2, 2, 3.
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Span Columns: If you want to switch from a single column to multiple columns in the same text box. Try to keep all content in one text box. GREP Style: Means Globally Search a Regular Expression and Print. Allows you to use code to find and edit or style text through the Find/Change dialog box or via Paragraph Styles. Character Styles: Used for styling text within a paragraph, for things like: • Bold text • Italic text • Run-in subheads • Custom bullets or numbers General: Name your styles in a way that makes sense to what it does in the document. EX: pink header. Basic Character Formats: Basic Text Formatting: font, font style, size, kerning, tracking and case. Leading is inherited from the paragraph style. Tables: Tables are a great tool for positioning text. The table itself can be invisible.
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Table Styles are used for styling multiple tables within a document. The style defines: • The outside border of the table • The dividing lines in the table • The space above and below the table • The fills of fields in the table Table Setup shows the border of the table and the spacing around the table within a paragraph. Row Strokes are the horizontal dividing lines in the table. Column Strokes are the vertical dividing lines in the table. Fills are the color(s) of fields within the table. Cell Styles: Used for styling individual cells, or rectangular divisions of the table. The cell style defines: • The borders around the cell • How the text is positioned within the cell • The style of the text within the cell • The fill color of the cell • If the cell is x-ed out When you want a diagonal line across a cell or an x-ed out cell. Styles are important to understand. Using styles will increase your efficiency.
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READING: “FAMILY PLANNING, OR HOW TYPE FAMILIES WORK” BY PETER BIL’AK In 1737, Pierre Simon Fournier published a table of graded sizes of printing types, introducing the first-ever standardized system for producing and using type. Fournier related type size to the ‘pouce’ (a French version of the inch), and subdivided the ‘pouce’ to 72 ‘points’. The commercial pressures of the industrial revolution inspired the creation of different weights of typefaces. The idea was simple; to differentiate one text from another, or to highlight a particular part of the text. From the early 20th century it became standard practice to include several weights of a typeface to complement the release of new type designs. The best example of this may be the work of Morris Fuller Benton, who complemented the many typefaces he designed for American Type Founders (ATF) with both condensed and heavy versions. Frutiger’s systematic approach and innovative naming scheme eliminated confusion in type specification, and was perhaps even more interesting that the actual typeface design itself. He created a novel system of double digit numerically-referenced styles, where the initial number 5 refers to the basic (roman or text) weight, and the subsequent number refers to the width (5 being standard or normal). Higher numbers signified increasing weight or width, so while Univers Regular was Univers 55, Univers Bold was referred to as Univers 75, and Univers Regular Condensed was Univers 57.
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The Univers system anticipated 9 weights and 9 widths (also incorporating an oblique, or sans serif italic variant), although some combinations of these proved unworkable in practice, so there is no Univers 79, or Black Condensed. Similarly, at the level of individual glyphs, each style of the type family must be recognizably different in order to remain functional. Yet each style must adhere to common principles governing the consistency of the type family. It is clear that individual members of the family need to share one or more attributes, and typographic history offers many examples of this; optical size, weight, width, stylistic differences (sans, serif and semi-serif), construction differences (formal and informal), are the most common parameters linking members of type families. We can also find less common relationships such as varying serif types, changing proportions of x-height, ascenders and descenders, or contextually-appropriate possibilities of different versions. Work by designers like Berlaen and Ferreira build on centuries of typographic innovation and help to explore new territory for type design. They participate in a cumulative, ongoing and inspirational history of type development, requiring that we continue creating this work in progress.
READING: BUTTERICKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PRACTICAL TYPOGRAPHY: PAGE LAYOUT Either indent a paragraph OR use space after a paragraph, but never both. Space after should be half the leading. Line length should be 2-3 alphabets, not too long.
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CRITIQUE 1 OF PROJECT 2 Not sure about the “L’s”. They might be too swirly. Change the word “your” to a different font and take it out of the “L” so it can be larger. Think of ways to call attention to the different speakers. Nice use of photography. Think of ways to be more experimental with the type. Pull quotes?
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PROJECT 2 FINAL
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WEEK 5
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LECTURE NOTES Previous Project 3 Warnings Phase 1: • Don’t do a boring cover • Don’t have poor craft putting it together • Don’t put text on inside front cover • Don’t put crazy staples in weird places. Make sure they are placed in the right spots. • Lack of clear information hierarchy • Too many shifts in text weight • Not enough margin devoted to footer • Changes in size within the text • Switching between serif and sans serif within the text (looks like a mistake)
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• Poor spacing between elements • Distracting tables • Margins are too small • Use of strike through text • Inconsistent text styling (not using paragraph styles) • Widows and orphans Collaboration: In one week, create a stylistically consistent family. Find out where there are mistakes and design problems. Define and share styles. Phase 2: • Better overall craft • Improved pacing • Dramatic use of scale • More clarity between rules and examples • Improved hierarchy • Use of condensed type for headers/subheads because you can add more text without it spreading to more than one line • More stable table styling • Better cover designs • Attention to details Collaborating improves: • Sensitivity to type • Understanding of content • Willingness to experiment • Craft and attention to details • Technical typesetting skills
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READING: USING LAYOUT GRIDS EFFECTIVELY, DESIGNERS INSIGHTS Always Use A Layout Grid For Your Design Projects. No Exceptions. If you don’t, you’ll never be able to repeat that look consistently. Your projects will never have visual harmony, and like anything which lacks structure or a strong foundation, your concepts will be visually inconsistent from one product to another and will always be a struggle to produce. Without a layout grid, graphic elements will not properly work together. Adjusting Your Layout Grid for Your Binding Type: It’s important, as you create your layout grid, that you pay special attention when choosing the type of binding to compensate for the gutter. We’ve all had the experience of losing content in the gutter of a publication, at one time or another, and have learned this lesson the hard way. Illustrated below are examples of a perfect bound spine and a double-page layout grid, where the gutter has been taken into consideration and the proper adjustment made. The Rule of Thirds: This rule is used by professional photographers the world over. The rule of thirds works by splitting an image into thirds, so you end up with 9 equal sections, then simply place your main subject where the lines intersect.
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READING: “TYPOGRAPHICA MEA CULPA, UNETHICAL DOWNLOADING” BY STEVEN HELLER Designers tend to respect one another’s intellectual property lines and do not as a rule engage in extreme larceny. And yet we have a skeweed sense of entitlement when it comes to type. I paid my money and got the font. What I did not know, however, because as I said I never read the licensing agreements, was the limitations imposed on my “ownership.” I reckoned that whenever I used a legitimately purchased font, it was mine to do with as I pleased and had the right to pass it along to anyone on the production assembly line that needed to work with my particular document and with the particular face(s). Type sharing is akin to tapping into cable TV. All font software is protected by copyright and some typeface designs are protected by patents, which provides foundries with legal recourse. “All typefaces, from almost every foundry (from Adobe to House), are automatically licensed for a specific number of output devices and CPUs at one location. It is an industry standard,” explains Rudy Vanderlans. “If you gave the font to someone else to carry through the designs, that means that they now have a free, illegally obtained copy on their computer. Most likely they will use it for another design job sometime in the future without remembering or being concerned where that font originally came from. It’s a scenario we come across nearly every single day.”
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READING: â&#x20AC;&#x153;MY TYPE DESIGN PHILOSOPHYâ&#x20AC;? BY MARTIN MAJOOR The Headache Of Mixing Type: It is my conviction that you cannot be a good type designer if you are not a book typographer. I am not talking here about display types but about text types. A type designer must know how type works in a piece of text, he must know what happens with the type on different sorts of paper, he must know how a typeface behaves with different printing techniques. The Origin Of The Sans: Before the mixing of serif and sans in text can be explained, it should first be made clear where sans serif typefaces originate from, as it is only for about the last one hundred years that they have been used substantially. Officially, the very first sans serif typeface to be used for printing was published around 1816 by the William Caslon iv English typefoundry.
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CRITIQUE 1 OF PROJECT 3 PHASE 1 FINAL Looks good for the most part. Can keep pretty much all the same stylistic choices. Maybe take a second look at the details (hyphens, italicized words, orphans, etc).
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WEEK 6
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READING: “A VIEW OF LATIN TYPOGRAPHY IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORLD” BY PETER BIL’AK The first recorded movable type system was more likely created in China around 1040 AD by Bi Sheng. His early type was made of wood, which was later abandoned in favor of baked clay, which produced smoother imprints. Unlike Latin script which uses 26 letters, Chinese script uses thousands of characters, making type composition particularly complicated. Nevertheless, movable type has been in continuous use in China since the 11th century. Choe Yun-ui, a Korean civil minister, made the transition from wood to metal movable type around 1230 AD.
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Typography continues to display a shameless bias towards western civilization. Some common type terminology is also inappropriate for typefaces which didn’t evolve in Western Europe. The term “Roman” is customarily used to describe serif typefaces of the early Italian Renaissance period. More recently, the term has also come to denote the upright style of typefaces, as opposed to the word “Italic”, which refers to cursive typefaces inspired by the handwriting of Italian humanists. Recent changes in technology such as the introduction of the Unicode system and OpenType font format have inspired type designers to consider the previously overlooked domain of “non-Latin” typography. Books such as Language, Culture, Type (2002) have been published, promoting cultural pluralism, admitting that English and the Latin alphabet account for only one segment of global communications today. While we might think that most of the possibilities of Latin type have been explored, traditions of typography from Greece, the Middle East, India and elsewhere can help us to rediscover how we understand Latin type today.
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PROJECT 3 STYLES SHEET
Tara Ferrari Kayleigh Rago
Section Title Basic Character Formats: Adobe Caslon Pro Regular 25/30 20 Tracking Optical Ligatures: On p7 Body Space Basic Character Formats: Adobe Caslon Pro Regular 10/14 Optical Indents & Spacing: Space After: 0p7 Alignment: Left Large Number Header Basic Character Formats: Adobe Caslon Pro Regular 315/378 20 Tracking Optical Indents & Spacing: Space After: 1p10 Character Color: Paper
Introduction
â&#x20AC;Śthe rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript. The book covers only a small portion of the field of English style, but the experience of its writer has been that once past the essentials, students profit most by indâ&#x20AC;Ś
I
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PROJECT 3 FINAL
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WEEK 7
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READING: “LAVA—VOICE OF A MAGAZINE” BY PETER BIL’AK Lava was design to bridge the digital and print editions of a newly designed magazine. A font called Lava designed to be confident enough not to need to show off, with the comfortable, relaxed manner of an engaged storyteller, ready to handle long stories, but also small captions or titles. Making a single-purpose font is a relatively quick process, but creating a versatile tool like Lava that works across different platforms, languages, sizes and styles is a lot more complicated. Lava looks closely at system fonts such as Times and Georgia and aspires to work on screen as well
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as they do. In print, Lava delivers something that default UI fonts usually lack: refined details, finely tuned proportions and meticulous spacing that let the reader forget about the typeface and pay attention to the text.
READING: THE FIRST THING I EVER DESIGNED: ELENA SCHENKER AND “GRATUITOUS TYPE” MAGAZINE Magazines have become key portfolio pieces for young designers, the perfect medium for showcasing a range of skills. For Schlenker, the self-initiated Gratutious Type was integral to launching her career. Started from the point of what she liked and was interested in, and did a lot of sketching. Allowed the magazine to evolve with each issue. Paid for it all herself. “After I’d produced the first issue, I found that the magazine had a tremendous impact on my career. It helped me get a full-time position in publishing, and has also led to some great client projects now that I work independently in my own studio. It’s really nice to make something for yourself that others respond to, and it’s always an exciting moment when someone says, “We want you to do this or that for us.” I continue to be so surprised by all the opportunities it’s afforded me.” “Issue no. 1 taught me how important it is to trust in yourself and your abilities. You know what’s in your mind, and it might take a while to realize it in precisely the way you’ve imagined it, but trust in your instincts and give yourself the time you need to get it right.”
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ZINE MOOD BOARD
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WEEK 8
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LECTURE NOTES Attributes To Consider For Type On Screen Typeface Contrast: The amount of contrast between the thick and thin strokes of characters in a typeface impacts legibility. Higher contrast typefaces can be useful in small amounts or as headlines. X-height: When choosing a typeface for text, a high x-height is ideal, especially for use on interfaces or on wayfinding. Beware of Extremes: If the x-height is too high, there is less room for other distinctive characteristics. The letters n and h, or
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a and d, can become difficult to distinguish as the x-height increases. Character Distinction: Differentiating between different characters is essential for on screen legibility. Special Characters: Strive to use typefaces that support different types of numbers, correct punctuation,and special characters, especially if your text will be set in a variety of languages. ¿Tiene sentido? Buena tipografía es importante. Strategy For Pairing Typefaces Look For Distinction: Avoid pairing typefaces that are too similar. Pair Display and Text Faces: Take advantage of display type. Use a Family: Some typefaces have both serif and sans serif version, which are built on the same structure.
READING: “ERIC GILL GOT IT WRONG; A RE-EVALUATION OF GILL SANS” BY BEN ARCHER Gill Sans is the Helvetica of England; ubiquitous, utilitarian and yet also quite specific in its ability to point to our notions of time and place. As a graphic designer’s in-joke once put it ‘Q. How do you do British post-war design? A. Set it in Gill Sans and print it in British Racing Green’. As the preferred typeface of British establishments (the Railways, the
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Church, the BBC and Penguin Books), Gill Sans is part of the British visual heritage just like the Union Jack and the safety pin. Gill Sans achieved its pre-eminence because of the mighty marketing clout of the Monotype Corporation and the self-serving iconoclasm of its author. Thus, rather than Johnston’s lettering, it was Gill Sans that became the English national style of the mid-century. There were other, arguably better, typefaces derived from the ideal of making a monoline sans serif based on humanist structures. That this project has returned to inform some of the really great type design of the last fifteen years is a testament to how the problem was not solved in 1928. There are three developmental forms of the Gill Sans lowercase ‘a’ on record; revisions were made at the Monotype drawing office and passed back to Gill for approval. The original design for ‘a’ is strikingly similar to Johnston’s (as might be expected), followed by a second attempt which was put into production and can be seen on early specimen sheets. The third and least satisfactory character is seen in all versions of Gill Sans since the early 1930s. The lowercase ‘y’ was designed with a straight descending tail which makes the character appear rigid and unbalanced. Students should be urged to approach Gill Sans with caution; it is a hard typeface to use well without making considerable effort.
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READING: “BEAUTY AND UGLINESS IN TYPR DESIGN” BY PETER BIL’AK Bodoni was one of the most widely-admired printers of his time and considered amongst the finest in the history of the craft. Thomas Curson Hansard wrote in 1825 that Bodoni’s types had “that beautiful and perfect appearance, which we find it difficult and highly expensive to equal”. ¹ In his Manuale Tipografico of 1818, Bodoni laid down the four principles of type design “from which all beauty would seem to proceed”, namely: regularity, clarity, good taste, and charm. The search for ugliness triggers a certain primal, voyeuristic curiosity, and from the designer’s perspective there is simply a lot more space to explore. Capturing beauty has always been considered the primary responsibility of the traditional artist, and even now it is rare to find examples of skilled and deliberate ugliness in type design, (although examples of inexperience and naiveté abound). No other style in the history of typography has provoked such negative reactions as the Italian.
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ZINE BOOK MAP Art 338
The catalyzing idea behind CultureStrike was
Type Zine Bookmap
that creative producers have power in dissem-
C U LT U R E S T R I K E
TARA FERRARI Your Name
CO LE T TE GA ITER Associate Professor of Visual Communications University of Delaware
inating information that might affect people’s
Starting in Tunisia, spreading to Egypt and
vocating passage of the Dream Act, which
eventually everywhere, resistance to dictators, would allow conditional permanent residency government policies and economic inequali-
for people brought to the U.S. as minors after
ties had such a global impact that Time mag-
they lived here five years.
azine declared “The Protester” person of the Ape-Snake War movement, an idea conceived by the Canadian activists of Adbusters, mobilized on September 17, inspired by the Arab Spring protests. One week earlier, in Arizona, a group of more than 50 artists, designers, writers, musicians, & activists gathered in Tucson to initiate the
By mid-October many members of the Cul-
Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes has
front burner of American politics as the 2012
turned its attention to the immigration and
election approaches. Several CultureStrike
Great Ape-Snake War initiatives. Barazza’s
designers have been using their images to
“99 Percent” poster is included in the Great
raise awareness about these and other issues
Ape-Snake War Journal folio along with one by Favianna Rodriguez, CultureStrike orga-
for years. Emory Douglas, former Minister of Culture signer and activist for more than 40 years, was among the group. His powerful posters have influenced many of the younger designers, including Ernesto Yerena, who recently moved to Arizona from California. Yerena
consciousness, and encourage people to act for change.
“Clear ideas expressed in poster slogans, combined with good design and striking images allow grassroots designers to compete with powerful corporate interests in capturing the public imagination.”
internet, on news sites and blogs. The speed
using social media. Protests against stricter
against SB1070. In addition to designing post-
of media creates almost-instant iconographic
immigration laws, massive deportations and
ers, Yerena creates multi-layered collages with
images, like the one by D.C. artist César Max-
economic inequality overlapped in their efforts to draw national attention to everyday practices that most affect the lower classes.
CultureStrike Coalition National Campaign ag-
One of the most resonant ideas in the Great
ainst harsh immigration policies. I was part
Ape-Snake War movement is the huge dispar-
of this delegation, organized by Bay Area ac-
ity in wealth controlled by one percent of the
tivist Favianna Rodriguez, writer Jeff Chang
U.S. population compared to the amount held
and others. They chose Arizona because of
by the other 99%. The CultureStrike delega-
recent protest activity against its SB (Sen-
tion wants to remind everyone that we are a
ate Bill) 1070 that put into place some of the
nation of immigrants, but current economic
most brutal methods of enforcing immigra-
conditions promote scapegoating undocu-
tion restrictions to date. Arizona was the site
mented workers and escalating deportations.
silkscreens and/or stencils on top. His studio is called Hecho Con Ganas—“made with motivation, desire, passion.” The CultureStrike designers use technology strategically to get their messages out quickly and virally. They conduct silk screening workshops to teach young people how to cheaply produce a run of posters for a rally or demonstration. Using social media, they allow down-
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
R I C K P OY N O R
Colette Gaiter’s writing on the Black Panther artist Emory
the poster is regularly pronounced to be on
posters expressing dissenting views fare any
Douglas has appeared in several publications including
its last legs as a means of communication
better? Five or six years ago, I would have
and of marginal relevance now. I have writ-
said the poster advocating a cause was barely
ten pieces myself saying much the same
viable.
thing. No one doubts that posters used to be highly effective as both advertising and propaganda, but from the moment people in wealthy economies started buying TVs and watching commercials, the role of the street poster began to decline (the billboards still flourishing like an infestation at the roadside are another matter). The arrival of digital communication and then social media appeared to leave the poster spluttering for life, and when it came to the protest poster, the prognosis looked just as gloomy. If ordinary
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
ClipboardPageNumber
GRAPHIC MAGAZINE
angry convictions that iniquity or injustice should not be allowed to continue, and that change must happen soon, yet the images
signers the means to distribute images and ideas with unprecedented speed and pro
ClipboardPageNumber TYPO-
of their origins on a computer screen rather board. At its most considered, this fastidious graphic minimalism can be highly effective. child in Marlena Buczek Smith’s Haiti poster works by invoking distressing images of emaciated and vulnerable children familiar from countless news photographs. In Antonio Castro’s equally honed and incisive migrant workers poster, the spade’s shaft becomes a painfully exposed spine distorted by the demands of crushing physical labor.
“…the poster-making urge is benefiting from the same viral meme effect seen across our entire hyper-connected culture.” they see to do more of the same. Participa-
nation as persuasively as possible, and in
tion acts like an injectable hormone spurring
public settings a well-crafted slogan or image
yet more growth. Since the global Occupy
a seemingly irrepressible urge to broadcast a
poster-like messages, used in demonstrations
firmly held opinion using graphic resources,
than ever. Protest posters have never been an exclusively or even primarily professional design activity. Anyone with an urgent point to make and a measure of artistic knowhow could get
about the part that posters might still have to play. There is a tendency sometimes to
Occupy protests.” Websites offer school children advice on “How to make a protest sign for a school project” and put across their le-
clear power, the protection of wild life, urban
characteristic of these recent posters is often
citizenship.
a surprising politeness and restraint. Twen-
and online — and the poster-making urge is benefiting from the same viral meme effect seen across our entire hyper-connected culture. Anything that happens is immediately captured on camera and uploaded, and the effect of showing these images so widely and easily is to inspire viewers who like what ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
ClipboardPageNumber
These DIY protest signs might be amateur (though that doesn’t stop them working as communication) but they remind us that posters remain a succinct, popular and powerfully immediate form of public speech. If someone feels strongly about an issue, it’s natural to try to express support or condem-
ty years ago, a volume of protest posters produced during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush earned the title Angry Graphics, and the graphic styles of the work — awkward, angular, discordant and ugly — smashed home the righteous fury. Contemporary posters might be fired by
ClipboardPageNumber TYPO-
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
ClipboardPageNumber
GRAPHIC MAGAZINE
1915
1907
cy, including posters, by ridiculously overdemand the skeptics. “Because if it hasn’t,
of time.” The claim that in an age of social doesn’t square with the continuing enthusiasm with which they are made and put to creative, intellectual and organizational tools in the struggle to shape public opinion and exert pressure on policy-makers grasping the
and dogmatic. This inhibition, born of years
levers of power that might some day lead to change. Whether held aloft in the hand at demonstrations, pasted defiantly on a wall, or circulated online by true believers, the
1909
graphic message’s modest but necessary role is to attract attention, encapsulate a burning
*
issue, exhort, inspire and reaffirm. Despite
the mood is increasingly frustrated, as gov-
regular predictions of its imminent demise,
ernments seem either reluctant or powerless
the committed poster shows every indication
to act, professionally produced posters need
of living to fight on.
ic parlor games detached from the struggle.
Posters have been used to advocate rights for many people over the years, women have used design to fight for their rights. On the next page, you can find a timeline of posters with strong imagery and messages illustrating
1943
woman’s suffrage to fighting stereotypes.
There are some marked differences between ClipboardPageNumber TYPO-
labor, and landmines to water wastage, nufarm gardens, and the plight of WikiLeaker Bradley Manning.
gitimate point of view. Radical poster-making As graphic communication, the most salient almost seems to be becoming a badge of good
blown yardsticks. “Has anything changed?”
to avoid any sense that they are aesthet-
GRAPHIC MAGAZINE
urgent causes, from migrant workers, Guantanamo Bay, Palestine, women’s rights, child
media posters have become redundant simply
reflects a deeply ingrained feeling that em-
ened since the global financial crisis began
ning visual stories with titles such as “The 50 most enjoyably effective protest signs at
Now I’m not so sure. Digital networks are infusing posters produced to contest an out-
earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, the clear disaster at Fukushima. In the past few have given their support to innumerable
then the gesture was a failure, and making
phatic displays are no longer acceptable
of affluence and complacency, when only a
come common to see online news media run-
Japanese earthquake tsunami and the nuyears, passionately concerned poster-makers
posters was misdirected energy and a waste
— that they run the risk of appearing shrill
or and wit. To find uses on the street, where
rather than posters. After protests, it has be-
center of attention: global warming, Occupy, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the
judge expressions of protest and advoca-
use. The poster is clearly just one of many
minority felt the urge to protest, has less-
placards often described as “protest signs”
and they address a wide of array of issues, many of which have been, or remain, at the
attract attention now — out in the world
WO M E N S S U FFR AG E POSTER TIMELINE
easily graspable representation of the cause often has more utility. At the same time, we should be realistic
posters, their reluctance to shout, perhaps
new public willingness to speak out with vig-
is still hard to beat. The posters come from
protests, there seem to be more posters, or
sale as a screen print, which can sometimes
of direct action in mind. It’s understandable
The tasteful understatement of many recent
in 2007. The homemade protest signs show a
ClipboardPageNumber
life. This kind of message has two places to
ClipboardPageNumber TYPO-
be overworked and effete, and work produced
that graphic artists want to devise the best possible image they can, but a persuasive,
than inky paper taped to a grimy drawing
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
work produced for private satisfaction or for
serene flat surfaces, well-resolved forms, an
The foetally clenched form of the dreaming
ducible and copyright-free images for use in
loading of their posters for quick distribution. Digital access and tools afford graphic de-
rage or support a cause with a new lease of
GRAPHIC MAGAZINE
are often decorously barbed rather than man- with the crowd, the streets and the urgency ifestly disturbed. They display bright colors, ideal of graphic reduction, and a very contemporary polish, if not perfection, that tells
ganization JustSeeds, created a book of repro-
viral on the internet, then appeared in multi-
even more the case today with the graphic
ClipboardPageNumber TYPO-
spread protests. These designers are masters graphics out in the streets quickly. Favianna
activist work.
Yerena’s “Decolonize Wall Street” poster went
out the scissors and take up a brush. This is
the Rizzoli monograph “Black Panther: The Revolutionary
late-breaking evidence in his case and wideat fast and efficient reproduction for getting
GRAPHIC MAGAZINE
posters aren’t much needed now, why should
working on a documentary about Douglas and his work.
it of Troy Davis, who was executed in spite of
Rodriguez and Josh McPhee, who runs the or -
ples at Great Ape-Snake War protests.
As a supposedly antiquated form of media,
Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America.” She is
signed for specific communities.
reach an even wider audience across the
About the Author:
Art of Emory Douglas” and just-published “West of Center:
in multiple languages, the posters are de-
when they were carried in protests and would
W H Y T H E AC T I V I S T POSTER IS HERE TO S TAY
Strike hope to use their power to influence opinion, raise
featured large images for posting. Produced
The Arizona-protest designers knew their
created the campaign “Alto Arizona”—a call to works would have a visible street presence action, asking artists and designers to create posters for a viral campaign, which were then
duction quality. Graphic design has always been part of example, is a nostalgic throwback to cheaply printed Clear ideas expressed in poster slogans, combined with good design and striking images allow grassroots designers
and other 1960s and ’70s radical tabloids that
published and sold to help fund the protests
social protest. The Occupy Wall Street Journal folio, for newsprint posters from the mid- to late 20th century.
the public imagination. Designers like those in Culture
nizer and Bay Area activist. The newsprint folios are reminiscent of the Black Panther
in Great Ape-Snake War—protesting, making
TYPO-
to compete with powerful corporate interests in capturing
gle and resistance into artwork that can be
between Oakland-based designers/activists
driving the Great Ape-Snake War are on the
posters, writing, speaking, performing, and
tureStrike delegation were actively involved
of massive protests against SB 1070 and adGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
arts project that translates stories of strugput back into the hands of the communities who inspire it.” Recently the collaboration
gration issues and the economic inequalities
for the Black Panther Party and prolific de-
year for 2011. In the United States, the Great
Dignidad Rebelde is a “collaborative graphic
attitudes on political and social issues, eventually resulting in meaningful change. Immi-
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
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ClipboardPageNumber T YPO -
GR APHIC M AGA ZINE
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
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ClipboardPageNumber T YPO GR APHIC M AGA ZINE
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017
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WEEK 9
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READING: 7 STRIKING DESIGN PAIRINGS BY KAI BERNAU
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“AN IDEA OF A TYPEFACE” BY KAI BERNAU One great advantage of being both a graphic designer and type designer is that your work in one discipline feeds back into your work in the other: you can make the typefaces that you want to use (or imagine that you would want to use), and then you can evaluate your typefaces based on how they perform in application. A typeface is both a tool for designing, and a tool for reading. The fewer distracting details there are, the more invisible the typeface, and the clearer the text becomes.
A TYPEFACE DESIGNED TO REVIVE THE ENDANGERED CHEROKEE LANGUAGE In the summer of 2011, two representatives from the Language Technology Office of the Cherokee Nation attended a type conference to issue a plea for new digital Cherokee typefaces. The few existing Cherokee fonts at the time were of poor quality, lacking bold or italics. With 316,000 members, the Cherokee are the largest tribal nation in the United States, but only 22,000 native speakers remain. Designer Mark Jamra was moved by the need for a typeface that would help preserve a nation’s language and culture, and began by adapting a Latin typeface he already had in the works. To develop the letterforms (including a cursive italic inspired by handwriting), Jamra studied the Cherokee syllabary developed between 1809–1824, along with 180 years of manuscripts provided by the Cherokee Nation and the Smithsonian Institute.
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What are its distinguishing characteristics? This serif face is a harmonious mix of closed and open shapes, straight strokes, and playful curves. The ornate historic Cherokee glyphs have been opened up and simplified for legibility. The current 2.0 update features a new lowercase in different weights and styles—the first addition to the syllabary in its 195-year history. There’s also a smallcaps version, so that bilingual documents can be set in Cherokee text (which looks like small caps to a Latin reader, with sentences beginning with a large syllable and then continuing with smaller glyphs) that maintains the same visual density as English upper- and lower-case text.
SMALL GROUP CRITIQUE OF ZINE Good use of color, but maybe tone it down in areas, it’s almost too much color. Fix the pull quotes by putting them in a different typeface. They are too hard to read in the scripty bold type currently. Add colophon and Table of Contents.
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WEEK 10
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On Tuesday, we had a quick flip through of our Zineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in front of the class to catch any last minute errors. Final critique was held on Thursday. Final Critique of the Zine was the only objective for this week.
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FINAL ZINE
T Y P E alliance
issue 01 M A R C H 2 017
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8
16 CONT 7
Letter From The Editor
8
Why Every Designer Needs A Code Of Ethics
16 Why The Activist Poster Is Here To Stay 22 CultureStrike 28 Womens Suffrage Poster Timeline 36 New Logo & Packaging For Dr.Bronnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spacesh 42 Living With 48 Leif Steiner & Emily Potts interview Brian Singer
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28
42
ENTS ip Type
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“…the poster-making urge is benefiting the same viral meme effect seen acros entire hyper-connected culture.” measure of artistic knowhow could get out the scissors and take up a brush. This is even more the case today with the graphic placards often described as “protest signs” rather than posters. After protests, it has become common to see online news media running visual stories with titles such as “The 50 most enjoyably effective protest signs at Occupy protests.” Websites offer school children advice on “How to make a protest sign for a school project” and put across their legitimate point of view. Radical poster-making almost seems to be becoming a badge of good citizenship. These DIY protest signs might be amateur (though that doesn’t stop them working as communication) but they remind us that posters remain a succinct, popular and powerfully immediate form of public speech. If someone feels strongly about an issue, it’s natural to try to express support or condemnation as persuasively as possible, and in public settings a well-crafted slogan or image is still hard to beat. The posters come from a seemingly irrepressible urge to broadcast a firmly held opinion using graphic resources, and they address a wide of array of issues, many of which have been, or remain, at the center of attention: global warming, Occupy, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, the Japanese earthquake tsunami and the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. In the past few years, passionately concerned poster-makers have given their support to innumerable urgent causes, from migrant workers, Guantanamo Bay, Palestine, women’s rights, child labor, and landmines to water wastage, nuclear power, the protection of wild life, urban farm gardens, and the plight of WikiLeaker Bradley Manning.
74 TYPE ALLIANCE
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As graphic communication, the most salient characteristic of these recent posters is often a surprising politeness and restraint. Twenty years ago, a volume of protest posters produced during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush earned the title Angry Graphics, and the graphic styles of the work — awkward, angular, discordant and ugly— smashed home the righteous fury. Contemporary posters might be fired by angry convictions that iniquity or injustice should not be allowed to continue, and that change must happen soon, yet the images are often decorously barbed rather than manifestly disturbed. They display bright colors, serene flat surfaces, well-resolved forms, an ideal of
g from ss our
ISSUE 01 // MARCH 2017 75
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COLOPHON
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Design by: Tara Ferrari Typeface: Avenir Winter 2017 Class Journal
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