"a reflection on the point in the design process when the conventions are released and the fundamental notions of function and aesthetics are challenged"
- A description of what bespoke type is
"it is not always formulaic nor is there an established set of rules"
"Positioned within a more scientific context, experimentation is a process by which a hypothesis is tested under controlled conditions to discover an unknown effect."
- Contradicts Modernist notions that experimental type has no strategy
"The results will often inform the strategies and methods by which designs and typographers approach their commercial activity."
- Practical research
"By no means a comprehensive study of experimental typography, this is more an attempt to reveal some of the ways in which the experimental has influenced the development of a new visual and theoretical vocabulary for the discipline whether explicitly or implicitly.
- Its influence
"Some may argue that a handful of examples will transcend time, but what is experimental at one historical point or in one cultural context may not be considered experimental in another."
- The importance of context to what is considered "experimental" or "contemporary" type *Need to look into pastiche
"So how do we design the contemporary typographic experiment in graphic design? In 1996, design critic Rick Poyner wrote that we have seen 'the mainstreaming of experimental approaches to typography."
- What defines "contemporary?" Arguing that it's not the surprise element of experimental type that may or may not make it effective, but possibly the decorative? *Research into why bespoke type is effective
"Oddly shaped columns of type, the multiple layering of information, and the questionable legibility of typefaces had fostered a backlash against cool Swiss Modernism and were seemingly commonplace."
"Advances in computer technology offered new aesthetic possibilities but also a greater democratisation of design and print production which naturally led to a plethora of personalised typefaces and designers parading their new roles as graphic authors."
- Hierarchy within design, the place of designers and their roles as typographers.
"At the same time of self-expression and experimentation to call such typographic conventions legibility and readability came under siege"
"Deconstruction and Postmodernism were adopted as typographic buzzwords and, in their wake, theory often overshadowed the pragmatism of function."
"It would appear that as our perceptions of language and theoretical underpinnings shifted, so too did the way in which language is documented to the visible word so too did the way in which language is documented through the visible word."
- Cause and effect
"This may have shaken up the visual world momentarily, but experimental typography soon transposed itself from the realm of the 'radical' into the arena of an ostensibly accepted visual language."
- Experimental type was normalised - this is evident in current examples e.g Instagram
"The idea of experimental type design and experimental typography is explored here from the inception of an idea, through the research process and into a 'commercial' application. As two distinct disciplines, experimental type design deals with the design or production of typefaces, while experimental typography investigates the use of type in layouts."
- Need to make this clearer in title and introduction of essay - focusing on type DESIGN rather than TYPOGRAPHY.
p.8
"Type design is not only about the way in which individual letterforms are constructed; it also involves the systematic applications of these elements across a set of characters. it also involves the systematic applications of these elements across a set of characters. Conversely the typographic layout structures the characters – into words, lines and ultimately texts – to produce meaning in the way they organised visually. The way the typographer presents the 'page' takes into account content and form, the materials, the way the page is produced and knowledge of the target audience."
- PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
p.9
“Experimental typography is also about the express of potential in the arrangement of tight, by achieving quite uniformity of similar elements or by the visually exciting use of contrasting ones.
For our purposes, espresso should be defined as the way language is articulated through the use and arrangement of Type II enhance communication.”
“Simply put by adding extra layers of typographic information are reading of the word is transformed into something other than its original meaning.”
“Different typefaces take on the voices of each character. The manipulation of type in terms of weight, scale, repetition, distortion and its integrated placement on the page intensified the dialogue and delivery of the narrative.”
“The typographer and designer of Times New Roman, Stanley Morison, defined typography in 1928 as having a ‘specific purpose; of so arranging letters, distributing the space and controlling the type as to aid to the maximum the readers’ comprehension of the text.’ His main concern was with the typography in books, and he warned against the use of ‘bright’ typography or ‘typographical eccentricity’. However, Morison did advocate typographic experimentation, writing
’It is always desirable that experiments be made and it is a pity that such “laboratory” pieces are so limited in number and in courage.’
“The nature of the clients brief – the amount of developmental time offered, the types of production processes used and the social, political and cultural context in which the designer or typographer operating – will affect the way designer approaches the experimental and, consequently, the end product.”
p.10
“Much contemporary typographic exploration owes its development of the historical isms of the 20th century: futurism, constructivism, Dadaism and modernism. These movements acknowledged an age of significant scientific and technological discovery, where modern industry and commerce were radically transformed. New attitudes to social, cultural and political life emerged and typography became the ‘visible artefacts’. Artists and designers develop new ways of thinking about graphic languages in which writing, structure and visual forms more accurately reflected the conditions of the modern world.”
“By 1909, Futurist explorations such as those espoused by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944) were resulting in new approaches to structuring language and imagery that were radical rejections of tradition. All previous constraints were unleashed and typography became an expressive visual language mirroring the political and industrial themes of modern society.”
HISTORICAL CONTEXT - type being used expressively.
“Western traditions in writing and development of language itself has been questioned throughout the 20th century. Dadaist Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948) argued that one of the principles of the new typography should be to ‘do it in a way that no one has ever done before.’ His interest in the interaction of signs and sounds (optophonetics) for example resulted in a typeface in which the weight of the vowels were heavier than the other characters.”
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