graphic design, art, typography and architecture

One of my favourite areas of design is typography - type for type’s sake and the use of type within graphic design and illustration. Often times type can make or break a design; sometimes type is the design - I’m thinking David Carson here.

I’m hoping to start a blog/web site devoted to typography, so I’m scouring the Internet and magazines for good resources. I’ll also be recommending some good books on the topic. If you’re newly interested in typography, a very good place to start is the Wikipedia entry for typography. There’s also an excellent article from Mark Boulton, entitled “Five Simple Steps to Better Typography”.

One thing that I did notice whilst perusing the web (I don’t surf, I peruse!;) ) , is that so many of the links I clicked on were dead - that indicates to me that typography is no longer a hot design topic (at least, not on the web). Like Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, we might well be informed “what, has nobody told you, Typography is dead!” Well, I don’t for a minute believe typography is deceased, but I do believe (please correct me if you feel I am un-/mis-informed) that typography is no longer as valued as it should be - has it been killed-off by the deadly duo PC and it’s sidekick DTP?

Of the approximately 40 web sites I’ve looked at, the “Thinking With Type” site easily provides the best introduction to typography, with some (albeit very concise) well-written articles and guides. As this web site is really just a companion to the book, Thinking With Type - A Critical Guide for Designers, coverage of the topic is not comprehensive; however, it’s a great place to start for those who’d like to learn more. I love the engaging style of writing and presentation allied with no-nonsense explanations.

Every typeface wants to know, “Do I look fat in this paragraph?” It’s all a matter of context. A font could look perfectly sleek on screen, yet appear bulky and out shape in print. Helvetica isn’t fat. She has a big x-height.

Even if you have no desire to invest in a book on typography, then this site will at least furnish you with some invaluable pointers. In future I’ll be posting some more in-depth articles on this topic, and will, form time to time, post some good examples of typography on-line and in print.

copyright © 2004, Princeton Architectural Press.

If you have anything to say about this topic, then please feel free to add your comments to this post. Moreover, if you have some examples of the good use of type, then feel free to submit them (either your work, or someone else’s) .

Addendum: another great resource for Typography news is Typographica.