Towards an Anthropology of Typography
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Transcript of Towards an Anthropology of Typography
What is typography?!
OXFORD DICTIONARY: !The art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it.
G. NOORDZIJ: !Typography is writing with prefabricated letters.
3 famous typefaces!
TRIVIA: !— A typeface: all sizes, weights and cases,
includes several fonts — A font: a single case, such as Caslon
italics 48 pt. — Concepts of typeface and font mixed
more or less.
Caslon Caslon
— Caslon: A serif (antiqua) typeface used commonly in book layouts
— Example: Body text of this presentation, any book
— Its italic font regarded very beautiful by experts, some of my friends find it ugly
— From 1722
Helvetica Helvetica!
— A famous sans serif typeface used for instruction purposes
— Example: Subway signs or airports, headlines in this presentation
— Created 1957 — Gary Hustwit’s 2007 documentary Helvetica
Comic Sans Comic Sans
— A sans serif display typeface — Created by Microsoft in 1994
— Examples: Birthday invitations, “funny” posters, memos, books, everything.
— Much criticized, become infamous
”Typography is the efficient means to an essentially utilitarian and only accidentally aesthetic end.”
STANLEY MORRISON
First approach: production!
— Visible or invisible typography? — How is it produced?
— Who produces it? — How do the typographers identify themselves? — ”Field work” among typographers at Reykjavík
Letterpress.
Second approach: reception!
— Are we aware of it? — Do we like or dislike it?
— Do we participate in the practice of typography? — Is it something aesthetically valuable? — Does it matter to us?