Theoretical Framework

1.

Commercial typeface had simplified from Medieval illuminated manuscript’s Gothic font to avant-garde modern design. It also had changed from only focusing on functional legibility to experimental that break the grid.

Commercial (Simplified)

Theory: Bauhaus and the New Typography
Jan Tschichold

- The Old Typography (1440-1914)

- The Typography Symbol
A good symbol must be original and simple in form, have a very high degree of memorability, and be easily recognized and noticeable. 
The essence of New Typography is clarity (p.66).

- New Typography and Standardization
Standardize industry for maximal efficiency
In contrast to experimental

Question: Does standardization limits creativity? (German Lichtnberg’s paper size etc)

Experimental

David Carson: The End of Print
Anyone could be typographer
“Form follows function” “Function follows fun”

Wolfgang Weingart: Typographic landscape
Pacific Wave/ Swiss Punk/ New Wave
Wolfgang Weingart
- overcome the formal aesthetic restrictions of late modernist designs. 

>> need compare & contrast

2.

Material of displaying typography had evolved from the very beginning of stone engraving to paper then to screen. Typography now has heavily rely on digital-based media. 

Theory:
Dematerialization of Screen Space - Jessica Helfand
Mathematical Typography - Knuth, D.E.


- Beginning of digital era: Apple Graphic User Interface (GUI), Aldus Pagemaker (DTP) 
- Computer technologies allowed artists to explore the possibilities of experimental typography
- The exhibition Les Immatériaux (The Imaterials/ Non-materials) in 1985. It demonstrated the emergence of a new materiality produced by the advancement in telecommunication technology.

>> more critical: can it replace traditional’s?

3.

Typography can be used as emotion expression instead of only relying on image, and it is universal compared to plain text that required literacy. It attracts more attention of reader who does not used to read plain text.

El Lissitzky and Vladimir Mayakovsky - Poetry
Saul Bass - Film sequence (motion typography)

Ferdinand de Saussure: Word constitutes the second order semiologial system, the image of objects constitutes the first, but visual poetry reverse the relationship by translating the written word back to image.

>> How and why it happened? 
>> Design language - universality
>> misleading sentence > additional


 Reading material:

Hui, Y. and Broeckmann, A. (2015) 30 Years after Les Immatériaux. [Online] Available at:
http://meson.press/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/9783957960313-30-Years-Les-Immateriaux.pdf

Findeli, A. (2001) Rethinking Design Education for the 21st Century: Theoretical, Methodological, and Ethical Discussion. [Online] Available at:
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/07479360152103796

Tam, K. (2003) Wolfgang Weingart’s typographic landscape. [Online] Available at: http://keithtam.net/writings/ww/ww.html 

Designhistory (n.d.) New Wave Typography. [Online] Available at: http://www.designhistory.org/PostModern_pages/NewWave.html