on typography

by herbert bayer
typography is a service art, not a ne art, however pure and elemental
the discipline may be.
the graphic designer today seems to feel that the typographic means
at his disposal have been exhausted. accelerated by the speed of our
time, a wish for new excitement is in the air. new styles are hopefully
expected to appear.
nothing is more constructive than to look the facts in the face. what
are they? the fact that nothing new has developed in recent decades?
the boredom of the dead end without signs for a renewal? or is it the
realization that a forced change in search of a new style can only bring
supercial gain?
it seems appropriate at this point to recall the essence of statements
made by progressive typographers of the 1920s:
previously used largely as a medium for making language visible,
typographic material was discovered to have distinctive optical properties
of its own, pointing toward specically typographic expression.
typographers envisioned possibilities of deeper visual experiences from
a new exploitation of the typographic material itself.
they called for clarity, conciseness, precision; for more articulation,
contrast, tension in the color and black and white values of the
typographic page.
typography was for the rst time seen not as an isolated discipline and
technique, but in context with the ever-widening visual experiences that
the picture symbol, photo, lm, and television brought.
they recognized that in all human endeavors a technology had
adjusted to mans demands; while no marked change or improvement
had taken place in mans most profound invention, printing-writing, since
gutenberg.
the manual skill and approach of the craftsman was seen to be
inevitably replaced by mechanical techniques.
once more it became clear that typography is not self-expression within
predetermined aesthetics, but that it is conditioned by the message it
visualizes.
that typographic aesthetics were not stressed in these statements does not
mean a lack of concern with them. but it appears that the searching went
beyond surface effects into underlying strata.
it is a fallacy to believe that styles can be created as easily and as
often as fashions change. more is involved than trends of taste devoid of
inner substance and structure, applied as cultural sugar-coating.
moreover, the typographic revolution was not an isolated event
but went hand in hand with a new social, political consciousness and
consequently, with the building of new cultural foundations.
the artists acceptance of the machine as a tool for mass production
has had its impression on aesthetic concepts. since then an age of science
has come upon us, and the artist has been motivated more than ever, to
open his mind to the new forces that shape our lives.
new concepts will not grow on mere design variations of long-
established forms such as the book. the aesthetic restraint that limits the
development of the book must nally be overcome, and new ideas must
logically be deduced from the function of typography and its carriers,
although i realize how deeply anchored in tradition and how petried the
subject of writing and spelling is, a new typography will be bound to an
alphabet that corresponds to the demands of an age of science. it must,
unfortunately, be remembered that we live in a time of great ignorance
and lack of concern with the alphabet, writing, and typography. with
nostalgia we hear of times when literate people had knowledge, respect,
and understanding of the subject. common man today has no opinion
1.
FUTURA BOOK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
1.
FUTURA BOOK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
at all in such matters. it has come to a state where even the typesetter,
the original typographer, as well as the printer, has lost this culture,
responsibility has been shifted onto the shoulders of the designer almost
exclusively.
in the united states the art of typography, book design, visual
communication at large, in its many aspects, is being shelved as a
minor art. it has no adequate place of recognition in our institutions of
culture. the graphic designer is designated with the minimizing term
commercial, and is generally ignored as compared to the prominence
accorded by the press to architecture and the ne arts. visual
communication has made revolutionary strides and real contributions to
the contemporary world picture. yet, the artist-typographer represents
a small number of typography producers compared to the output of the
nation. their efforts must be valued as they keep the aesthetic standards
from falling, and because they alone set the pace in taste.
there can be no doubt that our writing-printing-reading methods are
antiquated and inefcient as compared to the perfection attained in other
areas of human endeavor.
the history of our alphabet and any probing into its optical
effectiveness expose a lack of principle and structure, precision and
efciency which should be evidenced in this important tool.
attempts have been made to design visually (to distinguish from
aesthetically) improved alphabets. but redesigning will result in just
another typeface unless the design is primarily guided by optics as well
as by a revision of spelling. this, in turn, reveals the need for a clearer
relation of writing-printing to the spoken word, a reorganization of the
alphabetic sound-symbols, the creation of new symbols. the type designer
is not usually a language reformer, but a systematic approach will
inevitably carry him to a point where he will ask for nothing less than a
complete overhaul of communication with visual sound.
however unlikely the possibilities for the adoption of such far-reaching
renovation appears at the moment, revitalization of typography will come:
a. from the increased demands made on the psychophysiological
apparatus of our perceptive senses;
b. from a new alphabet;
c. from the different physical forms that the carriers of typography will
take. the more we read, the less we see. constant exposure to visual
materials has dulled our sense of seeing. overfed with reading as we
are, the practice of reading must be activated. a new effort is needed
to recapture and retain freshness. little known is the fact that the act of
seeing is work, that it demands more than a quarter of the nervous energy
the human body burns up. during waking hours your eyes almost never
rest. in reading this article you must refocus as you skip from word to
word. much energy is required for blinking and turning the eyeballs. more
is needed by the tiny ciliary muscles to alter the shape of the crystalline
lens for focusing. the effort of seeing contributes a large share to physical
tiredness.
taking a closer look at present-day typographic customs, i make the
following suggestions, believing that they offer immediate possibilities for
both improvement and change.
visual research
the eye seldom focuses for long on one point in a design. it its back
and forth from one element to another in haphazard sequence, unless the
design is skillfully arranged to focus its orderly progress from one idea to
the next. it is a vital part of the designers job to make sure that the eye
sees rst things rst and that it is made to dwell as long as possible on
areas of special importance, such as the name of a product.
1.
FUTURA BOOK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
graphic design will more than ever be determined by its purpose. the
designer-typographer can nd new impetuses from research in vision such
as the above exemplies.
universal communication
for a long time to come we will accept the existence of the different
languages now in use. this will continue to pose barriers to
communication, even after improved (possibly phonetic) writing methods
have been adopted within all the languages. therefore, a more universal
visual medium to bridge the gap between them must eventually evolve,
rst steps in this direction have, strangely enough, been made by the
artist, now science must become a teammate and give him support with
precise methods for a more purposeful handling of visual problems.
the book has been a standard form for a long time, a new spirit
invaded the stagnant eld of rigidity with the adoption of the dynamic
page composition. an important extension was introduced with the
recognition of supranational pictorial communication, with its combination
of text and pictures, todays magazine already represents a new standard
medium, while pictorial communication in a new sense has lived through
a short but inspiring childhood, typography has hardly aspired to become
an integrated element.
exploration of the potentialities of the book of true text-picture
integration has only begun and will, by itself, become of utmost
importance to universal understanding.
communication of selling
recently certain american national advertising pages have expressed
a remarkable trend to planning. these pages contain and operate with
a conglomeration of ugly, differently styled, contrasting or conicting
alphabets. the advertising agencies (no artist-designers reasoning or
taste could produce these pages) that produced this concept clearly must
have been motivated by attention-getting-by-all-means aggressiveness
and provocation. the result is irritation to the reader, who, therefore,
reacts, this ignoring of aesthetics, in fact this twisting of unaesthetics into
a function, provides a lesson to be learned, here is bad taste under the
disguise of functionalism par excellence.
but new typographic life may come from such a ruthless technique,
as is exemplied in many of americas hard-sell advertising pages.
the reason for this speculation is that here typography clearly serves an
intended purpose. the means by which the purpose is obtained are wrong
and bear none of the aesthetic restraint that dominates much typographic
thinking.
the narrow column
sizes of typefaces must be proportionate to the length of the line, the
smaller the type, the shorter the line (for a standard measurement, 10
point typeface should not be set wider than 20 to 25 pica). adoption of
the narrow column, which has proven itself to be considerably easier and
faster to read, as newspaper readers can testify, would change the shape
of the book. a one column book would be high and narrow, would not
lend itself to binding on the long side, but might be divided into separate
chapters in accordion folds collected in binders or boxes.
square span
tradition requires that sentences follow each other in a horizontal
continuous sequence. paragraphs are used to ease perception by a
slight break. there is no reason for this to be the only method to transmit
language to the eye. sentences could as well follow each other vertically
1.
FUTURA BOOK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
or otherwise, if it would facilitate reading.
following is an excerpt of a letter from the reporter of direct mail
advertising: square span is putting words into thought groups of two or
three short lines, such as
after a you will in easily groups of
short time begin understood words
thinking
you will confusing with and
automatically your complicated unnecessary
stop sentences phrases words
typewriters and typesetting machines would have to be adjusted to this
method, text written in logical, short thought groups lends itself best. the
advantages of grouping words support the theory that we do not read
individual letters, but words or phrases. this poses a new challenge for the
typographer.
text in color
black printing on white stock, because of its extreme opposites, is not
entirely satisfactory. the eye forms complementary images. ickering
and optical illusions occur, however minimized they may be in a small
typeface. they can be reduced if the contrast of black on white is softened
by gray printing on white stock; black printing on gray, yellow, light blue,
or light green stock; brown, dark green, or dark blue printing on light
colored stock. the colors of printing in relation to the colors of stock need
not necessarily be chosen for harmonies; it is the power of controlled
contrast that must be retained.
change of impact
furthermore, a great easing of reading is effected and freshness of
perception is prolonged if a book is made up with a sequence of pages
of different colored stock printed in various colors, which color follows
another is less important than that the hues be approximately of equal
value to safeguard continuity.
dr. w. h. bates has recommended a frequent shifting to aid in
refocusing a xed stare caused by the eye-tiring monotony of reading
matter, the typographer can support this recommendation by the above
change of impact through color.
new slaves
speculation into the future (perhaps not so distant) leads me to assume that
methods of communication will change drastically.
the storage of books will be replaced by microlms, which in turn
will change the design of libraries, computing machines can already
substitute for printed matter by storing knowledge. they will have any
and all desired information available and ready when needed on short
call, faster, more completely than research teams could, relieving and
unburdening our brains of memory ballast. this suggests that we will write
and read less and less, and the book may be eliminated altogether. the
time may come when we have learned to communicate by electronic or
extrasensory means.
formalism and the straightjacket of a style lead to a dead end. the self-
changing pulse of life is the nature of things with its unlimited forms and
ways of expression. this we must recognize and not make new cliches out
of old formulas.
on typography
by herbert bayer
typography is a service art, not a ne art, however pure and elemental the
discipline may be.
the graphic designer today seems to feel that the typographic means at
his disposal have been exhausted. accelerated by the speed of our time, a
wish for new excitement is in the air. new styles are hopefully expected to
appear.
nothing is more constructive than to look the facts in the face. what
are they? the fact that nothing new has developed in recent decades? the
boredom of the dead end without signs for a renewal? or is it the realization
that a forced change in search of a new style can only bring supercial
gain?
it seems appropriate at this point to recall the essence of statements
made by progressive typographers of the 1920s:
previously used largely as a medium for making language visible,
typographic material was discovered to have distinctive optical properties of
its own, pointing toward specically typographic expression. typographers
envisioned possibilities of deeper visual experiences from
a new exploitation of the typographic material itself.
they called for clarity, conciseness, precision; for more articulation,
contrast, tension in the color and black and white values of the typographic
page.
typography was for the rst time seen not as an isolated discipline and
technique, but in context with the ever-widening visual experiences that the
picture symbol, photo, lm, and television brought.
they recognized that in all human endeavors a technology had adjusted
to mans demands; while no marked change or improvement had taken
place in mans most profound invention, printing-writing, since gutenberg.
the manual skill and approach of the craftsman was seen to be inevitably
replaced by mechanical techniques.
once more it became clear that typography is not self-expression within
predetermined aesthetics, but that it is conditioned by the message it
visualizes.
that typographic aesthetics were not stressed in these statements does not
mean a lack of concern with them. but it appears that the searching went
beyond surface effects into underlying strata.
it is a fallacy to believe that styles can be created as easily and as often
as fashions change. more is involved than trends of taste devoid of inner
substance and structure, applied as cultural sugar-coating.
moreover, the typographic revolution was not an isolated event but went
hand in hand with a new social, political consciousness and consequently,
with the building of new cultural foundations.
the artists acceptance of the machine as a tool for mass production has
had its impression on aesthetic concepts. since then an age of science has
come upon us, and the artist has been motivated more than ever, to open
his mind to the new forces that shape our lives.
new concepts will not grow on mere design variations of long-
established forms such as the book. the aesthetic restraint that limits the
development of the book must nally be overcome, and new ideas must
logically be deduced from the function of typography and its carriers,
although i realize how deeply anchored in tradition and how petried the
subject of writing and spelling is, a new typography will be bound to an
alphabet that corresponds to the demands of an age of science. it must,
unfortunately, be remembered that we live in a time of great ignorance and
lack of concern with the alphabet, writing, and typography. with nostalgia
we hear of times when literate people had knowledge, respect, and
understanding of the subject. common man today has no opinion at all in
such matters. it has come to a state where even the typesetter, the original
2.
AKZIDENZ GROTESK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
2.
AKZIDENZ GROTESK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
typographer, as well as the printer, has lost this culture, responsibility has
been shifted onto the shoulders of the designer almost exclusively.
in the united states the art of typography, book design, visual
communication at large, in its many aspects, is being shelved as a minor
art. it has no adequate place of recognition in our institutions of culture.
the graphic designer is designated with the minimizing term commercial,
and is generally ignored as compared to the prominence accorded by the
press to architecture and the ne arts. visual communication has made
revolutionary strides and real contributions to the contemporary world
picture. yet, the artist-typographer represents a small number of typography
producers compared to the output of the nation. their efforts must be valued
as they keep the aesthetic standards from falling, and because they alone
set the pace in taste.
there can be no doubt that our writing-printing-reading methods are
antiquated and inefcient as compared to the perfection attained in other
areas of human endeavor.
the history of our alphabet and any probing into its optical effectiveness
expose a lack of principle and structure, precision and efciency which
should be evidenced in this important tool.
attempts have been made to design visually (to distinguish from
aesthetically) improved alphabets. but redesigning will result in just another
typeface unless the design is primarily guided by optics as well as by a
revision of spelling. this, in turn, reveals the need for a clearer relation of
writing-printing to the spoken word, a reorganization of the alphabetic
sound-symbols, the creation of new symbols. the type designer is not
usually a language reformer, but a systematic approach will inevitably carry
him to a point where he will ask for nothing less than a complete overhaul of
communication with visual sound.
however unlikely the possibilities for the adoption of such far-reaching
renovation appears at the moment, revitalization of typography will come:
a. from the increased demands made on the psychophysiological apparatus
of our perceptive senses;
b. from a new alphabet;
c. from the different physical forms that the carriers of typography will take.
the more we read, the less we see. constant exposure to visual materials
has dulled our sense of seeing. overfed with reading as we are, the practice
of reading must be activated. a new effort is needed to recapture and
retain freshness. little known is the fact that the act of seeing is work, that it
demands more than a quarter of the nervous energy the human body burns
up. during waking hours your eyes almost never rest. in reading this article
you must refocus as you skip from word to word. much energy is required
for blinking and turning the eyeballs. more is needed by the tiny ciliary
muscles to alter the shape of the crystalline lens for focusing. the effort of
seeing contributes a large share to physical tiredness.
taking a closer look at present-day typographic customs, i make the
following suggestions, believing that they offer immediate possibilities for
both improvement and change.
visual research
the eye seldom focuses for long on one point in a design. it its back
and forth from one element to another in haphazard sequence, unless the
design is skillfully arranged to focus its orderly progress from one idea to
the next. it is a vital part of the designers job to make sure that the eye sees
rst things rst and that it is made to dwell as long as possible on areas of
special importance, such as the name of a product.
graphic design will more than ever be determined by its purpose. the
designer-typographer can nd new impetuses from research in vision such
as the above exemplies.
2.
AKZIDENZ GROTESK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
universal communication
for a long time to come we will accept the existence of the different
languages now in use. this will continue to pose barriers to communication,
even after improved (possibly phonetic) writing methods have been
adopted within all the languages. therefore, a more universal visual medium
to bridge the gap between them must eventually evolve, rst steps in this
direction have, strangely enough, been made by the artist, now science
must become a teammate and give him support with precise methods for a
more purposeful handling of visual problems.
the book has been a standard form for a long time, a new spirit invaded
the stagnant eld of rigidity with the adoption of the dynamic page
composition. an important extension was introduced with the recognition
of supranational pictorial communication, with its combination of text and
pictures, todays magazine already represents a new standard medium,
while pictorial communication in a new sense has lived through a short but
inspiring childhood, typography has hardly aspired to become an integrated
element.
exploration of the potentialities of the book of true text-picture integration
has only begun and will, by itself, become of utmost importance to universal
understanding.
communication of selling
recently certain american national advertising pages have expressed
a remarkable trend to planning. these pages contain and operate with
a conglomeration of ugly, differently styled, contrasting or conicting
alphabets. the advertising agencies (no artist-designers reasoning or taste
could produce these pages) that produced this concept clearly must have
been motivated by attention-getting-by-all-means aggressiveness and
provocation. the result is irritation to the reader, who, therefore, reacts, this
ignoring of aesthetics, in fact this twisting of unaesthetics into a function,
provides a lesson to be learned, here is bad taste under the disguise of
functionalism par excellence.
but new typographic life may come from such a ruthless technique, as is
exemplied in many of americas hard-sell advertising pages. the reason
for this speculation is that here typography clearly serves an intended
purpose. the means by which the purpose is obtained are wrong and bear
none of the aesthetic restraint that dominates much typographic thinking.
the narrow column
sizes of typefaces must be proportionate to the length of the line, the
smaller the type, the shorter the line (for a standard measurement, 10
point typeface should not be set wider than 20 to 25 pica). adoption of the
narrow column, which has proven itself to be considerably easier and faster
to read, as newspaper readers can testify, would change the shape of the
book. a one column book would be high and narrow, would not lend itself
to binding on the long side, but might be divided into separate chapters in
accordion folds collected in binders or boxes.
square span
tradition requires that sentences follow each other in a horizontal
continuous sequence. paragraphs are used to ease perception by a slight
break. there is no reason for this to be the only method to transmit language
to the eye. sentences could as well follow each other vertically or otherwise,
if it would facilitate reading.
following is an excerpt of a letter from the reporter of direct mail
advertising: square span is putting words into thought groups of two or
three short lines, such as
2.
AKZIDENZ GROTESK
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
after a you will in easily groups of
short time begin understood words
thinking
you will confusing with and
automatically your complicated unnecessary
stop sentences phrases words
typewriters and typesetting machines would have to be adjusted to this
method, text written in logical, short thought groups lends itself best. the
advantages of grouping words support the theory that we do not read
individual letters, but words or phrases. this poses a new challenge for the
typographer.
text in color
black printing on white stock, because of its extreme opposites, is not
entirely satisfactory. the eye forms complementary images. ickering and
optical illusions occur, however minimized they may be in a small typeface.
they can be reduced if the contrast of black on white is softened by gray
printing on white stock; black printing on gray, yellow, light blue, or light
green stock; brown, dark green, or dark blue printing on light colored stock.
the colors of printing in relation to the colors of stock need not necessarily
be chosen for harmonies; it is the power of controlled contrast that must be
retained.
change of impact
furthermore, a great easing of reading is effected and freshness of
perception is prolonged if a book is made up with a sequence of pages of
different colored stock printed in various colors, which color follows another
is less important than that the hues be approximately of equal value to
safeguard continuity.
dr. w. h. bates has recommended a frequent shifting to aid in refocusing
a xed stare caused by the eye-tiring monotony of reading matter, the
typographer can support this recommendation by the above change of
impact through color.
new slaves
speculation into the future (perhaps not so distant) leads me to assume that
methods of communication will change drastically.
the storage of books will be replaced by microlms, which in turn will
change the design of libraries, computing machines can already substitute
for printed matter by storing knowledge. they will have any and all desired
information available and ready when needed on short call, faster, more
completely than research teams could, relieving and unburdening our brains
of memory ballast. this suggests that we will write and read less and less,
and the book may be eliminated altogether. the time may come when we
have learned to communicate by electronic or extrasensory means.
formalism and the straightjacket of a style lead to a dead end. the self-
changing pulse of life is the nature of things with its unlimited forms and
ways of expression. this we must recognize and not make new cliches out
of old formulas.
on typography
by herbert bayer
typography is a service art, not a ne art, however pure and elemental the
discipline may be.
the graphic designer today seems to feel that the typographic means at his
disposal have been exhausted. accelerated by the speed of our time, a wish for
new excitement is in the air. new styles are hopefully expected to appear.
nothing is more constructive than to look the facts in the face. what are they?
the fact that nothing new has developed in recent decades? the boredom of the
dead end without signs for a renewal? or is it the realization that a forced change
in search of a new style can only bring supercial gain?
it seems appropriate at this point to recall the essence of statements made by
progressive typographers of the 1920s:
previously used largely as a medium for making language visible, typographic
material was discovered to have distinctive optical properties of its own,
pointing toward specically typographic expression. typographers envisioned
possibilities of deeper visual experiences from
a new exploitation of the typographic material itself.
they called for clarity, conciseness, precision; for more articulation, contrast,
tension in the color and black and white values of the typographic page.
typography was for the rst time seen not as an isolated discipline and
technique, but in context with the ever-widening visual experiences that the
picture symbol, photo, lm, and television brought.
they recognized that in all human endeavors a technology had adjusted to
mans demands; while no marked change or improvement had taken place in
mans most profound invention, printing-writing, since gutenberg.
the manual skill and approach of the craftsman was seen to be inevitably
replaced by mechanical techniques.
once more it became clear that typography is not self-expression within
predetermined aesthetics, but that it is conditioned by the message it visualizes.
that typographic aesthetics were not stressed in these statements does not mean
a lack of concern with them. but it appears that the searching went beyond
surface eects into underlying strata.
it is a fallacy to believe that styles can be created as easily and as often as
fashions change. more is involved than trends of taste devoid of inner substance
and structure, applied as cultural sugar-coating.
moreover, the typographic revolution was not an isolated event but went
hand in hand with a new social, political consciousness and consequently, with
the building of new cultural foundations.
the artists acceptance of the machine as a tool for mass production has had
its impression on aesthetic concepts. since then an age of science has come upon
us, and the artist has been motivated more than ever, to open his mind to the
new forces that shape our lives.
new concepts will not grow on mere design variations of long-established
forms such as the book. the aesthetic restraint that limits the development of
the book must nally be overcome, and new ideas must logically be deduced
from the function of typography and its carriers, although i realize how deeply
anchored in tradition and how petried the subject of writing and spelling is, a
new typography will be bound to an alphabet that corresponds to the demands
of an age of science. it must, unfortunately, be remembered that we live in a
time of great ignorance and lack of concern with the alphabet, writing, and
typography. with nostalgia we hear of times when literate people had knowledge,
respect, and understanding of the subject. common man today has no opinion at
all in such matters. it has come to a state where even the typesetter, the original
typographer, as well as the printer, has lost this culture, responsibility has been
shifted onto the shoulders of the designer almost exclusively.
in the united states the art of typography, book design, visual communication
at large, in its many aspects, is being shelved as a minor art. it has no adequate
3.
ADOBE CASLON PRO
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
3.
ADOBE CASLON PRO
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
place of recognition in our institutions of culture. the graphic designer is
designated with the minimizing term commercial, and is generally ignored
as compared to the prominence accorded by the press to architecture and
the ne arts. visual communication has made revolutionary strides and real
contributions to the contemporary world picture. yet, the artist-typographer
represents a small number of typography producers compared to the output of
the nation. their eorts must be valued as they keep the aesthetic standards from
falling, and because they alone set the pace in taste.
there can be no doubt that our writing-printing-reading methods are antiquated
and inecient as compared to the perfection attained in other areas of human
endeavor.
the history of our alphabet and any probing into its optical eectiveness
expose a lack of principle and structure, precision and eciency which should be
evidenced in this important tool.
attempts have been made to design visually (to distinguish from
aesthetically) improved alphabets. but redesigning will result in just another
typeface unless the design is primarily guided by optics as well as by a revision of
spelling. this, in turn, reveals the need for a clearer relation of writing-printing
to the spoken word, a reorganization of the alphabetic sound-symbols, the
creation of new symbols. the type designer is not usually a language reformer,
but a systematic approach will inevitably carry him to a point where he will ask
for nothing less than a complete overhaul of communication with visual sound.
however unlikely the possibilities for the adoption of such far-reaching
renovation appears at the moment, revitalization of typography will come:
a. from the increased demands made on the psychophysiological apparatus of
our perceptive senses;
b. from a new alphabet;
c. from the dierent physical forms that the carriers of typography will take. the
more we read, the less we see. constant exposure to visual materials has dulled
our sense of seeing. overfed with reading as we are, the practice of reading must
be activated. a new eort is needed to recapture and retain freshness. little
known is the fact that the act of seeing is work, that it demands more than a
quarter of the nervous energy the human body burns up. during waking hours
your eyes almost never rest. in reading this article you must refocus as you
skip from word to word. much energy is required for blinking and turning the
eyeballs. more is needed by the tiny ciliary muscles to alter the shape of the
crystalline lens for focusing. the eort of seeing contributes a large share to
physical tiredness.
taking a closer look at present-day typographic customs, i make the
following suggestions, believing that they oer immediate possibilities for both
improvement and change.
visual research
the eye seldom focuses for long on one point in a design. it its back and
forth from one element to another in haphazard sequence, unless the design is
skillfully arranged to focus its orderly progress from one idea to the next. it is a
vital part of the designers job to make sure that the eye sees rst things rst and
that it is made to dwell as long as possible on areas of special importance, such
as the name of a product.
graphic design will more than ever be determined by its purpose. the
designer-typographer can nd new impetuses from research in vision such as
the above exemplies.
universal communication
for a long time to come we will accept the existence of the dierent languages
now in use. this will continue to pose barriers to communication, even after
improved (possibly phonetic) writing methods have been adopted within all
the languages. therefore, a more universal visual medium to bridge the gap
3.
ADOBE CASLON PRO
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
between them must eventually evolve, rst steps in this direction have, strangely
enough, been made by the artist, now science must become a teammate and
give him support with precise methods for a more purposeful handling of visual
problems.
the book has been a standard form for a long time, a new spirit invaded
the stagnant eld of rigidity with the adoption of the dynamic page
composition. an important extension was introduced with the recognition
of supranational pictorial communication, with its combination of text and
pictures, todays magazine already represents a new standard medium, while
pictorial communication in a new sense has lived through a short but inspiring
childhood, typography has hardly aspired to become an integrated element.
exploration of the potentialities of the book of true text-picture integration
has only begun and will, by itself, become of utmost importance to universal
understanding.
communication of selling
recently certain american national advertising pages have expressed a remarkable
trend to planning. these pages contain and operate with a conglomeration of
ugly, dierently styled, contrasting or conicting alphabets. the advertising
agencies (no artist-designers reasoning or taste could produce these pages) that
produced this concept clearly must have been motivated by attention-getting-
by-all-means aggressiveness and provocation. the result is irritation to the
reader, who, therefore, reacts, this ignoring of aesthetics, in fact this twisting of
unaesthetics into a function, provides a lesson to be learned, here is bad taste
under the disguise of functionalism par excellence.
but new typographic life may come from such a ruthless technique, as is
exemplied in many of americas hard-sell advertising pages. the reason for
this speculation is that here typography clearly serves an intended purpose.
the means by which the purpose is obtained are wrong and bear none of the
aesthetic restraint that dominates much typographic thinking.
the narrow column
sizes of typefaces must be proportionate to the length of the line, the smaller the
type, the shorter the line (for a standard measurement, 10 point typeface should
not be set wider than 20 to 25 pica). adoption of the narrow column, which has
proven itself to be considerably easier and faster to read, as newspaper readers
can testify, would change the shape of the book. a one column book would be
high and narrow, would not lend itself to binding on the long side, but might be
divided into separate chapters in accordion folds collected in binders or boxes.
square span
tradition requires that sentences follow each other in a horizontal continuous
sequence. paragraphs are used to ease perception by a slight break. there is no
reason for this to be the only method to transmit language to the eye. sentences
could as well follow each other vertically or otherwise, if it would facilitate
reading.
following is an excerpt of a letter from the reporter of direct mail
advertising: square span is putting words into thought groups of two or three
short lines, such as
after a you will in easily groups of
short time begin understood words
thinking
you will confusing with and
automatically your complicated unnecessary
stop sentences phrases words
typewriters and typesetting machines would have to be adjusted to this method,
3.
ADOBE CASLON PRO
9 / 12 pt
24 p 0
text written in logical, short thought groups lends itself best. the advantages of
grouping words support the theory that we do not read individual letters, but
words or phrases. this poses a new challenge for the typographer.
text in color
black printing on white stock, because of its extreme opposites, is not entirely
satisfactory. the eye forms complementary images. ickering and optical
illusions occur, however minimized they may be in a small typeface. they can be
reduced if the contrast of black on white is softened by gray printing on white
stock; black printing on gray, yellow, light blue, or light green stock; brown,
dark green, or dark blue printing on light colored stock. the colors of printing in
relation to the colors of stock need not necessarily be chosen for harmonies; it is
the power of controlled contrast that must be retained.
change of impact
furthermore, a great easing of reading is eected and freshness of perception
is prolonged if a book is made up with a sequence of pages of dierent colored
stock printed in various colors, which color follows another is less important
than that the hues be approximately of equal value to safeguard continuity.
dr. w. h. bates has recommended a frequent shifting to aid in refocusing a
xed stare caused by the eye-tiring monotony of reading matter, the typographer
can support this recommendation by the above change of impact through color.
new slaves
speculation into the future (perhaps not so distant) leads me to assume that
methods of communication will change drastically.
the storage of books will be replaced by microlms, which in turn will
change the design of libraries, computing machines can already substitute
for printed matter by storing knowledge. they will have any and all desired
information available and ready when needed on short call, faster, more
completely than research teams could, relieving and unburdening our brains of
memory ballast. this suggests that we will write and read less and less, and the
book may be eliminated altogether. the time may come when we have learned to
communicate by electronic or extrasensory means.
formalism and the straightjacket of a style lead to a dead end. the self-
changing pulse of life is the nature of things with its unlimited forms and ways
of expression. this we must recognize and not make new cliches out of old
formulas.
on typography
by herbert bayer
typography is a service art, not a ne art, however pure and elemental the
discipline may be.
the graphic designer today seems to feel that the typographic means at his
disposal have been exhausted. accelerated by the speed of our time, a wish for
new excitement is in the air. new styles are hopefully expected to appear.
nothing is more constructive than to look the facts in the face. what are they?
the fact that nothing new has developed in recent decades? the boredom of
the dead end without signs for a renewal? or is it the realization that a forced
change in search of a new style can only bring supercial gain?
it seems appropriate at this point to recall the essence of statements made
by progressive typographers of the 1920s:
previously used largely as a medium for making language visible, typographic
material was discovered to have distinctive optical properties of its own,
pointing toward specically typographic expression. typographers envisioned
possibilities of deeper visual experiences from
a new exploitation of the typographic material itself.
they called for clarity, conciseness, precision; for more articulation, contrast,
tension in the color and black and white values of the typographic page.
typography was for the rst time seen not as an isolated discipline and
technique, but in context with the ever-widening visual experiences that the
picture symbol, photo, lm, and television brought.
they recognized that in all human endeavors a technology had adjusted to
mans demands; while no marked change or improvement had taken place in
mans most profound invention, printing-writing, since gutenberg.
the manual skill and approach of the craftsman was seen to be inevitably
replaced by mechanical techniques.
once more it became clear that typography is not self-expression within
predetermined aesthetics, but that it is conditioned by the message it visualizes.
that typographic aesthetics were not stressed in these statements does not
mean a lack of concern with them. but it appears that the searching went
beyond surface effects into underlying strata.
it is a fallacy to believe that styles can be created as easily and as often as
fashions change. more is involved than trends of taste devoid of inner substance
and structure, applied as cultural sugar-coating.
moreover, the typographic revolution was not an isolated event but went
hand in hand with a new social, political consciousness and consequently, with
the building of new cultural foundations.
the artists acceptance of the machine as a tool for mass production has had
its impression on aesthetic concepts. since then an age of science has come
upon us, and the artist has been motivated more than ever, to open his mind to
the new forces that shape our lives.
new concepts will not grow on mere design variations of long-established
forms such as the book. the aesthetic restraint that limits the development of
the book must nally be overcome, and new ideas must logically be deduced
from the function of typography and its carriers, although i realize how deeply
anchored in tradition and how petried the subject of writing and spelling
is, a new typography will be bound to an alphabet that corresponds to the
demands of an age of science. it must, unfortunately, be remembered that we
live in a time of great ignorance and lack of concern with the alphabet, writing,
and typography. with nostalgia we hear of times when literate people had
knowledge, respect, and understanding of the subject. common man today
has no opinion at all in such matters. it has come to a state where even the
typesetter, the original typographer, as well as the printer, has lost this culture,
responsibility has been shifted onto the shoulders of the designer almost
exclusively.
in the united states the art of typography, book design, visual communication
4.
UNIVERS 57
(CONDENSED ROMAN)
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
4.
UNIVERS 57
(CONDENSED ROMAN)
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
at large, in its many aspects, is being shelved as a minor art. it has no adequate
place of recognition in our institutions of culture. the graphic designer is
designated with the minimizing term commercial, and is generally ignored
as compared to the prominence accorded by the press to architecture and
the ne arts. visual communication has made revolutionary strides and real
contributions to the contemporary world picture. yet, the artist-typographer
represents a small number of typography producers compared to the output of
the nation. their efforts must be valued as they keep the aesthetic standards
from falling, and because they alone set the pace in taste.
there can be no doubt that our writing-printing-reading methods are antiquated
and inefcient as compared to the perfection attained in other areas of human
endeavor.
the history of our alphabet and any probing into its optical effectiveness
expose a lack of principle and structure, precision and efciency which should
be evidenced in this important tool.
attempts have been made to design visually (to distinguish from
aesthetically) improved alphabets. but redesigning will result in just another
typeface unless the design is primarily guided by optics as well as by a revision
of spelling. this, in turn, reveals the need for a clearer relation of writing-printing
to the spoken word, a reorganization of the alphabetic sound-symbols, the
creation of new symbols. the type designer is not usually a language reformer,
but a systematic approach will inevitably carry him to a point where he will ask
for nothing less than a complete overhaul of communication with visual sound.
however unlikely the possibilities for the adoption of such far-reaching
renovation appears at the moment, revitalization of typography will come:
a. from the increased demands made on the psychophysiological apparatus of
our perceptive senses;
b. from a new alphabet;
c. from the different physical forms that the carriers of typography will take. the
more we read, the less we see. constant exposure to visual materials has dulled
our sense of seeing. overfed with reading as we are, the practice of reading
must be activated. a new effort is needed to recapture and retain freshness.
little known is the fact that the act of seeing is work, that it demands more than
a quarter of the nervous energy the human body burns up. during waking hours
your eyes almost never rest. in reading this article you must refocus as you
skip from word to word. much energy is required for blinking and turning the
eyeballs. more is needed by the tiny ciliary muscles to alter the shape of the
crystalline lens for focusing. the effort of seeing contributes a large share to
physical tiredness.
taking a closer look at present-day typographic customs, i make the
following suggestions, believing that they offer immediate possibilities for both
improvement and change.
visual research
the eye seldom focuses for long on one point in a design. it its back and
forth from one element to another in haphazard sequence, unless the design is
skillfully arranged to focus its orderly progress from one idea to the next. it is a
vital part of the designers job to make sure that the eye sees rst things rst and
that it is made to dwell as long as possible on areas of special importance, such
as the name of a product.
graphic design will more than ever be determined by its purpose. the
designer-typographer can nd new impetuses from research in vision such as
the above exemplies.
universal communication
for a long time to come we will accept the existence of the different languages
now in use. this will continue to pose barriers to communication, even after
improved (possibly phonetic) writing methods have been adopted within all the
4.
UNIVERS 57
(CONDENSED ROMAN)
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
languages. therefore, a more universal visual medium to bridge the gap between
them must eventually evolve, rst steps in this direction have, strangely enough,
been made by the artist, now science must become a teammate and give him
support with precise methods for a more purposeful handling of visual problems.
the book has been a standard form for a long time, a new spirit invaded the
stagnant eld of rigidity with the adoption of the dynamic page composition.
an important extension was introduced with the recognition of supranational
pictorial communication, with its combination of text and pictures, todays
magazine already represents a new standard medium, while pictorial
communication in a new sense has lived through a short but inspiring childhood,
typography has hardly aspired to become an integrated element.
exploration of the potentialities of the book of true text-picture integration
has only begun and will, by itself, become of utmost importance to universal
understanding.
communication of selling
recently certain american national advertising pages have expressed a
remarkable trend to planning. these pages contain and operate with a
conglomeration of ugly, differently styled, contrasting or conicting alphabets.
the advertising agencies (no artist-designers reasoning or taste could produce
these pages) that produced this concept clearly must have been motivated by
attention-getting-by-all-means aggressiveness and provocation. the result is
irritation to the reader, who, therefore, reacts, this ignoring of aesthetics, in fact
this twisting of unaesthetics into a function, provides a lesson to be learned,
here is bad taste under the disguise of functionalism par excellence.
but new typographic life may come from such a ruthless technique, as is
exemplied in many of americas hard-sell advertising pages. the reason for
this speculation is that here typography clearly serves an intended purpose.
the means by which the purpose is obtained are wrong and bear none of the
aesthetic restraint that dominates much typographic thinking.
the narrow column
sizes of typefaces must be proportionate to the length of the line, the smaller the
type, the shorter the line (for a standard measurement, 10 point typeface should
not be set wider than 20 to 25 pica). adoption of the narrow column, which has
proven itself to be considerably easier and faster to read, as newspaper readers
can testify, would change the shape of the book. a one column book would be
high and narrow, would not lend itself to binding on the long side, but might be
divided into separate chapters in accordion folds collected in binders or boxes.
square span
tradition requires that sentences follow each other in a horizontal continuous
sequence. paragraphs are used to ease perception by a slight break. there is no
reason for this to be the only method to transmit language to the eye. sentences
could as well follow each other vertically or otherwise, if it would facilitate
reading.
following is an excerpt of a letter from the reporter of direct mail
advertising: square span is putting words into thought groups of two or three
short lines, such as
after a you will in easily groups of
short time begin understood words
thinking
you will confusing with and
automatically your complicated unnecessary
stop sentences phrases words
typewriters and typesetting machines would have to be adjusted to this method,
4.
UNIVERS 57
(CONDENSED ROMAN)
9 / 12 PT
24 P 0
text written in logical, short thought groups lends itself best. the advantages of
grouping words support the theory that we do not read individual letters, but
words or phrases. this poses a new challenge for the typographer.
text in color
black printing on white stock, because of its extreme opposites, is not entirely
satisfactory. the eye forms complementary images. ickering and optical
illusions occur, however minimized they may be in a small typeface. they can be
reduced if the contrast of black on white is softened by gray printing on white
stock; black printing on gray, yellow, light blue, or light green stock; brown,
dark green, or dark blue printing on light colored stock. the colors of printing in
relation to the colors of stock need not necessarily be chosen for harmonies; it is
the power of controlled contrast that must be retained.
change of impact
furthermore, a great easing of reading is effected and freshness of perception
is prolonged if a book is made up with a sequence of pages of different colored
stock printed in various colors, which color follows another is less important
than that the hues be approximately of equal value to safeguard continuity.
dr. w. h. bates has recommended a frequent shifting to aid in refocusing a
xed stare caused by the eye-tiring monotony of reading matter, the typographer
can support this recommendation by the above change of impact through color.
new slaves
speculation into the future (perhaps not so distant) leads me to assume that
methods of communication will change drastically.
the storage of books will be replaced by microlms, which in turn will change
the design of libraries, computing machines can already substitute for printed
matter by storing knowledge. they will have any and all desired information
available and ready when needed on short call, faster, more completely
than research teams could, relieving and unburdening our brains of memory
ballast. this suggests that we will write and read less and less, and the book
may be eliminated altogether. the time may come when we have learned to
communicate by electronic or extrasensory means.
formalism and the straightjacket of a style lead to a dead end. the self-
changing pulse of life is the nature of things with its unlimited forms and ways
of expression. this we must recognize and not make new cliches out of old
formulas.