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caEdited and Designed by Grethe Ullrich

Published in 2008

GDES 1314 Typography I

Text by Elliot Earls


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simple simplesimple

simplesimple

simplesimplesimple

simple simple

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The simple process of making marks on paper is less of an intellectual process than a biological process. One must cultivate

a feel for proportion, solidity, balance, etc. Excuse the digression,

but when I talk about developing a feel, I know that some of you are

rolling your eyes. Some of you may think that the term feel might be

likened to the term taste, with all of its class overtones and attendantcritiques.

Im suggesting that one develops a feel not magically, or through attendance

at the nest schools, but through rigorous application, and through working

damn hard at acquiring a set of very concrete skills, then forgetting them.

And what would those skills be to which one must dedicate him or herself

only to eventually forget? Manipulative skills, rst person, hand/eye-

coordinated, es based skills. What in jazz they call chops, and in designthey call fundamental graphic exercises line rhythms, gradation, and

gure/ground studies.

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Well, back the f@*k up.


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Music is the appropriate metaphor. In music ,

rigorous study of repertoire, theory, and physical

application is what allows the musician the improvisational

freedom to move the listener. Musical instrument

performance represents the perfect synthesis of theory

and practice. Theory is study understood and nally

applied. But the essence is that theory (or thinking) is

forgotten in the moment of performance. In the visual arts,

as in music , it isimportant to follow a developmentaltrajectory that after diligent application ultimately includes

not so much forgetting, as not paying active attention to

these principles. You must trust yourself, and work by

feel. Rely on the totality of your experience. Rely on your

history to guide you. Think through the body. Arrive on

the beautiful shores of naivete and antimastery only after

toiling in the elds of mastery.ic Helevetica Neue Regular 9/22

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y za b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y za b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

lowercaseandUPPERCASEZ

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If at this point you feel the need to accuseme of anti-intellectualism, youd be barking up the

wrong tree. Im an advocate of practice informedby theory and life. Its really a question of prioritiesand balance. And Id like to be clear here. I am notsuggesting that the type design process necessarily adheres to a strict taxonomic progression. AndIm certainly not an advocate of a rigid categoricalapproach to design of any form. Quite the contrary.

Its my contention that the edge condition, the tension that exists in the gap, is where the action is. But for the designer interested in beginning to come to grips with letterform design, locating ones work within the three categories described above is often helpful.

The question I am most often asked by students is some variation of the following:Where do you begin? How do you get an idea or a concept for a typeface? My answer is twofold. First, one should never use the term concept in same sentenceas the word typeface. Typefaces are not conceptual, they are formal (1). Second, I

tell them to study examples such as Zuzana Lickos Mrs. Eaves, which is an excellentexample of an historical revival; Christian Schwartz Los Feliz, which is an excellentexample of vernacular reinterpretation; and Frank Hines Remedy, which is based on

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77 777 7

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But as they say, God (or the Devil, or

possibly both) is in the details. Quite

possibly the biggest challenge facing typedesigners who are just starting out is that

most cannot see, nor can they draw (I

should amend that slightly; most havent

looked, nor can they draw.)

Students who begin drawing typefaces

must rst learn to look at typefaces. I am

often shocked and amazed at my studentsrst attempts to construct, for instance, the

termination of a stroke. It usually involves

a student using Fontographer. And when

looking closely at the letterform, one often

notices a complete lack of rigor, coupled

with a hyper-kinetic line quality, which

almost always leaves me with the impression

that Im teaching type design to aclass of

methamphetamine addicts. (Which I havefound is usually not the case.) One need look

no further than the plenitudinous offerings of

foundries such as T- 26 or Garage Fonts to

nd textbook examples of this undisciplined

methamphetamine line.Helvetica Neue Regular 9/17Helvetica Neue UntraLight

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The letterforms produced in this way werea complete rejection of everything thattype design represented to this point.

And although this statement wasdesperately needed, it quickly becameexcruciatingly obvious that the baby hadbeen thrown out with the bath water.Students in design programs across

America latched onto this methodology likeMike Tyson biting Evander Holly elds ear,and the results were about as culturally,intellectually and formally stimulating.

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There was a brief moment (December1, 1991 through February 3, 1993 to beexact), when this approach to letterformdesign was culturally redeemable. Accessto Fontographer enabled the designer, forbetter or worse, to cut the development timeand cost of creating an alphabet to almostnothing. The Blend menu in Fontographerwould take two fonts and mathematicallyextrapolate, to produce a third new font.This process took seconds, and the resultswere uid, kinetic, and seemed, from anhistorical perspective, refreshing. Id liketo also point out that in 1984, the hairdoworn by the front man for Flock of Seagulls,Mike Score, looked uid, kinetic, and,from an historical perspective, refreshing.

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On some levels it seems that the T-26and Garage Fonts type catalogs are lesstype catalogs than exercises in culturalanthropology. They function best as aninformal taxonomy of nearly every undergrad

type design project ever initiated.(2)Helvetica Neue Regular 9 /11

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Grethe Ullrich

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