Typography has been part of the human world for a very long time. It has constantly evolved to meet the needs of the people. Each development has been driven by necessity, to work with new technology or to make work easier to read. There is so much more to typography than just a typeface, and with the multitude of typefaces currently available. All typographical factors must be considered when selecting a typeface and its properties.
For this week’s lecture we went back to the beginning of movable type. Moved through Johannes Gutenberg known as the father of print and how printers were quick to create their own brands by including their own individual “Printer’s Mark”. The speed at which printing took off especially in Europe is astonishing. Democratising information and having a huge impact on society. It changed people’s view of the world and gave them the chance to interpret information for themselves, rather than having to have it read to them with all the bias that allowed.
We then looked at type Properties, type specifications and other important considerations when looking at typefaces such as: readability, leading, tracking and paragraph spacing. How the alignment of text and line length can hinder readability. These are all hugely important considerations when looking at type and its use.
We also looked at six of the most popular typefaces and a their history. Which to my surprise was relatively recent especially considering moving type came from 9th century China. As well as the fact, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press was from 1450. However, most of the typefaces we looked at were 20th century designs. We also looked at the current use of typefaces, mainly designed for screens, and where we could find typefaces for our own design projects.
Albrecht Durer was a painter and printmaker from Nuremberg in Germany. He created several notable works of art, including the Apocalypse woodcut Knight, Death and The Devil from 1513.
Source (https://www.albrecht-durer.org/The-Knight-Death-And-The-Devil.html) Last Accessed 11/10/2022
My main interest however is how he became the first printer and very possibly one of the first people to have his own brand. He created his own printer’s mark which he added to his prints. These prints made his reputation, but could only be attributed to him because of his use of branding.
Source (https://art.valeurs-et-passion.org/estimation-oeuvres-art/peinture-art/durer-artiste-peintre.asp) Last Accessed 11/10/2022)
Above we can see a number of iterations of Albrecht’s signature, with the one on the bottom left being the one most recognisable as his brand. It is interesting to see like most artists and designers he went through multiple different ideas of his signature brand before settling on a final choice. This makes me feel a lot better about going through quite a few ideas and alterations in my own work.
It may seem strange to look at a 16th century painter and talk about branding and typography. However, when we look at today’s world we are surrounded by brands, we wear them, they are in front of us on our screens, as we walk around, everywhere. They all include some element of typography within them, and Albrecht Durer was the first.
The choice of typography for a brand, makes a huge difference to how that brand is perceived. During this week’s lecture we looked at examples of how that choice is critical to creating the correct visual style for a company. Something we need as designers to consider in all our work.
