Essays (95 texts)

Article written for the Centre national des arts plastique, discussing conventional distribution methods of digital typefaces and their alternatives. The text focuses primarily on French typography scene.

Article written for the Centre national des arts plastique, discussing conventional distribution methods of digital typefaces and their alternatives. The text focuses primarily on French typography scene.

Real life situation that forced a type designer to evaluate his profession. One small typographic detail (incorrect version of the diacritics over the letter L) causing troubles with authorities. With happy end.

A short essay scrutinising the general misconceptions of western typography, and appropriateness of Euro-centric type terminology.

An essay on history and definition of type families, type design parameters, and possibilities of creating larger type systems today.

What do we understand under the term typography? Before starting any discussion it is useful to clarify the terminology. This is a first from the regular columns that Peter Bilak writes for online version of the Swedish magazine CAP & Design.

Dieser Artikel basiert zum Teil auf meiner Forschung für die Ausstellung über das tschechische und slowakische Schriftdesign mit Schwerpunkt auf der Entwicklung der Typografie in den letzten zwanzig Jahren, die ich zusammen mit Alan Záruba 2004-2006 kuratierte. Die Ausstellung mit dem Titel 'Experiment And Typography' wurde erstmals 2004 an der International Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno gezeigt und zog später weiter nach Prag, Den Haag, Bratislava, Cieszyn, Ljubljana, Warschau und Budapest.

This article is partly based on the research for the exhibition on Czech and Slovak typeface design, that we co-curated with Alan Záruba in 2004-2006 focusing on the last twenty years of typography development. The exhibition entitled 'Experiment And Typography' was first presented at the Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno in 2004 and it later travelled to Prague, The Hague, Bratislava, Cieszyn, Ljubljana, Warsaw and Budapest.

A Korean translation of the lecture where Stefan Sagmeister talks about the state of current design, ethics, advertising and aesthetics.

L'Art Director di Collins descrive il procedimento seguito per il progetto di una nuova serie di dizionari, dal punto di vista storico, del layout e della scelta dei caratteri. Data la scala alla quale il contenuto del dizionario viene espresso, e il modo particolare in cui viene letto, le decisioni microtipografiche hanno un effetto amplificato.

Essay accompanying the exhibition Graphic Design in the White Cube during the 22nd International Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 2006. Nineteen designers and collectives were commissioned to design a poster for the design exhibition in which they participate. Instead of bringing work from the outside to the gallery, the work is made for the gallery. Instead of recreating the context for the exhibition, gallery conditions are the context for the work.

An honest appraisal of the role discussions about type design have in the broader culture today, and why there is a need for a more cohesive discussion within the field.

El no-diseño como una repuesta al sobre-diseño y el manierismo contemporáneo. Alegato a favor de un diseño que, tomando en cuenta su contexto, responda a las necesidades de comunicación y no a modas pasajeras con las que el diseñador luce su virtuosismo técnico.

Un interesante análisis sobre la historia, el contexto y el uso político de imágenes gráficas conformadas por multitudes: ¡la gente como pixeles!

Una honesta valoración del papel que las discusiones sobre diseño tipográfico juegan hoy en la cultura general, y porqué hay necesidad de discusiones más integradoras dentro de la disciplina.

El diseño tipográfico como conocimiento acumulado y continuidad: una mirada al papel de los diseñadores de tipos, la historia y la tecnología, los revivals y la invención.

Una breve mirada al enfoque ‘sintético’ con que Peter Bilak entiende el diseño de tipos. Se examina Eureka, su diseño anterior, y las recientes familias de Fedra.

Art director of Collins describes the process of designing the new set of dictionaries, history, layout and choice of type. The scale at which a dictionary’s content is expressed, and the particular way in which it is read, microtypographic decisions have an unusually large effect.

Steven Heller describes the guilty revelation experienced when he learned that typeface software licenses are sold for use on specific, not unlimited numbers of CPUs. He calls for the ethical treatment of type designers: respect for their copyrights.

An epistemology of the word ‘experimental’ as it applies to design and type, contrasted with its scientific connotations. Examples of past and current design, type and reading/language, as well as scientific experiment, are taken into account.

The abstract for Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The introduction to Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The first part of the introduction to Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The second part of the introduction of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The first chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

A continuation of the first chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The third chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The fourth chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The fifth chapter of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The conclusion of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The bibliography of Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

The list of designers interviewd for Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.

Type design as accumulated knowledge and continuity: a look at the role of type designers, history and technology, revivals and invention.

A brief rundown of the treatment of art by the Nazi state and the background of Hitler’s repressive cultural policies in this review of two books, one about the art of the Nazi state in general, and the other specifically about the show Degenerate Art which toured the Reich in an attempt to exterminate modern art.

A call for greater design history instruction in graphic design education as a way to better (and Heller hints proper) design. ‘Design programs should encourage designers to become critical historians...’

Despite the piece’s off-colour title, an optimism exists in this reaction to what the author sees as the hermetic design field’s reverence of the late Tibor Kalman.

This article by the designer of Scala and Seria is as much a typographic guide and history lesson as it is a personal account of his approach to type design.

Stefan Sagmeister talks about the state of current design, ethics, advertising and aesthetics.

Emily King examines the interaction of punctuation, numerals and acronyms via corporate design and an album cover.

Steven Heller discusses the history and current state of guerrilla, activist and political design from posters to attached image files.

An enjoyably nebulous set of Rick Poynor’s thoughts about the current condition of criticism and the value of oppositional tactics in design and writing.

The optimistic theory is put forth that institutions of power have been democratized by the “empowering effects of the media” and that real change can be effected by graphic designers who use their work to engage the public in meaningful dialogue.

A reduced and expanded exploration of Swiss design and culture across the 20th century.

An interesting analysis of the history, politics and context of graphic images which are composed of crowds of people: people as pixels!

A brief examination of the politics, culture and designer’s role in the uses, cultural placement and proliferation of stock photography.

An essay about the design culture which is specific to the Netherlands.

A brief look at the role of graphic design criticism.

Emily King briefly looks at visual artists use of type, and their collaboration with designers in their work.

An analysis of the democratization and obfuscation of typeface creation with attention paid to its transparency, accessibility and methodology in recent years.

A refreshingly positive response to (and call for?) more, and more thoughtful culture and design publications in a time when the phrase “who needs another design mag?” is common. Max Bruinsma also briefly details the evolution of Dutch and other non-mainstream/design publications.

A poetically theoretical take on the fluid state of type, design and the vernacular in digital form as they relate to language and contemporary culture.

An anecdotal history and analysis of the racy work of Robert Crumb, and the cultural situationing of Zap comics then and now.

An overview of the work of Cuban-born titling artist Pablo Ferro who broke ground with the titles for films like Dr. Strangelove and pioneered moving type for the screen.

A history of the little-known collaboration of Ladislav Sutnar and Knud Lönberg-Holm, who together were a modern design team which was ahead of its time in the realm of information information design.

About the German-born founder of the Bettmann Archives in New York which houses over 5 million cuts, drawings, images and pieces of ephemera, collected since the 1930's.

A history and analysis of the role played by this American precursor to the graphic design magazine, which sought to bring progressive commercial graphic and industrial arts into the mainstream.

The life and work of the quietly pivotal Swiss modern design Eric Nitsche, who's clients ranged from the MOMA to RCA in a career that spanned the 20th century.

Screens of all sorts, their histories and their metaphors are approached in this theoretical discussion which take on the panopticon, Clinton’s inauguration and the largest movie screen in the world.

‘Scientific’ studies of typography and legibility are analysed by Ellen Lupton...

In 1999, Print magazine talked to 20 American design heroes and had them look at work from their halcyon days. Designers from Art Chantry to Massimo Vignelli discuss a piece of early work as a foil for Print’s ‘Designers Under Thirty’ section.

Max Bruinsma (who declares he has no printer, just a Zip drive) calls for greater attention to be paid to type on screen, is echoed by Matthew Carter, with a brief discussion of screen text technology and its place in reading today (or then).

Walter Benjamin’s ideas are explored (amongst other early 20th century avant-garde artists) in relation to the recent discussions around expanding the designer’s role from that of problem solver to one of author—and producer.

The point-form story of a German dentist named Hans Joseph Sachs and the magazine Das Plakat he founded on his love for posters. Responsible for the promulgation of early German advertising art abroad, his vast collection was confiscated by Goebbels for the Nazis’ collections and Sachs narrowly escaped the Holocaust. Steven Heller looks at the rise and fall of this significant early design periodical.

Wooden display types, Victorian chromolithography and the demise of Art Nouveau in the form of a poster for a German Match company in 1906...

An exploded view of the digital screen, informed by analyses of architecture, designers’ roles, avant-garde Dutch design from the De Stijl period and geometry.

An examination from 1996 of the history and concept of the designer as author, starting in the first decades of the 20th century.

A fascinatingly thorough investigation of the naming of typefaces. The naming of type as a window to history, conventions, the hermetic type world and cultural context, then and now.

In 1996 Erik van Blokland relays the problems with font embedding, which a decade later has little success…

The “epitome of a post-war Modernist”, Walter Herdeg, backbone of Graphis magazine, is appraised by Steven Heller.

A mid-90s account of the development and current state of Dutch design and type in the context of its cultural and political history.

A mid-90s appraisal of Dutch graphic design’s unique qualities, with an overview of various studios, designers and significant movements from the 20th century.

A talking Barbie lush as a foil for the Mac’s Speech functions; debates about the value of capital letters; Derrida, Saussure and Foucault; Oliver Sachs and Chaucer are all considered in this theoretical piece about the state of typography in new media.

In the early 1990s Steven Heller takes on the word ugly as he sees it applied to graphic design and design education. En route, his views of art history, pop culture and recent design trends are considered in his essay about style and meaning in design.

An early 90s discussion about social responsibility and design. Using a frightening 1960s social behavior experiment as his fulcrum, the author suggests that the designer has the responsibility to do more than provide design as a service to the client.

A history of visual design and arts pedagogy, the Bauhaus, semiotics and gestalt theories as they apply to modern graphic design education.

A survey of woman designers of books, magazines, activist campaigns, identities etc. across the 20th century.

Steven Heller laments the disappearance of refined modern design craftsmanship and organization, and provides some background to Sutnar’s work, upholding him as a pioneer of just this sort of waning craft.

A thorough look at the history and development of large type families across the 20th century.

Emily King’s contents (part two of ten) for her dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Emily King's acknowledgements for her dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Part four of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Emily King’s introduction to her dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

Part three of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. here she lays down the modernist roots of her work.

Part five of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. Saul bass, Hitchcock, Clement Greenbrg, Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood: the American avant garde and kitsch...

Part six of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. Saul bass, Hitchcock, Clement Greenbrg, Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood: the American avant garde and kitsch...

Part seven of ten of Emily King's dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century. Bond titling sequences and the invasion of British design...

Part eight of ten of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

The conclusion of Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

The bibliography for Emily King’s dissertation for the V&A/RCA M.A. Course in the History of Design. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between graphic design and film in the middle of the past century.

A theory-heavy, mid-1990s look at the concept of Deconstruction, looking at its origins in French post-structuralist discourse and then current use in the design world.