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7372
(Text)
texture
7
Texture is defined as
the look and feel of any
surface. It is the surface
quality of an object, be
it smooth, rough, soft, or hard, and essentially a visual effect that
adds richness and dimension to any visual composition. It can be
seen and experienced by human touch or interpreted tactilely
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
William ShakeSpeare (1564–1616), English, Author, Playwright, Poet
tex·ture \'teks-ch r\ n
3 b: the visual or tactile surface
characteristics and appearance
of something
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th e la n guag e of gr ap hic d es i gn
(Text)
pendently without being integrated to other
design elements such as line and form. It
is used primarily to enhance other elements
relying on shape and space to exist.
In visual communications, texture is
the surface character of an object. It can be
either two-dimensional or three-dimensional
and distinguished by visual and physical
properties such as rough or smooth and shiny
or dull. A tactile texture such as sandpaper
can be actually felt by touch; however, visual
texture can only be suggested, interpreted,
and understood by the human eye.
(continued on page 77)
1959
Goodbye, Columbus and 5 Short Stories
New York, New York, USA
Paul Rand (1914–1996) was a designer,
author, and educator who shaped and in-
fluenced the course of twentieth-century
graphic design. For forty years, he also de-
voted himself to teaching graphic design
at Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, and Yale
University. Through his work, writings, and
teaching, he has educated and inspired gen-
erations of graphic designers worldwide.
Rand was educated at Pratt Institute,
Parsons School of Design, and the Art Stu-
dents League under George Grosz. In 1937,
at the age of twenty-three, he became art
director of both Esquire and Apparel Arts
magazines, for which he created a series of
now classic covers.
In 1941, he left the publishing world to
become an art director for the William H.
Weintraub Advertising Agency, where he
created a series of innovative campaigns
for Coronet Brandy, Dubonnet Aperitif, El
Producto Cigars, and Orbach’s.
With his early work for American
publishers such as Meridian, Knopf, and
Vintage, Rand proved that modernism did
not have to be serious, cold, and clinical.
Rand gave modernism “heart and soul.” His
whimsical approach, as well as his use of
unconventional methods and familiar ele-
ments to communicate a variety of differ-
ent emotions and messages, proved to be
a new and groundbreaking interpretation
of the European modernist movement in
American graphic design.
His 1959 cover for Philip Roth’s Good-
bye, Columbus is a pivotal prototype for
the use of familiar, humanistic, textural
elements—irregular, cut-out shapes, the
designer’s own handwriting, and the pow-
erful use of a graphic “kiss.” The slightly
parted lips, rendered in a bright, red lip-
stick on a stark, white field, are another
by visual means. Textures can be described
as flat, shiny, glossy, glittery, velvety, wet,
feathery, gooey, furry, sandy, leathery, furry,
cracked, prickly, abrasive, puffy, bumpy, cor-
rugated, rusty, slimy, and so on.
Texture, along with other elements in
a composition, can communicate a variety
of different emotions and messages. Rough
textures are visually active and kinetic, while
smooth textures are passive and calm.
Primary Characteristics
Texture has characteristics similar to color.
Like color, texture cannot function inde-
Carbone Smolan
agenCy
New York, New York, USA
160over90
New York, New York, USA
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