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typography
25
Typography is design-
ing with type. Type is the
term used for letterforms—
alphabet, numbers, and
punctuation—that when used together create words, sentences,
and narrative form. The term typeface refers to the design of all
the characters mentioned above, unified by common visual
“Typography at its best is a visual form of language linking
timelessness and time.”
RobeRt bRinghuRst (b. 1946), Canadian, Author, Poet, Typographer
ty·pog·ra·phy \t -'pä-gr -fe
¬
\ n
2: the style, arrangement, or appearance
of typeset matter
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th e la n guag e of gr ap hic d es i gn
(Text)
SuSSman/Prejza
& ComPany
Culver City, California, USA
1974
U&lc
New York, New York, USA
Herb Lubalin (1918–1981) was a legend-
ary art director, designer, and typographic
master who brought humor, sensuality, and
a modernist flair to every letterform and
typographic element in his work.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, he at-
tended Cooper Union, where he began his
love affair with calligraphy, letterform, and
formal typography. Immediately following
his graduation in 1939, he joined the ad-
vertising agency of Sudler & Hennessey
(later Sudler, Hennessey & Lubalin) as an
art director.
In 1964, he left the agency to start
his own design firm, where he ultimately
worked in a broad range of areas includ-
ing advertisements, editorial design, trade-
marks, typeface design, posters, packaging,
and publications.
During this time, he became discon-
tent with the rigid limitations of metal type
and began to experiment with cutting and
reassembling his own type proofs. Here,
he was able to explore typography in a
detailed and intimate manner that he had
never experienced before. He manipulated
type by hand—compressed it into ligatures,
enlarged it to extreme sizes, and ultimately
transformed it by giving it added mean-
ing. It was also during this period that he
produced some of the most memorable and
dramatic typographic work of the decade.
In 1970, Lubalin joined with phototy-
pography pioneer Edward Rondthaler and
typographer Aaron Burns to establish the
International Typeface Corporation (itc).
From 1970 to 1980, itc designed, produced,
and licensed thirty-four fully developed
typeface families and approximately sixty
display typefaces. Characteristics of itc
type families included an emphasis on
large x-heights as well as short ascenders
elements and characteristics. Typography is
also a unique principle in a graphic designer’s
vocabulary because it has dual functions. It
can function on its purest level as a graphic
element such as point, line, form, shape, and
texture in a visual composition. However, its
primary function is verbal and visual. It is to
be read. When typography has a relationship
only to its verbal meaning, its communicative
character can lack visual impact. When ty-
pography reflects a treatment that enhances
both its verbal and visual meaning, it is per-
ceived on multiple levels, not only intellectu-
ally but also sensually and emotionally.
Typography, of course, is all around us.
In graphic design, the goal of the designer is
not to just place typography on a page but
rather to understand and use it effectively
in visual communications. The selection and
choice of typography, size, alignment, color,
and spacing all are critical.
Historical References
Since the beginning of mankind, we have
needed to communicate our lives to our
fellow man. Before we learned to “speak”
verbally, we spoke “visually” by leaving crude
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