Syntax

Reading Wolfgang Weingart's How Can One Make Swiss Typography? inspired a possible area to explore in creating a piece 'ugly' design. He explains  how syntax need not be a determining factor in how one understands type. Using Basel and Basle as an example, he explains that despite the two being a German and English variant of the word, it does not matter to either audience, they both understand the meaning of the word despite the misspelling. Weingart's observation of syntax can be supported through Cambridge University's findings in how we read. Their findings conclude that it need not matter if the letters are in the correct order, as long as the first and last letter is in the right place, the reader will still be able to understand because we view words as a whole and not through its individual letterforms.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Shown through this example, the legibility of the text remains the same, whilst the readability is subjective to the readers proficiency in the English language. Experimenting with syntax would be disregarded by modernist designers and interestingly enough not explored by postmodernist designers. There probably is an obvious reason for this as purposely scrambling the letters in a word would often provoke comments of misspelling and an exercise of 'bad design'. Therefore the area of syntax should be explored contextually to what the purpose of the design is and what audience it caters to. Ultimately however incorrect use of syntax will never become an accepted form of type setting because of the way we are taught to correctly spell words. This results in an almost nonexistent use for this exercise in syntax. Furthermore there is a limitation to the extent of incorrect syntax. 

"A dootcr has aimttded the magltheuansr of a tageene ceacnr pintaet who deid aetfr a hatospil durg blendur"

In the example above, the longer more complex words of the English language become progressively harder to read as the letters are too jumbled for the human mind to infer the correct word quickly enough for easy reading. 

There is also the limitation of how scrambled the words can be before readability becomes negligible. Using 'Graphic Design' as an example, the more the letters are scrambled, the worse the readability of the words becomes, as shown by the worst example of 'Gahirpc Digesn'. In the first experiment, 'Grahpic Deisgn', readability is still relatively retained as the reader can infer the rest of the word despite the slight misspelling. Therefore the extent of scrambling the letters must be considered. 

This limitation was also tested in relation to whether grammar helps in the overall readability. As with the previous experiment, the less the scrambling of letters, the more the overall readability. The readability can become easier if the grammatical structure of the original is retained, helping the reader infer the following word. 

Experimenting with syntax, these two 'posters' feature errors for the reader to find out. The garish colours are meant to confuse and overwhelm the reader, making it harder for them to pick out the errors. In this context syntax becomes more an artistic exercise rather than proving its use in design. The combination of the colours and the syntax error can be related to the anarchist elements of post modern and 'ugly' design. 

Looking Closer 3

Going through the relevant essays in Looking Closer 3, key statements were identified that can and will be used for both arguments on the success of ugly design. Analysis is limited due to the essays being written in first person and as opinions. Therefore the aim here is to find similar ideologies in designers on typography, to demonstrate that modernist principles that has remained until now and the dismissal of ugly design. 

The New Typography Lazlo Moholy-Nagy 1923

In this essay Moholy-Nagy establishes New Typography as efficient clarity purged of aesthetic distraction. He makes it clear to the reader of the roles of typography and how one should use it. Straying from these rules is a failure in typography. 

"The emphasis must be on absolute clarity since this distinguishes the character of our own writing from that of ancient pictographic forms."
"Therefore priority: unequivocal clarity in all typographical compositions. Legibility - communication must never be impaired by an priori aesthetics. Letters may never be forced into a preconceived framework, for instance a square."

These two statements on legibility goes against the style of experimental design and can be used for the argument against the success of ugly design. 

What is New Typogrpahy? Walter Dexel

"The goal of the new typography is an objective and impersonal presentation, free of individuality." 
"Our highest aim is legibility, and our best type is the one which everybody can decipher quickly."
"The message has to be clear, objective and very short." 
"Well conceived typography transmits a pleasing effect of balance and harmony apart from its contents, which may not be the aim of art, but shows skill and high-quality workmanship."

Dexel also stresses that design cannot be art and that the public do not care for it. He explains this using an example of "such-and-such cigarette costs fifty cents, art is not the question". 

Philosophy in Modernism In Typography Douglas C. McMurtrie

"Typography has become a medium of communication for the people as a whole and not solely for some select group." This is an important point as it implicitly highlights how typography should aim for total legibility and objectivity. By doing so, it allows for type to communicate to almost everyone unlike ugly design. The subjectivity, implicit reasonings and chaotic style of post modernism lowers legibility and thus lowers the amount of people who can understand the design's purpose. This aligns with McMurtrie's point of how design cannot only appeal to a select audience. 

"Clarity is the essential feature of modern typography."

"Pretty layouts on the one hand, and exceedingly bizarre arrangements on the other, are to be frowned upon as diverting attention from the message itself to the physical form of its typography, which is considered not as an end in itself, but only as a message be read." In this point McMurtrie is identifying how superficial design, or in some instances ugly design, creates its own downfall. The lack of legibility reduces the purpose of typography delivering its message. By eliminating this purpose the point of its design has failed. Therefore superficial design has no purpose if the legibility of typography is sacrificed for subjective means.  

Thinking practically, McMurtrie's point on ornamentation can be a possible design element for a possible ugly poster design. "The only purpose of ornament is to make of the layout an attractive picture, which is not a proper aim, as the sole object should be to get the printed story comprehended by the reader". 

"Finally, in modern typography, we are to depend on ourselves alone for the working out of any typographic problem, and not depend on the solutions or practices of another age. We are to do our creative work in the spirit of the present and to let it be truly expressive of our interpretation of the message we are transmitting to readers through the medium of type." In this point it can be inferred that the rationales behind post modernist design can be supported as they are created in the present time when post modernism was gaining exposure. However there is a fallacy in this argument as post modernism is based on breaking the rules of Modernism therefore it has an influence which does not make it truly modern. 

New Life In Print Jan Tschichold

Typography signifies the usual ordering of given elements on a plane surface.
The sole aim of design is to create harmonious ordering of the practical requirements.
"The method of New Typography is based upon a clear realisation of purpose and the best means of achieving."
The chief demand of New Typography is most ideal adaption to purpose

In this essay Jan Tschichold raises a point in how typography had to reinvent itself to fit the demands of modern business. Typography had to be changed to make itself "more visually attractive and varied in design" whilst achieving a simpler and a "more easily realisble constructive form". Through this point, Tschichold brings up Dadaism which at the time was pioneering the reinvention of how we view and read type. Interestingly, despite Dadaism's chaotic visuals, Tschichold praises the movement stating that "Dadaism is looked upon as sheer idiocy as many who have not taken the trouble to understand its dynamic". In this regard, it can be said that ugly design can be likened to that of Dadaism. Ugly design is often viewed as ugly at first glances however by understanding the rationales through the designers themselves, the style is easier to understand. However the flaw in this argument is that Dadaism did not last and New typography did in much the same way ugly design is regarded as a trend but elements of modernism is still evident in design today.

 Towards a Universal Typeface Herbert Bayer

Bayer explains his requirements for a new alphabet which inspired an possible idea for the practical work. His requirements were that it had to have a geometric foundation of each letter made up of a few basic elements, uniform thickness of all part of the letter and the renunciation of all suggestions of up and down strokes. These requirements can be used when creating a typeface for a poster design. 

Whats New in American Typography Herb Lubalin

 'Ugly' type in American design can be attributed to the shift in design treatment in advertising. A need for experimentation with the new graphic forms in advertising was from increasing competition in product marketing in the US. The advertisers were creating similar designs that reflected the ads of their competitors. It was difficult to stand out therefore a new way of setting type was experimented with. This caused critical opinions from traditional typographers who shunned the "elimination of leading between the lines and removal of letterspacing" to name some examples. This results in a "loss of a certain amount of legibility" but it comes with justification. This experimentation has led to many classifying modern American typography as ugly. 

This point can be used as an area to explore for the practical work and as visual examples to support this claim by Lubalin.


                                                                                                                                                                

What also is to consider is how these designers were taught. In most cases modernist typographers were taught the modernist way of designing which leads to their opinions on the matter. however designers who were designed differently, Keedy etc, were taught in academies that did not stress modernism enough and allowed for experimentation to flourish. therefore how and where they were taught does have an impact on how they view the role of typography should be. 

Study Task 03 - Defining the brief

Research Question

To what extent can ‘ugly design’ be successful?

CoP theme

- Aesthetics

Specific Area

- Typography

Ontology

- Defining the principles of good design

- The emergence of ugly design 

- Why its design is considered ugly

- Who and why they are practicing ugly design

- Postmodernist experimentation of typography

Epistemology 

- Reading about critical writings on ugly design

- Researching modernism and its designers

- Identifying studios and designers who practice ugly design

- Analysing the rationales behind experimental design

Methodology

- Books in the college library 

- Online articles/essays published by designers and critical writers on graphic design

- using trendlist.org as a source to identify the current trends of graphic design

Design Problem 

Leeds Art Gallery's current branding is arbitrary and dated. This lowers its appeal against the other galleries within the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle. In order to better reflect the curation of contemporary artwork inside, an updated identity is required to bring the gallery into modern times. 

The re-brand will focus around achieving an ‘ugly design’ solution to the problem. The aim of the rebrand is to evaluate and to demonstrate whether this form of design can be successful on a more commercial application. 

Client

Leeds Art Gallery

Requirements

- An updated art direction that reflects the contemporary art curation.

- Focus on creating a typographic solution to help create an identity for the gallery. 

Audience

- University students

- Young full-time creatives

The rebrand should be aligned with a style that appeals to young designers/creatives. 

Solution should be visually engaging yet mature to give the gallery a professional identity.

Formation of the essay question

It is clear that after reading critical essays on the new era of type design in the 90s, there are two sides that dictate the validity of each others design ideology. The modernist views on typography are heavily grounded upon objectivity and that form follows function. Experimental designers of this period were influenced by subjectivity and individual interpretations of laid type. Post modernist designers aimed to communicate more personal attributes into their designs such as culture. Their personal ambitions define the personality that their typefaces take on, which is opposite to the utilitarian aims of modernist typefaces.

What can be commonly seen in these essays is the eventual dismissal of experimental typography as a valid form of new design. Legibility got favoured for more artistic expressions of typography which got used to an extent where it outweighed the rationales behind the design. This is not to say that post modernist type design was a total failure, designers such as Wolfgang Weingart exercised restraint in his compositions and based his experimentation on similarly modernist principles. What he created was a more approachable form of new wave design that is still celebrated today as compared to the work created by the Cranbrook Academy which demonstrates the extreme of the movement.

Experimental design today however has taken on a new face and is gaining exposure, already becoming a trend. Therefore it seems that post modernist design still resonates to a certain demographic within the design community.

The supporting arugments on both sides and the revival of similarly post modernist examples of design today lead to the forming of the essay question, "To what extent can "ugly design" successful?"

Barnbrook on typography

Typeface Designs and Text by Jonathan Barnbrook. A revised version of an article published in Emigre no. 23, 1993.

Similarly to Poynor's essay on the subjectivity of experimental typeface design, Barnbrook shares ideas on how typefaces should be more reflective of our culture and ones personality. 

• One of Barnbrook's key points that contextualises the essay is his claim that "Modernism seems very anti-English". This point effectively sums up why Barbrook favours a more personal approach to typeface design that is more appropriate for its geogrpahical use. He supports this by explaining that Britain was the only country not to have gone under "extreme upheaval in the past few hundred years, which means that the visual vocabulary of Modernism is not necessarily appropriate to England." This point can be supported through Japanese graphic design's unique exercise in restraint and colour palette.
• Barnbrook explains that typography has a "multitude of complex messages given out by different bits of design and their context" which is rendered useless if legibility is the paramount aim.

Subjectivity in type design

Type and Destruction In The Digital Era by Rick Poynor. A revised version of an essay originally published in Typography Now: The Next Wave, 1991.

Looking Closer 2

Rick Poynor offers views against Modernist type design by elaborating on the perspectives of new typographers such as Johnathan Barnbrook, Neville Brody, Emigre Graphics and Jefferey Keedy. 

• Rick Poynor critiques Modernist type design by stating that designers are "reacting against this bloodless neutrality." In the quote "it is the reader's familiarity with face that accounts for their legibility" by Zuzana Licko of Emigre Graphics, Poynor indirectly suggests that Modernism "orderly, linear, well-tempered messages" are not the sole reason as to why it is effective in communicating its message. He supports this claim by stating that the illegible black lettering of Pre-War Germany we see today would have been entirely legible during that period. Therefore the legibility of Swiss Design, according to Poynor, is not based on its principles but its exposure and continued use that has made it become the new paradigm for good design. 
• Poynor criticises the principles established by authoritarian Mordernists by stating that their strict rules on type has left typography to "only a single authorised reading" and are rejected by these new designers as being "too corporate, inflexible and limiting." The new typographers as Poynor identifies, "relish ambiguity, preferring the provisional utterance, alternative take, and delayed punchline to the finely honed phrase."
• What these new typographers share is the idea that typography should not be a linear medium in communicating its message. Using Barry Deck of CalArts view on the transparency of typography, Poynor explains that the aim should be "to promote multiple rather than fixed readings, to provoke the reader into becoming an active participant in the construction of the message." Keedy supports this view on typography by stating that a designer should use typography to "create a situation for people to do with it what they will, and you don't create an enclosed or encapsulated moment." 
• By going against the rigid and objective views on typography, graphic design has the potential to be more reflective of the cultural period. Typographers who use subjectivity in their designs are ensuring that with every brief, it comes with a "specific identity and tone of voice." This can be evidenced through Brody's typeface design for The Face magazine, which embodied "new perspectives on contemporary culture in the magazines editorial content." Taking this further, type design can also be a form of social commentary, as Brody's Typeface Two highlighted the "social climate of the 1930's and 80's" by being authoritarian in mood.  

From these points it is clear that the new wave of typographers aim to go against the rules of modernist typography. Creating more subjective forms of type design which require more involvement from the reader, is open to more interpretation and can provide a social commentary of the period. However the legitimacy in this new ideology must be evaluated against a neutral perspective of the role of typography itself. Only then can the revolt against ordered typography be justified as a valid form of good design.  
It is important to note that the subjective designs of new typography are usually reflected by subjective views on the rules of typography. British typographer Phil Baines explains that despite the valid reasons of type serving a purpose for logic and linearity, "it is equally important that typography should address...intuitive insight and simultaneous perception..."

• Poynor counter argues the relative effectiveness of experimental typography by equating the designs to Andy Altman of Why Not Associates describes as "type as entertainment", where by the function of the text is overruled by the subjective forms of its design that can "infuriate the reader". The uncontrolled letterforms of this movement provide little legibility when it comes to writing long lines of text. The subjective forms are thus mainly limited to display typefaces. 

Poynor concludes the essay by refuting justified uses for experimental type and outlining the conditions needed achieve a balance between typographic expression and text. This is Poynors most important point as it is an evaluation of the limitations of experimental type and a possible direction experimental typography could take to become more widely accepted. 

The Cult of the Ugly

Author
Steven Heller, an American art director, journalist, critic, author, and editor who specializes on topics related to graphic design.

Source
Eye Magazine, no. 9, vol. 3, September 1993

Keypoints

• Context - this essay was written during the 90s where Post Modernism was on the rise and gaining exposure. It is a critique of the new wave of ugly design. Heller explains why ugly design has no basis and cannot be considered as design because of its superficial qualities.
• The pinnacle of bad design and where many examples can be traced to is by Cranbrook Academy's desktop publication, Output 1992.
• Heller states that this bad design "leaves the reader confused as to its purpose or meaning" which goes against modernist principles such as ones defined by Jan Tschihold.
• Heller states that it is the growing number of graduate programs that allow for a "labratory setting and freedom from professional responsibility", which leads to the justifying the word experiment to a "multitude of sins". This is caused when experimentation is fueled by too much instinct and not enough "intelligence or descipline".  He ends this point by stating that the work produced due to these conditions are "driven by instinct and obscured by theory, with ugliness it foremost by product". 
• “fashionable experimentation” is a term that Heller uses to encapsulate the exposure and growing popularity of ugly design. This can also be an appropriate term in describing the trendy experimental design that is gaining exposure in the design world today that is evidenced in www.trendlist.org
• Heller tries to locate the origin of swiss punk design. Stating that the mid-1970's punk movement’s rebellious spirit can be responsible for the urge to challenge typographic rules. 
• Swiss punk wasn't criticised so much for its "ugliness" but for its symbolism in "the demise of Modernist hegemony". 
• Despite arguing against the existence of ugly design, Heller does provide examples of where despite the chaotic design, there is still elements of order, just in a way that forces the reader figure it out themselves, unlike in modernist examples where communication is paramount in order to clearly communicate the information to the reader. He uses Art Chantry as an example which in Heller's view uses "ugly forms" but yet results in good design. 
• Heller illustrates the downfall of experimentation in post modern graphic design. This visual identifiers that made the movement recognisable, were "inevitably reduced to stylistic mannerisms which forced even more radical experimentation", unlike the form and function of Modernism.
• From another perspective, Heller offers a neutral standpoint in analysing Segura's programme/announcement for the 1993 How magazine "Creative Vision" conference.  Using Ralph Emerson’s "The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting" quote in The Conduct of Life, Heller explains that the programme/announcement should be read from a "variety of levels" however Heller concludes that the resulting work can only be described by pretence. Which also supports his points on how the alternative design offers a alternative solution to the cold, systematic typefaces favoured by International Style. 
• But ultimately he concludes his essay by stating that ugliness on its own is a problem when it follows its own virtue, i.e. following personal expression, because it does not follow form nor function. And as such it diminishes all design.

A key point in forming the argument would be to analyse designers who do stray from the modernist style on first glances but yet is based on ideas of balance and harmony as shown by Paul Rand's work. This will be a supporting argument to the encouragement of experimental new wave design, given that it is designed with similarly modernist principles in mind. 

To argue against the new wave design, examples that demonstrate personal expression that favours discordance and disharmony does not allow the design to be a viable visual communication as explained by Heller, which should be paramount in Design. Heller uses Edward Fella to explain this point. 

From Hellers critique of ugly design, it can be deduced that there is an extent to which the legitimacy of ugly design can be accepted as a accepted form of new design ideology. The designs themselves must be based on objective rationales for it to align with the principles of good design.  

Thinking in terms the practical outcome alongside the essay, it will be interesting to see how ugly design produced objectively will differ from a subjective perspective. It could be a way to further legitimise new wave design as a new paradigm in graphic design by trying to rationalise the chaotic nature of ugly design.