The Typographic Experiment: Radical Innovation in Contemporary Type Design

Pg7

"Oddly shaped columns of type, the multiple layering of information and the questionable legibility of typefaces had fostered a backlash against cool Swiss Modernism and were seemingly commonplace." (Triggs, 2003)

"Advances in computer technology offfered new aesthetic possibilities but also a greater democratisation of design and print production, which naturally led to a plethora of personalised typefaces and designers parading their new roles as graphic authors." (Triggs, 2003)

Pg8

"Type design is not only about the way in which individual letterforms are constructed; it also involves the systematic application of these elements across a set of characters." (Triggs, 2003)

"The typographic layout structures the characters into words, lines and ultimately texts—to produce meaning in the way they are organised visually. The way the typographer presents the 'page' takes into account content and form, the materials, the way the page is produced and the knowledge of the target audience." (Triggs, 2003)

"For our purposes, 'expressive' should be defined as the way language is articulated through the use and arrangement of type to enhance communication. This must be made distinct from an emotive or illustrative treatment of letterforms, whichever often eclipses the clear presentation of a message." TT

"By adding extra layers of typographic information, our reading of the word is transformed into something other than its original meaning." (Triggs, 2003)

Pg9

"In Massin's visualisation of lonesco and writer Raymond Queneau's anti-play La Cantatrice Chauve (The Bald Soprano), different typefaces take on the voices of each character (1964). The manipulation of type in terms of weight, scale, repetition, distortion and it's intergrated placement on the page intensified the dialogue and delivery of the narrative." (Triggs, 2003)

"Specific purpose; of so arranging letters, distributing the space and controlling the type as to aid to the maximum the readers' comprehension of the text." Stanley Morrison, Times New Roman designer and typographer.

"The nature of a client's brief - the amount of developmental timebaoffered, the types of production processes used and the social, political and cultural context in which the designer or typographer is operating - will affect the way a designer approaches the experimental and consequently, the end product." (Triggs, 2003)

"Emigre designer Zuzana Licko, whose 1986 typeface Matrix was developed during the early period of Macintosh computers, is an important case in point. Licko was an early proponent of digital technology in typography, and effectively managed the low memory capabilities if the first computers by keeping the font data small." (Triggs, 2003)

Pg10

"Much contemporary typographic exploration owes its development to the historical 'isms' of the twentieth century: Futurism, Constructivism, Dadaism and Modernism. These movements acknowledged an age of significant scientific and technological discovery, where modern industry and commerce were radically transformed. New attitudes to social, cultural and political life emerged and typography became their 'visible artefact'. Artists and designers developed new ways of thinking about graphic languages in which writing, structure and visual forms more accurately reflected the conditions of the modern world." (Triggs, 2003)

Pg12

"The introduction of new technologies has long been an initiator of typographic experimentation." (Triggs, 2003)

The only way to break typographic rules was to know them - Wolfgang Weingart

Pg13

"Daniel Friedman (1945-95), a graduate of the Institute of Design in Ulm (1967), the Basel School of Design (1968-70) and former pupil of Weingart, spoke of 'new typography' also 'driven by technological change - the transformation from metal typesetting, often down by hand, to computer-driven photo typesetting'. He developed a methodology for understanding typography, which he said 'would be seen as a foundation of, not a replacement for, personal expression'." (Friedman, 1994)

"Friedman encouraged an investigation into the formal conventions of legibility and 'optimal' communication found between the sender and receiver of information by 'fracturing' messages visually." (Triggs, 2003)

"Images are to be read and interpreted, as seen as read" (McCoy, 1990)

Katherine McCoy was "interested in the process of 'deconstructing' Modernist typographic paradigms and developing a self-critical awareness, she and her students embarked on a succession of typographical formal explorations." (Triggs, 2003)

Pg15

"Experimental typography, more than a superficial treatment or visual stylisation of language, became embedded with secondary levels of meaning. Letterforms still represented language, but were also concerned with ‘the possible meaning and interpretation/s of the text’. No longer was it acceptable for typography to remain as an invisible form.” (Triggs, 2003)

Pg16

“Many educational institutions now offer classes dedicated exclusively to experimental typography and encourage students to engage with design research as a process of ‘thinking’ and ‘making’. Designers and typographers have become more aware of the link between craftsmanship and historical understanding, cultural and technological issues, the aesthetics and function of type ad the importance of language and meaning.” (Triggs, 2003)

DEAF (Dublin Electronic Arts Festival, 2002) poster series designed by Niall Sweeney at Pony.

Pg23

“for each to be translated into typographic terms, determine not just how the text appears, but what it means to say.” (Froshaug, 1999)

“British post punk rejected any concern for Modern design aesthetics choosing instead random juxtapositions of images, cut out letterforms and handwritten graffiti.” (Triggs, 2003)

“The modern grid evolved in part out of Le Corbusier’s system of architectural proportion called ‘Modular’.” (Triggs, 2003)

“Although primarily intended for a wide range of architectural compositions, the idea was adopted by typographic designers in Germany and Switzerland following a growing interest in wat the mechanical age might offer in combining a utilitarian approach with an aesthetic position.” (Hurlburt, 1978)

Pg25

“The conventions of reading, in terms of legibility and readability have been questioned in the construction of letterforms and their place in the typographic layout. Once accepted formulaic and simplistic typographic structures have been re-examined in light of the complexities offered by new information age and new systems of writing.” (Triggs, 2003)

Pg55

“If typography is defined as the visual expression of ideas or messages and the formal organization of language, then it becomes a form of discursive practice and cannot be developed to understood in complete isolation.” (Triggs, 2003)

• This point can be used to prove why there is a need for designers to break boundaries in design or to encourage radical new thinking. Design would not evolve if practitioners kept themselves isolated in the modernist viewpoint. 

“Texts and typography are receptacles for social and cultural meaning. As a vehicle for the dissemination of messages, typography becomes a fundamental part of the ‘grammar of visual design’ and, as such, is central to the process of interpreting and mapping meaning.” (Triggs, 2003)

Pg56

“pioneer in a certain area, daring enough to defy taboos, break traditions prompt people to rethink preconceived notions an things taken for granted.” (Matta, cited in Trigg, 2003) Nadim Matta's definition of experimental typography.

“I would also like to add that no design is experimental if it doesn’t encounter some repulsion from the audience at the beginning, but the true challenge of experimentation would be turning this resisting audience into a receptive one whilst being careful not to force or impose this reception.” Matta cited in Triggs in email

• Through Matta’s definition of experimental typography, ugly design is experimental because of the criticism it has received. The success of ugly design can be evaluated on the changing perception of critics as well. For example if Steven Heller, author of the Cult of Ugly that sparked a conversation on the issue, were to be more receptive of the trend, ugly design will have achieved some form of success because they are the authoritative voices on design. These ‘gatekeepers’ ultimately have large influenced on what is deemed as good design in the field. An acceptance by these would make ugly design more legitimate as a form of good design practice. 

Pg57

“Typography functions in the construction of a reader’s experience by combining visual and textual strategies to enhance the message and the meaning.” (Triggs, 2003)

Pg87

Designer Lucille Tenazas view on typography. “evoke meaning through mental associations that are not immediate, but are arrived at over time and are more profound that the initial reading: a verbal wordplay that is open to interpretation.” (Tenazas, 2002)

Pg89

“Many people confuse experimental with ‘decorative playing’, which is not really experimental as it follows a process that has been around since the Futurists and Constructivists. From being an extreme expression of a philosophy, it is closely linked today with ideas of ‘fashion’ in typography.” (Barnbrook cited in Trigg, 2003)

“True experimentation comes not only from ‘playing’, although this can produce equally valid experiments, but by being aware of the communication problems and solving them in a creative way.” (Barnbrook cited in Trigg, 2003)

Pg151

“Typography is the design, choice and arrangement of typeset matter, and is shaped by conventions that aim to create legible and accessible reading material. Experimental typography challenges the notion that legibility and message are primary rather asking that the maker/user/viewer consider other characteristics that are inherent to type.” (Lucinda Hitchcock cited in Trigg, 2003)

Pg177

“creating type that somehow feels made, rather than typeset; working it over until the integrity of the hand dominates and the influence of the machine is submerged; so that type takes on a specific, self-referential guest and spirit.” (Studio Blue cited in Trigg, 2003)

Biblio

Triggs, T. (2003). The Typographic Experiment: Radical Innovation In Contemporary Type Design. 1st ed. London: Thames & Hudson, pp.7-177.

Tenazas, L. (2002). [online] Available at: http://www.tenazasdesign.com/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].

Friedman, D. (1994). Radical Modernism. 1st ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, p.44.

McCoy, K. (1990). Design Quarterly, (148), p.16.

Froshaug, A. (1999). Typography is a grid. In: M. Beirut, J. Helfand, S. Heller and R. Poynor, ed., Looking Closer 3: Classic Writings on Graphic Design, 1st ed. New York: Allworth Press, p.179.

Hurlburt, A. (1978). The Grid: A Modular System for the Design and Production of Newspapers, Magazines, and Books. 1st ed. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, p.17.

Linking ugly design to The Hegelian Dialectic

The Hegelian dialectic, stated by Heinrich Moritz Chalybaüs, comprises of three dialectic stages of development whereby there is a thesis, an anti thesis, which contradicts and reacts to the thesis's rise, and a synthesis which is a result of the tension between the two. The flaw in this theory however is that it does not explain why there is a need for an anti-thesis to exist. But nevertheless this model has multiple examples in history.

Thesis: British and French hegemony of power after World War 1
Anti-thesis: Hitler
Synthesis: USA hegemony

Thesis: Traditional conservatism
Anti-thesis: Marxism
Synthesis: Globalism

Thesis: USA government losing domestic power
Anti-thesis: 9/11
Synthesis: Patriot act, NSA spying

(above examples taken from http://www.rooshv.com/what-is-the-hegelian-dialectic)

The synthesis is not the final and absolute truth. It becomes the new thesis where a new antithesis forms to oppose it. The conflict between them leads to a second synthesis. This process repeats until the final synthesis is revealed, which theoretically is absolute truth.

When applied to the essays subject, this model helps illustrate the relationship between the schools of thought in design.  

Thesis = Modernism 
Antithesis = Postmodernism
Synthesis = Ugly Design

Ugly Design is considered the synthesis between modern and post modern because of the following:

• Ugly design's subjective and superficial appearance aligns with the radical thought process behind post modernism. 
• Ugly design however has valid rationales behind its appearance as explained in the essay, which aligns to the modernist principle of form following function. In the case for ugly design, the form is a more expressive representation of its function. 
• Ugly design also isn't as radical as the designs seen in post modernism. It still retains a level of clarity and communication of the message isn't as obscured. 

Looking Closer 5

Looking Closer 5 provided some more critical essays on the rationale and methodology of experimental design.

Style is not a four letter word - Jeffery Keedy

Keedy dicusses the validity of style in design by analysing the viewpoints of Adolf Loos, Austrian and Czech architect and influential European theorist of modern architecture, and Virginia Postrel, economics columnist for NY Times and past editor for Reason magazine. 

Adolf Loos suggests that style does not belong in design. It is left to the 'degenerates' of society as explained through the common tattoos seen on convicts in prisons. 

Loos argues that ornamentation raises the price of design. 
"Decorated plates are expensive, while white crockery, which is pleasing to the modern individual, is cheap." (Loos, 2002) Although this statement is regarding design in general, in terms of graphic design, it can be inferred that ugly design would mean more expensive solution for the client.

According to (Keedy, 2006), "Loos was successful at discrediting style and elevating function and economics as the primary goals as opposed to older views like 'truth, beauty, and power' (Dresser, cited in Keedy, 2006)

To aid his rejection of style, Loos choose materials like wood and marble for its decorative qualities because they're more "authentic". (Keedy, 2006) And as a result, this ornamentation can be seen in modernist design. Where the design is reduced to its core function and communication, free from embellishment.

"At the end of the twentieth century, designers find themselves in a world in which ornament, decoration, and style are reduced to meaningless superficial effects; form is only to be derived from function" (Jongerius, cited in Keedy, 2006)

"anti-decorative dictate is a modernist mantra if ever there was one, and it is for the puritanical propriety inscribed in such words that postmodernists have condemned modernists like Loos in turn." (Foster, cited in Keedy, 2006)

Postrel on the other hand, as Keedy describes, argues against the modernist ideals of antiornamentation by explaining that they are defined "based on rules that have little to do with desires or purposes of those who create, use, or inhabit the subjects of the critique." (Postrel, cited in Keedy, 2006)

In the quote "Its the gatekeepers who are upset–people who want to dictate the one true style, whether they're arbiters of fashions in clothing or in architecture." Keedy touches on a concept by Postrel called gatekeepers. The gatekeepers of design are equated to the authoritative voice on style and what deems as good design, which can be equated to the modernist views on ugly design. However modernists follow the ideologies of the technocratic era where "correct taste was a matter of rational expertise 'this is good design' not a personal pleasure 'i like this'." The principles of modernism demand an objective viewpoint on taste and style whilst ugly design is subjected to emotional responses due to its subjective facade. Taste and style through ugly design is therefore not a universal opinion as its subjectivity differs from person to person.

In Rick Poynor's No More Rules, he explains that its "central argument is that one of the most significant developments in graphic design, during the last two decades, has been the designers' overt challenges to the conventions or rules that were once widely regarded as constituting good practice." (Poynor, 2003) This quote reflects the influx of ugly design by young designers today and summarises why they are challenging 'good design'.

Understanding the emergence of ugly design can be explained through Keedy's interpretation of Poynor's views on the existence of postmodernism. "The ideas that designers started exploring in the eighties and nineties, like deconstruction, appropriation, technology, authorship, and opposition (. . .) seem more like an attempt to establish new rules, practices, and disciplinary in place of the 'received wisdom' of modernism." (Keedy, 2006) It can be said that the new young designers are interpreting design by themselves, through more creative and expressive interpretation of design solutions that have been encouraged by faculties who limit a standardised perspective on design. These new designers are creating a new visual language that the 'gatekeepers' are deeming ugly.
But not only that, as Keedy describes, ugly design can be "en exploration, expansion, and redefinition of the boundaries of design as a dynamic self-organising system of possibilities, instead of a top-down hierarchy of rules." (Keedy, 2006) in much the same way postmodernism was for designers of that time.

"Until designers get past their 'monkey see, monkey do' approach to designing, they will just be going around in the same old circles, doing the same old 'new' work. That is why designers need to think about some different (if not new) ideas about style that come 'outside' the usual discourse." (Keedy 2006) This explanation by Keedy can be supportive and a reason to celebrate the unconventional qualities of ugly design. Ugly design is a representation of what is possible in visual communication and a test of the fundamental principles of good design.

The reason why ugly design is considered 'ugly' could be because of the "single-minded pursuit of structural meaning and authenticity, decorated only with irony in the aesthetics of the twentieth century, has left style and beauty in the hands of amateurs." (Keedy, 2006) Amateur or young designers are the ones creating ugly design. As such they are creating their own interpretation of how design should be designed. As a result, the 'gatekeepers', who aren't amateur designers, don't share the same views on taste and therefore will view it as ugly.

Key quotes

"The lack of ornament is a sign of intellectual power" (Loos, cited in Keedy, 2006)

"The primary function of ornament––and it is a function, make no mistake––is to remedy this dissatisfaction by introducing free choice and variation into even those parts of a work that appear most strictly shaped by structural or functional needs." (Trilling, cited in Keedy, 2006)

"Communication need not be symbolic, any more than function need be mechanical. Before one even selects a pattern or motif, the decision to use ornament conveys a wealth of meaning, no less or real or powerful for being inchoate." (Trilling, cited in Keedy, 2006)

"They seem to be operating on the assumption that it doesn't matter any more; they are no longer in the business of dictating taste, because there are no rules any more." (Keedy, 2006)

"Modernism made the issue of style much easier for designers to deal with, since it gave them a style that they could pretend was not a style." (Keedy, 2006)

Crimes against typography: The curse of Avant Garde - Steven Heller

"Avant Garde was adopted as symbolic of the raucous sixties and me-generation seventies. While the face had roots in modernism, it was also eclectic enough so as not to be too clean or cold." (Heller, 2006) This statement by Heller in a way begs the question if there could be a typeface that can be representative of the ugly design movement. 

"Eventually, after excessive overuse and rampant abuse, its quirkiness became simply tiresome––something like the paisley of type fonts––no longer fashionable, but not entirely obsolete either." (Heller, 2006) The overuse of Avant Garde that led to its downfall, could be equated to the ubiquity of Modernism that led to its downfall. Postmodern designers and designers today want to stray away from the overdone clean and corporate look associated with modernism. 

Experimental Typography. Whatever That Means - Peter Bilak

Peter Bilak is a graphic and typeface designer who worked for Studio Dumbar. Currently working as his own design studio in The Hague, Netherlands, where he works in the field of editorial, graphic and type design. 

Bilak explains what experimental design is through his definition, "In the field of graphic design and typography, experiment as a noun has been used to signify anything new, unconventional, defying easy categorisation, or confounding expectations." This contrasts against the scientific definition of the word. 

"Carson and several other designers suggest that the nature of experiment lies in the formal novelty of the result." (Bilak, 2006)

"Carson's statement also suggests that the essence of experimentation is in going against the prevailing patterns, rather than being guided by conventions." (Bilak, 2006)

"A design experiment that is rooted in anticoventionalism can only exist against the background of other––conventional solutions." (Bilak, 2006)

However despite ugly design breaking new boundaries in graphic design, "The fate of such experimentation is a permanent confrontation with the mainstream; a circular, cyclical race, where it is not certain who is chasing whom." (Bilak, 2006) Therefore it questions the possible successfulness of the trend. In order for ugly design to remain within the sphere of design, it must not transform into ubiquity. Following the definition explained by Bilak, ugly design must not transform into ubiquity. When it becomes ubiquitous, it inevitably will be rebelled against, much like modernism and post modernism, and therefore limiting its 'success' as graphic design's new visual language. However the problem with this argument is that its success would be determined by its ubiquity. The more commonly seen the style is, the more is ugly design accepted as a form of 'good design'. 

"An experiment in this sense has no preconceived idea of the outcome; it only sets out to determine a cause-and-effect relationship. As such, experimentation is a method of working which is contrary to product-orientated design, in which the aim of the process is not to create something new, but to achieve an already known, preformulated result." (Bilak, 2006)

"Following this line, we can go further to suggest that no completed project can be seriously considered experimental. It is experimental only in the process of its creation." (Bilak, 2006)

Biblio

Bilak, P. (2006). Experimental Typography. Whatever That Means. In: M. Beirut, W. Drenttel and S. Heller, ed., Looking Closer 5, 1st ed. New York: Allworth Press, pp.172-176.

Heller, S. (2006). Crimes Against Typography: The Case Of Avant Garde. In: M. Beirut, W. Drenttel and S. Heller, ed., Looking Closer 5: Classic Writings on Graphic Design, 1st ed. New York: Allworth Press, pp.108-111.

Keedy, J. (2006). Style Is Not a Four Letter Word. In: M. Beirut, W. Drenttel and S. Heller, ed., Looking Closer 5: Classic Writings on Graphic Design, 1st ed. New York: Allworth Press, pp.94-103.

Loos, A. (2002). Ornament and Crime. In: A. Loos, ed., Crime and Ornament: The Arts and Popular Culture in the Shadow of Adolf Loos, 1st ed. Toronto: YYZ Books.

Dresser, C. (1873). Principles of Decorative Design. 1st ed. London: Cassell Petter & Galpin.

Foster, H. (2002). Design and Crime (and other Diatribes). 1st ed. Verso. 

Postrel, V. (2003). The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness. 1st ed. HarperCollins.

Poynor, R. (2013). No More Rules. 1st ed. London: Laurence King.

Trilling, J. (2003). Ornament: A Modern Perspective. 1st ed. University of Washington Press, p.75.