Type Design Definition Of Design

From the era of pre-Modernism to the postmodernism, the thinking process for communication and type design shifted drastically, good design of typefaces is no difference. Typefaces, no matter text or display typefaces, are often dictated by various factors occurring during the time of its conception (Francisco,1999, pp.10). Now, with the development of digital technology and the emergence of demarcation of type design, it is even more challenging to define what exactly ‘good type design’ is, especially when it possesses enormous power to influence how people engage to the world, and how they envision their future. Currently, when Google the words ‘good type design’, there are dozens of latter-day versions of type design principles as well as

Although the etymology of ‘normal’ connects it to the norm and normative, the idea of normality, of normal design and processes here, are anything but normalized (Fukasawa & Morrison 2012, pp.10). Normal design, as I understand, refers to inevitable forms that result from the use of a core of absence: it, on the one hand, denotes an absence of appearance. Rather than pursuing designing beauty but memorable homely elements of daily life, normal design focuses on keeping subtle effects invisible to users on a conscious level and contributing to an overall harmony with the surrounding atmosphere. As product designer Donald Norman put in his book The Design of Everyday Things, “good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. While bad design screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable” (Norman, pp.11). Besides, on the other hand, the core of absence can be described as a lack of style, identity and ornament, namely timelessness, neutrality and simplicity. Normal design avoids tracing after fashion trends, concentrating on the essential aspects, therefore it is not burdened with non-essentials and never antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, gets launched and disappeared, timeless, neutral and simple design lasts a

In 1932, Beatrice Warde, an American typographic expert, published an essay ‘The Crystal Goblet’, or known as ‘Printing Should Be Invisible’, insists on a ‘invisible’ or ‘transparent’ typography in order to elevate the printed words. In her essay, Warde applied a metaphor that the design for typefaces should be as transparent as crystal glass for wine (Warde, 1936, p.6). A typeface, as a container, is calculated to reveal and not to hide the beautiful contents which it is meant to contain. The design of the ‘container’ should not call undue attention to itself. Her theory of invisible typefaces is in line with Modernism simplicity as well as functionality, which perfect exemplified the ‘normal’ core of absence. Typefaces designed in her era, for example Akzidenz Grotek, Futura and Helvetica were rooted in this pragmatism with the glorification of neutrality. These qualities that have ensured a longevity and enduring popularity for those typefaces. Their success is recognized as a sensation of the ordinary and a metaphor for the normal. Not only in design, but in every field, it is essential to subvert the routine preconceptions of daily life in order to discover unexpected revelations and