Volume 16–1.pdf

TYPOGRAPHIC
COMMUNICATIONS TODAY
HE MANY
ACES OF
YPO-
RAPHY
ODAY
ypographic design of
the last several decades
is a reflection of all the
influences discussed in
Typographic Communi-
cations Today. All the different
ways of striving for vitality,
or for clarity, or for some ideal
blend of both, are alive today. All
the influences of the art movements
of the early decades of
this century, of the subsequent
design schools, and of the new
and still evolving technologies
have combined to offer today's
graphic designers a vast arsenal
of approaches with which to
attack a communications problem;
as well as finer tools with
which to execute a chosen solution.
The result today, evolving
since the 1940s, is a broad spectrum
of typographic design
styles, if style is the correct term.
Now let us look at the works of
leading designers from many
parts of the world, to see how
each approaches and solves a
variety of graphic communications
problems.
We don't see any dominating
trends. Perhaps that is
because we see so many trends.
One way to understand and
evaluate the graphic design of
recent decades is to think of a
graphic design grid — not the
Swiss grid discussed earlier, but
an analytical grid in which the
horizontal axis runs from absolute
focus on clarity to absolute
focus on vitality, and the vertical
axis represents the personality
or style of a particular designer.
Of course, many graphic
designers strive for the best of
both worlds, for some ideal
blend of clarity and vitality, and
all good designers are flexible
enough to embrace a segment
of the clarity-vitality axis in their
work, and to flow within that
segment as each job requires.
Consciously or subconsciously
they seek the balance of clarity
and vitality most appropriate to
the problem at hand. In striving
for communication effectiveness,
appropriateness of style
and of the clarity-vitality blend is
crucial. An approach that is just
right for one problem many be
totally inappropriate for another.
Appropriateness
An understanding of the
crucial role of appropriateness in
evaluating the communication
effectiveness of a particular
graphic design leads to an
appreciation of why we have so
many design approaches and
styles today. Neither the Swiss
grid nor the so-called "new wave"
is the answer to all problems,
nor is any other style or blend of
styles. One should look at the
work shown here with these
thoughts in mind. Some are
beautiful. Some are visually
exciting. Some pieces are graphically
quiet. Some are full of
humor and personality, and
others are dry and impersonal.
But graphic designs, to be truly
understood and appreciated,
should be viewed in terms
of how well they convey the
intended message to the audience
at which they are aimed.
After all, that is their reason
for being.
Typographic design is a vital
force in visual communications.
It does not exist for its own sake,
and should not be evaluated as if
it were design for design's sake.
The sheer beauty of a piece of
communication may contribute
to its effectiveness, may distract
or detract from it, or may merely
be irrelevant. The graphic
designer is first and foremost a
communicator, and only within
that framework an artist.
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37
the forty-winlreducing pia
37 One shouldn't use a device simply
because it's in fashion. Perhaps it takes
even more courage to use a visual
cliché, but to use it so very well. Perhaps
the measure of how well it is used, of its
communication effectiveness, is how
well it fits the specific message and how
well it is executed. Here, after years
of shaping type blocks to pictures, is
one of the very best. By Otto Storch for
McCall's. USA.
39 A Sudler, Hennessey & Lubalin
pharmaceutical ad. Herb Lubalin. USA.
M R
MAFIIAGE
38 Remember the Slinky toy? Here the
type literally adds bounce to the message
and the ad, yet everything is
perfectly readable. Otto Storch, for
McCall's. USA.
40 One of Herb Lubalin's many pieces
using the "0" as a receptacle for the
illustration. 1957. USA.
41,42 Symbology, directness, uniqueness
and appropriateness characterize
these Herb Lubalin designs for Curtis
Publications (1966) and Visual Graphics
Corporation (1965). Often, in Herb
Lubalin's work, the graphics don't simply
organize the message, they help express
it. USA.