pdf 1 - exhibitions international

20 different strategies for different uses
Reading and seeing 21
Modes of reading
Immersive reading
Informative reading
Selective reading
Consultative reading
We read all day. Newspapers, websites, advertis-
ing, business cards, text messages, logos, street
names, wayfinding, fines. Occasionally we even
read a book. A text can be huge or tiny, nearby or
far away, it can be a single word or a series of
densely printed pages. There is not one single
way of shaping text, but many different ones.
What works well or looks good is not the same for
all types of text. How about trying to classify our
various ways of reading into categories – a
classification of reading modes? This could help
us to understand why one text is designed in a
certain way, and another very differently. It can
also help the designer in making choices. The
German typographer and teacher Hans Peter
Willberg has tried to invent such a classification.
What, where?
Immersive reading could also be called linear
reading: the text is read in a concentrated way
from the beginning to the end and each
subsequent section, page or chapter builds on
what went before. Typical examples of this are
novels, essays and lengthy magazine articles.
When reading informatively and selectively,
one usually does not start at the beginning, but
first skims the text to pick out the interesting
snippets. Newspapers and magazines are good
examples, but illustrated books and text books
are often designed for navigating from one
useful bit to another. The reader’s goal is to
quickly and efficiently record information.
Dictionaries are a typical example of consulta-
tive or referential reading. It is a very specific
way of reading: a quest for that one item that
you want to know more about. In timetables ,
cultural listings and various other reference
books something similar happens. Of course,
the classic use of reference books is now
gradually being replaced by online search
functions.
He deliberately limited himself to book design,
leaving aside many forms of text that are not
available in libraries or printed on paper – from
advertising and signage to subtitles, forms and
information leaflets for medicines. Nevertheless
his typology of reading modes provides a good
start for a more diversified view of why a certain
kind of work is better designed in this way and
another in that way. This personally coloured
representation of the Willberg scheme may
provide some insight into the diversity of the
challenges both the reader and the designer face
on a daily basis.
How?
On the subsequent pages we take a closer
look at ways of shaping text to address different
modes of reading.
To be able to be immersed in a text, its design
should not be distracting. A reader-friendly
typeface that does not draw attention to itself is a
prerequisite. Line length and line distance
(leading) are just as crucial. For instance, if the
reader’s eye has trouble finding the beginning
of the next line, this is a design flaw.
Informative reading requires a clear division of
the text and a clear hierarchy – a design that
distinguishes the various levels in the text.
Navigation is a common term to designate the
typographic elements (choice of type, lines,
colours, icons, subheads, boxes) that help do
this. In design for informative reading, the
rhythm of texts and images can build an
interesting visual dramaturgy.
Again, lucid navigation is crucial. In dictionaries,
timetables and similar things, convention plays
a crucial role, and breaking expectations makes
little sense here. For example, clear contrasts
between keywords and explanatory text, and a
considered compromise between space savings
(economy) and readability are part of the
challenges the designer has to get to grips with.
Activating typography
Staged typography
Informative typography
↑ Typography for consultative reading:
Mark Thomson’s design for Collins’
Dictionaries. Maximum clarity with
sparse (but not all-too-minimalist)
means.
What, where?
A strategy for drawing the readers’ attention and
stimulating them to read. The first aim of activat-
ing typography is looking; the reading happens
a in the second instance. Magazines – especially
their headlines, subheads, intros and pull quotes
– are typical cases of activating typography.
Adver tising, book covers and packaging could
also count as typography that incites to action.
As pointed out before, any work of typography
exists to give a text the stage from which to
address its audience. But we reserve the term
‘staged typography’ for those cases in which
typography attains its goals with theatrical
means, visual tricks and special effects. It is
outside the world of books that the most impres-
sive stagings take place: in advertising, movie title
sequences, lettering in public spaces, etc.
There are situations in which a poorly designed
warning or indication can be fatal, or can be the
cause of a missed connection or administrative
problems. In a complex society full of risks and
regulations, providing good information design
should be a matter of common decency for
governments and service companies.
How?
Readability is not of primary concern here, rather
the viewer needs to be seduced with all visual
means available. There are hardly any rules or
recipes, and designers may be able to claim much
freedom. Therefore, more ingenuity is expected
from them. Activating typography is often done
in teams in which designers collaborate with
writers, editors and/or marketing specialists.
Staged typography hardly knows any rules or
restrictions. The sky is the limit. This does not
necessarily imply that this kind of typographic
design is always outrageous or highly decorative
– see Gerard Unger’s work below. It also does not
mean that functionality is not relevant. Striking
and distinctive typography is sometimes better
placed to perform certain functions than more
predictable and cautious solutions.
More than any other branch of typographic
design, information design is the task of a
specialist. Given the number of incomprehensi-
ble and confusing forms, signage, orientation
systems, timetables and medicine leaflets,
designers who are interested in specializing in it
will have years of work ahead of them
← Staged typography: type designer
Gerard Unger created an alphabet called
Delftse Poort (Delft Gate) for the
Rotterdam building of the same name,
in collaboration with the architect Abe
Bonnema. The lettering combines a
certain theatricality with seriousness
and matter-of-factness, which is
appropriate for a prestigious office
building.
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The designer’s role 16
Typographic modes 21–39
Organising & planning 40