Janoschka magazine Linked_V3_2018

issue #3 ©
l i n k e d
31
Typography is body language. Typefaces awaken emotions, influence us subconsciously, and
can be either helpful or obstructive. Typography contributes substantially to our decisions to
buy a product, to lose ourselves in reading a book or, conversely, to put a magazine back down
again immediately.
Why? Because readers always look at a text before deciding whether or not to read it. Like an
image, lettering has a visual effect. In its specific form, lettering imbues texts with meanings
that are not explicitly written. Lettering lends contents a voice, as it were, interprets them and
brings out nuances according to the “tone”, and may under certain circumstances even alter
the meaning of the text. Subtly and indelibly, typography conveys the character of a company,
the quality of a product, the lifestyle conveyed by a brand image. In short, typography is about
finding the right “character” to express individual character.
Typography is what
language looks like
Is a Porsche really the car for me? Am I more the Prada
or the Tommy Hilfiger type? Will a soft drink provide
the energy that I expect? In cases where the qualitative
differences between products are minimal, brand
is everything.
To define their brands, designers use sets of images,
forms, colours and letters. Of all the elements utilised to
compose a brand, lettering is the least noticeable. That
is why it takes a lot of know-how to select an appropriate
font and layout to convey a specific message which
the recipient will not only absorb subconsciously, but
also evaluate positively.
Legibility –
by no means trivial
Since the appearance of a text is perceived before its
content, the former determines whether or not we even
take the next step and delve into what is written there.
If the typeface used makes a text less than optimally
legible, the eyes and brain have to work harder to read
it. Our natural response to hard-to-read lettering is to
stop reading. This physical unease also elicits negative
emotions towards the as yet unknown content. Instead
of recognizing that lettering is hard to read, we put the
product down with the feeling that it is uninteresting,
irrelevant or even useless.
A study entitled “If it’s Hard to Read, it’s Hard to Do”*
shows how far this response goes: based solely on the
lettering used to print a recipe, participants assessed
the difficulty level and the time required for its preparation
as greater or lesser; indeed, they even judged how
well trained a restaurant chef needed to be to prepare it.
The impact of lettering on the subconscious mind of
readers who are constantly being inundated with images
makes legibility the key criterion: easily readable lettering
not only attracts and retains readers’ attention, but
also awakens positive emotions.
Legibility as a positive outcome of typeface selection
may sound trivial initially, but it has occupied script
designers and typographers since ancient times, when
they first started to combine basic geometric elements
such as arches, circles and lines to form unambiguous
letters and ultimately unmistakeable word images.
Proportion and size, suitable spacing and tracking play
a decisive role in guiding the eyes.
* Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz,
University of Michigan, 2008