Mæna 2010

82. — TYPOGRAPHY ON THE PERIPHERY
“Subcultures often
choose to create
identity using
visual means and
often this includes
making adopting
distinct letterforms
or the creating
of new ones.”
could even be described as a kind of passive
peripherality. This isolation can come from
a combination of education, geography, or
language. These factors can result in “naive”
or unorthodox letter forms. See Figures 2-6.
Completely new glyph shapes are sometimes
invented for use by educationally isolated
elites. An example of this can be found in
the the special symbols used by physicians.
See Figure 7.
Subcultures are another vehicle for potential
peripherality. The peripherality they generate
is unlike isolation in that it involves
a deliberate and conscious choice. When
members of the broader culture become
motivated to create and maintain an identity
in contrast to, and clearly in relationship with,
the larger culture, they form a subculture.
Subcultures often choose to create identity
using visual means and often this includes
adopting distinct letterforms or creating of
new ones. An example of this can be seen in
the work of François Chastanet. It shows new
and distinctive letter shapes used by Hispanic
gangs in Los Angeles. 6 See Figures 8-10.
And finally type designers may also choose to
consciously adapt shapes they feel belong
to a culture in order to make type which is
meant to evoke a feeling specific to that
culture. This kind of letter-making is probably
the most deliberate form of all. An example
of this is Gabriel Martínez Meave’s type
Presidencia made in 2007. Gabriel explained
this year at ATypI in Mexico City that he set
out to design type in precisely this manner. In
this case he has not changed the structure of
the letters in any radical way but has instead
opted to embed a new sensibility into the
familiar letter forms. This font was made for
the Mexican government and appears frequently
on public notices. It has also been
used to brand each of the branches of government.
Presidencia won the 2008 TDC award
in the category of Text / Type Family. See figures
11-13.
Of course this article is far too short to be a complete
exploration of the subject, but hopefully
it is clear that there are many ways for a culture
to be peripheral, and that this peripherality
can exist either by accident or intent;
and that it is a fertile source of new semantics
and aesthetics, and occasionally even of
new letterforms.
6. Cholo Writing: Latino Gang Graffiti in
Los Angeles, François Chastanet, Chaz
Bojorquez, 2009