Sunday, March 28, 2010

Journal 7

Typography may well be the most critical component in the education of a young graphic designer”.


Type Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

Futura was important for a number of reasons: arguably the first sans-serif font to be widely distributed, it has since its inception influenced countless other typefaces and remains, to some, the epitome of modern design...Futura remains a typeface of its era: smooth and sleek, round and uncompromising.”


Now having designed with Futura, I understand the appeal of the crisp geometric shapes, how they fit so sweetly together. After reading this article I see there needs to be a reason for each choice. Although liking it is a part of our design process, we need reasons to back up our decisions and if it does not fit – don’t use it. “at a certain point in the evolution of a visual idea, a certain amount of judgment intervenes, and appropriateness is questioned”


“Designers in general (and students in particular) have an overwhelming tendency to consider anything that's been achieved in the past as a kind of "been there, done that" straitjacket, while the opposite is not only true, it's surprisingly actionable“.


An alternative font for Futura could be Gotham, Univers and...I will think/find more.


Designing Under the Influence:


“We've debated imitation, influence, plagiarism, homage and coincidence before, and every time, the question eventually comes up: is it possible for someone to "own" a graphic style? Legally, the answer is (mostly) no”.

“We've arrived at a moment where all that has preceded us provides an enormous mother load of graphic reference points, endlessly tempting, endlessly confusing”.


First I have to say the comments after this article are ridiculous...people are a little too worked up. I think this article presents a valid point that we should be aware of our predecessors. Not for the sake of copying or not copying but to know what it did in the design world. I think even when we are aware of other designers work things can still look similar but not have the intention of wanting it to look-a-like.

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