Typography
Related: concrete poetry - titles - graphic design
Unidentified copy of The Face magazine, design Neville Brody
Definition
Typography (from the Greek words typos = form and graphein = to write) is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.
Typography is performed by typographers. It was once a specialized occupation, but the advent of computers has opened up typography to lay users and new generations of visual designers.
The principal goal of typography is the arrangement of text (subject matter) in a manner that is both easy to read and visually engaging. Visual interest is achieved through typeface selection, text layout, the color or tone of set matter, and the interplay of text with the page and graphical elements, all of which combine to give an "atmosphere," "feel" or "resonance" appropriate to the subject matter, comparable to paralanguage. With physical printed media typographers may also be concerned with paper selection, ink choice, and printing methods.
Typographers employ a number of common techniques, or conventions, to achieve eye-pleasing, legible results. Note, however, that these may depend on the culture (language, country). As an example, it is customary in French to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.
Contrast typography with orthography and typeface design. Typography is the representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols, while orthography is the correct use of spelling, punctuation and capitalization according to established practice. Typography is an important element of graphic design where there is both concern for legibility and an interest in using type in an artistic manner. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography [Mar 2006]
Neville Brody
Neville Brody (April 23, 1957, London) is a graphic designer, typographer and art director. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Brody [Aug 2005]
Arnold Boecklin typeface
There is an Art-Nouveau display font typeface named in his honor, published in 1904. It has tendrils hanging from many capital letters and across the top of the minuscule letters v through y. This was apparently used by Dungeons and Dragons fans for some purposes instead of the Old English typeface. They nicknamed it 'Elvish'. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_B%F6cklin [Jan 2005]
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