Reading Response 5- SL

Typography is defined as “the style and appearance of printed manner.” This definition is similar to what Jan Tschichold thought typography should be. He was a German typographer who was swayed by the New Typography that was emerging when he attended the Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar. The art was influenced by De Stijl and constructivism, which is more about the art being built and the horizontal/vertical axis. Tschichold became interested in this new typography and became an advocate for it. He even wrote his seminal book “The New Typography”. He wrote in his book, “The essence of the New Typography is clarity. This puts it into deliberate opposition to the old typography whose aim was ‘beauty’ and whose clarity did not attain the high level we require today.” He realized that typography has another path other than beauty, which it was in the times before. Typography needed clarity and simplicity because the new age demands it, since they didn’t have the “high level” we require today. Tschichold also believed that the pseudo-Constructivists’ ways were not up to par with what the new typography was all about. He claims their ideas are “diametrically opposed to the essence of the New Typography.” He goes on to say the only way to achieve a typography that is acceptable in this new era is if the form follows the function, which means the text should follow the purpose. The purpose is to be clear and give a direct expression. Karl Gerstner, who was a Swiss designer who was almost the opposite of what Jan Tschichold thought typography should look like. Karl Gerstner created a grid from the ideology of Fritz Zwicky. He claims “As the work proceeds, of course, they are to be refined as desired.” Lastly, there is Josef Muller-Brockmann who created a grid, just like Jan Tschichold. He wanted to captivate the new world of media. He believed in order to approach this grid design, it needs to be done systematically, directly and integrate factors that are all essential to the sociopolitical environment. Ultimately, they all believed that the designs should be adequate in the current time period, because it was time for reform regarding typography and new design methods. An example of contemporary design which is like what Jan Tschichold was portraying with the new design, is the newspaper designs. The newspaper typography design has clarity and focuses on that more than the beauty. Newspapers have the concept of form following function because the text follows the purpose, which is to get the important news around the area out to the public.