For Jan Tschichold typography was all about clarity and simplicity. In The New Typography, Tischichold mentions that typography is a form of communication and a language thus it is very important to take this into consideration while creating typographic designs. According to Tischichold, “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” this is very accurate; typography is something that is used everywhere in every era as a form of communication and language. It is very important for the typography to reach the highest level of clarity so it can be understood by every individual regardless of age, tradition, ethnicity, and country. Old typography was all about beauty which was making it lose its purpose and effectiveness. Tischichold also stated that “typographic form must be organic, it must evolve from the nature of the text.” Tisschichold believes achieving a clear and unambiguous form while maintaining beauty is possible when the organic basis of the typography is kept the same because these organic forms are the marks through which the letters are understood by the audience. If these forms were lost then there will be no point in typography designs.

One of the amazing points that Karl Gerstner made in this reading was the description of the problem being a key ingredient to the solution itself. Gerstner mentions “To describe the problem is part of the solution. This implies: not to make creative decisions as prompted by feeling but by intellectual criteria.” We often state that designers are individual who solves problems and makes communication but we do not think about the problem itself. If one cannot understand or have a clear understanding of what the problem is asking or what is the main issue with it, it is impossible to get any results, and for this reason, describing the problem clearly is a part of the solution itself. Gerstner says that these problems cannot be solved through feelings, it requires critical thinking. The vast and unique these intellectual criteria are the better and create the work becomes. There can be a lot of solutions to a single problem and each one of them can be effective and put of which one of them can possibly be the best solution. Through these intellectual criteria, Gerstner created programs and bases that deliver multiple options and all of them are potential answers to the problem. To get the best answer from this we must then rely on our decision-making and the intellectuals.  

Grid and design philosophy is very interesting to me because I have never been a big fan of using grids and this is probably because I am not very good at using grids. According to Brockmann, the grid is an ordering system and it lets the designers construct their work using the different elements and parts of the grids. Grids are kind of like a canvas where the designer is capable of constructing their work through various approaches. For me personally, I believe that grids themselves can be considered a design and I know how hard it is to make an effective grid for my designs. After reading this excerpt I realize how important grid is and how it can give my work a very unique and interesting look depending on how I use it.