Madeleine Morley; Master László Moholy-Nagy Saw Photoshop Coming, 90 Years Ahead of Time (2019), AIGA Eye on Design, László Moholy-Nagy; Typophoto (1925): Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field by Helen Armstrong on pages 32-34, Jan Tschichold, “The Principles of the New Typography” 1928: Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field by Helen Armstrong on pages 35-38.
According to these authors, what is their aesthetic approach, and why is it better than the traditional design/typography of the past?
What role should typography, photography, and other media play in shaping a new kind of design?
How did technological advances influence aesthetic forms and theories in early 20th Century design?
- The aesthetic approach to The New Typographic Style is rooted in functionality, asymmetry, & the use of photography with lowercase san serif typefaces. The new typographic style abandons the application of ornaments in design. Any elements that don’t enhance readability, comprehension, & visual hierarchy were branded as unnecessary and discarded. Typography & photography interacted with each other to bolster the message’s communication & relatability to the multidimensionality of modern life at the time. This style was considered better than the previous typographic styles because of the precise messaging, optical objectivity, commercial application, & a sense of renewed energy through visual innovation & unambiguous communication.
- According to the pioneers of The New Typographic Style, typography and photography should work in tandem to create an objective form of visual communication. Moholy Nagy referred to photography as a “visual presentation of what can be optically apprehended” and declared its combination with typography as “the visually most exact rendering of communication.” By embracing the then-unambiguity of photography & coupling it with typography, this new style of design established a much more precise, clean, & accessible method of communication.
- The advancement of photography & printing technology allowed for early 20th-century design to more closely emulate the multitudes of modern life. This introduction of typophoto, accompanied by a rise in the use of asymmetry, overlap, & negative space, was only made possible by the evolution of typesetting technology from Gutenberg’s movable type to lithographic & relief printing, to early 20th-century techniques like intaglio & drypoint printing. Along with the rising prevalence of film & film cameras being produced it was only a matter of time before design was revolutionized using these innovations.
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