book and article analysis

The Crystal Goblet or Printing Should Be Invisible

By Beatrice Warde

The main purpose of this article is explaining what type is in the eyes of the author, that “it should be invisible”. The article itself is comparing typography to goblets of wine, and that those who appreciate and understand wine will prefer to drink from a clear, crystal goblet rather than from a gold one. The author states that through a crystal goblet the various elements of the wine can be observes such as the colour and the smell, while those who drink from a gold goblet are more interested in what the actual goblet looks like rather than the content held within it. By comparing typography to wine Beatrice Warde is saying that the true purpose of typography is not what it looks like, but the fundamentals of it, how it works, it is there to enlighten the thoughts and ideas that are contained within the words.

The key question that the author is addressing is just how much designers rely on how attractive a word looks, rather than how it works and gets across its message, she describes this is by saying that a stained glass window will look pretty to look at, but if you are trying to see through it to see outside then you are best to, and should instead look through a plain glass window. The way she compares this with type is that you can look at it to the thoughts and message that have been laid out on the page to see.

The most important information in this article is that “Type well used is invisible as type, just as the perfect talking voice is the unnoticed vehicle for the transmission of words, ideas.” From this I feel the author means that type should not be obvious, it should not be, “oh look at me, see me look how great and brilliant I am”, but should be more sophisticated, intelligent and properly thought and laid out.

The key primary sources used are that the author has at some point carried out an experiment between those who are connoisseurs and those not so interested in it, choose and react to the shouting out loud look at me object to the subtle more basic one (the gold and clear crystal goblets).

The main conclusions in this article are that type should be structured, planned throughout every step, carefully laid out, not just made to immediately stand out and become less appreciated. Time should be spent to enjoy it, from making it to looking at it.

The key concept we need to understand in this article is it is up to us as designers, typographers to use typography responsibly for others to understand with us. By this concept the author means that we should take full control of the words we create and see around us, we need to understand the words first before we understand and appreciate the look.

The main assumption underlying the author’s thinking is that all type should be like this, it shouldn’t be cheap or tacky, it should be well thought of.

If we take this line of reasoning seriously the implications are that typography would look and feel the same, it would not appeal and be appreciated by everyone, even though it may look good it may not get the point across or disguise the meaning entirely.

The main point of view presented in this article is that words are important, they guide us, explain to us, entertain us, she is seeing it from a designers point of view, of how we should use and understand type.

What is Typography?

By David Jury

The main purpose of this book is to inform the facts of the true depths within typography in all its forms. The book goes into great detail of understanding what exactly typography really is, how should it be used. It states that to understand the grammar of typography, one must gain a knowledge and understanding of language and how it is adapted to function in various social contexts.

The key question that the author is addressing is how we have all come to look and use words throughout our lives. We are taught to read and write from a young age, this is through reading individual words to understand them, and taught to write each individual letter step by step. In the first chapter of the book the author even writes of the steps we take to learn to write, firstly from learning to draw and then write letterforms clearly, how to present words, sentences and paragraphs, how to arrange text on a sheet of paper and how to provide emphasis where required. The most important question looked at here is how much digital technology has changed the nature of typography by making it something everyone does almost every day.

The most important information in the book is all the facts known of typography, throughout the book the author writes of all the key facts designers should know about layouts and how words should be applied within design. This ranges from the more obvious readability, through grids and structures, it even looks at the way in which typography is used and has changed from the days of the likes of the typographer Eric Gill to the modern day in which type is applied.

The key secondary resources used are older books and articles before the dawn of design on the computer, looking at famous typographers that changed the way we look and use type in our lives. Portfolios of designers are used here. “The ‘work of others’ has always been an important resource for the designer.

The main conclusion in this book is typography should be analysed throughout the whole design process, how we use this and how we apply it to our everyday lives should be taken under consideration.

The key concepts we need to understand in this book are that typography has changed so much in our history and is continuing to change even today, I believe at the heart of this book the question is where is typography going? How will we continue to use it in days to come?

The main assumption underlying the author’s thinking is how typography is applied, he is exploring the overlaps, the formal and informal, between typography produced by typographers and typography produced without typographers.

If we fail to take the author’s line of reasoning seriously, the implications are that if we do not apply type in the correct manner it will basically not last and simply fade away.

The main points of view presented in this article are how typography was, is and will be. It looks at how type is used within everyday situation such as business, rural and urban. What I gather from this is the point the author is trying to explain is we need words and we need to use them properly, without them we would not understand anything, we would not understand who we are.