Fall 2025, (Visual) Principles for Screen

Sept 15, 17 — Letter and spirit...

Clearly there is much more going on in typefaces than meets the eye.

— Douglas Hofstadter

Typography has always been influenced by technology, and vice versa.

All typefaces have a history. When we use them as designers, we should have this history in mind. It should contribute to why we are using that specific typeface.

What’s the difference between serif, sans serif (geometric, humanist), monospace, and display (e.g. blackletter)typefaces? What is an example of each? What is each good for?

Typefaces are like visual tone. It’s like choosing the voice or accent or affect you want your text to have.

As we mentioned, typography always has a direct relationship with the technology of the time. The technology metal movable type was created in the 1400s in Europe, and much earlier during the 1000s in China to spread the written word.

What about today? What is going on with typography today?

Variable typography conveys seasonal change in pentad.world. “The thinness of the wintery season ‘fish emerge from broken ice’ feels fragile and wintery (February 14–18), while the summery season ‘evening cicadas sing’ is literally thick and heavy, like the unrelenting summer humid & warm air when the cicadas are their loudest (August 13–17).” — Seasons in Motion
Tiger Dingsun's Reading Machines — An experimental publishing platform to reimagine established relationships between reader, text, and author, and to fully utilize the affordances the web offers in the presentation of text. Contributors are asked to submit texts that might lend themselves well to non-linear readings, which are then re-interpreted into their own websites.
Apple’s typeface SF Pro, available in many weights and languages. The San Francisco Chronicle described the font as having nothing to do with the city and just being "Helvetica on a low-carb diet."

Speaking of technology, by the way, there's a risography workshop this Friday. Don't riso text under 9pt size. Enjoy the colors! Learn more and sign up...

Continued in class...

Readings

Read:

Questions:

  • How might you use a meta-font in your life? Share at least three examples in your everyday life in which it might be useful, and why.
  • What innovations in typography do you imagine happening in the near future? Why?

Resources

Assignments