Chronologies 1 - A History of Type

The focus of this particular lecture was type and the history of type as a whole. At the beginning we were shown a variety of different types and were told how they provoke different responses from the audience. For example if the type face, 'comic-sans' was used the lecturer stated how it would be harder for the audience to take him seriously because that type of whimsical font is often associated with less serious subject matter. However if he used a type face that is considered by many a much more formal font such as 'Ariel' then the audience were more inclined to have a serious mind set and approach what the lecturer was saying as such.

Typography is the overlap between visual and verbal communication, it is using words in a visual way to express something. Because of this, our brain doesn't only interpret the meaning of the words but also the visual side of the type face used to communicate to us. This can alter our interpretation and perception based on how information is presented to us.

Something that became apparent to me during the lecture, that I hadn't really considered before was the impact that typography can have, and the influence it has on society as a whole. Each individual font contains a lot of history and development, and has been used in places you would never have considered. Typography in a modern sense has developed from types used previously decades or even hundreds of years ago, and carry historical influence with them. As typography has developed it takes with it influence and characteristics from previous type faces. The lecturer mentioned 'Times New Roman' at one point during the lecture, and spoke about where that type face came from originally. Times New Roman is a serif typeface that was commissioned by 'the Times' newspaper in 1931 after an article was written about how the paper was badly printed. Other typefaces have other historical implications that to the average person wouldn't be apparent, but exist nonetheless. For example, the typeface 'Futura' which was invented in 1927 by Paul Renner is used widely today but was invented with Bauhaus influences in mind. Futura was the typeface used on the plaque that was placed on the moon in 1969 when man first landed there, it has also been used extensively in cinema and is seen in films directed by people such as Stanley Kubrick who used it religiously to people such as Wes Anderson. In modern culture its used on multiple branding exploits such as Dominoes Pizza, Louis Vuitton and Absolut Vodka. This is just one example of a typeface with a broad history and an unthinkable range of uses, and this is something I found really quite interesting from this particular lecture after I looked into some aspects of it on my own.

This lecture was another eye opening and thought provoking experience because it touched on subject matter and went quite deep into things I've never really thought about, at least on this level before. It reminded me of how in typography but in most aspects of modern life lies a very real historical influence, and very few of today's modern designs whether it be a car or a typeface exist without the influence of previous inventions and sparks of innovation.