Die Neu Typographie
Tschichold did not only influence
modern typography, but he was also influenced by modern events. He is referred
to as avant-garde. This is because he undertook experimental and new actions in
the world of art. In his book “Die Neue Typographie”, he wrote rules that would
standardize the usage of modern type (Heller, 2003). He was against all traditional
typefaces in exemption of the sans-serifs. He felt that sizes of paper that
were standardized were the best and so he brought forth guidelines, which would
establish a type design in typographic hierarchy (Owens & Burke, 2008). Through
the inspiration of Bahaus and Walter Gropius, Tschichold was able to show the
world that new design ideas could be used in making the day-to-day printing
better as seen in the Penguin books.
According
to Tschichold, the purpose main purpose for any type of design was to
communicate. The better a design was at passing a message; the more relevant it
was to a designer. He felt that this function of typography could be achieved
if the designers would incorporate sanserif types and asymmetrical designs into
their work. During his encounter with the Nazis in Germany, he realized that
asymmetry was not the only mode to use when designing printed matter. In his
findings, he noted that typographic fundamentals were wider than what the
majority of the designers perceived them to be. These fundamentals were
dependent on the details that were narrow. According to Tschichold, all the
details needed to be captured with elegance (Heller, 2003). These same
processes are used today in web designs, advertising and other post-modern typography
uses.
In “The Form of the Book”, Tschichold
popularized Van de Graaf Canon. This type is used to divide pages into
attractive proportions as far as book design is concerned. This type is still used
to the present day. He also found that it was better using 1:1:2:3 margin
proportions and 2:3 page proportions in depicting medieval manuscripts
proportions. This idea was popularized when working at the five hundred
paperbacks project in Penguin books (Doubleday, 2006). Due to the variety of
the people accessing the books and the fact that times were changing with the
innovation of new ideas, Tschichold allowed each work to dictate its outlook in
accordance to its nature. Through such allowances, he was able to bring forth
the needed effect as well as leave forth an allowance for any future
adjustments.
Typefacing
was his main area of expertise as much as he was an expert in typography as a
general. During the years 1926 to 1929, he came up with an new set of alphabets
as far as typefacing was concerned. This was done in order to correct some
non-phonetic and multigraphs that were in the German language. Multigraphs such
as sch and ch were replaced. The replacement of ‘eu’, ‘w’ and ‘z’ was done by ‘oi’,
‘v’ and ‘ts’ respectively. A Macron was put belowe the long vowels. However,
the umlaut found above the German vowels was still maintained. Additionally,
the Sabon was also introduced between the years 1966 and 1967 (Burke, 2007). This
was brought forth in order to bring an effect similar to that of the linotype
and the monotype systems. This was highlighted during the setting up of
Washburn College Bible by Bradbury Thompson.
The
change of alphabets
Since his specialized with books,
Tschichold wrote a number mistakes designers do when producing books. He stated
that designers are fond of making books that are needlessly heavy, wide and
large (Cahalan, 2007). According to him, such books repel the very thing that
they are supposed to attract, which is the audience’s attention. The way a book
us portrayed has a great role in knowing whether the message portrayed will
communicated or not. Unattractive work will attract the least, if any, number
of people that is meant to attract. Tschichold wrote these mistakes prior to
his death as he saw that they would not only help the designers present then,
but they would also guide the future designers. After dealing with books for
the post part of his career life, he had noted such mistakes as being a great
hindrance to the main function of typography.
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