Conde Chapters 1, 3, & 6

Ben Conde

Chapters 1, 3, 6

Chapter 1: The Evolution of Typography covered the history of written communication within the environment of the world’s events.  It was very interesting to see how typography has evolved throughout the year, and this chapter broke it up clearly for me to understand. It was easy to follow the timelines: predating the visual form of communication, the era of the handpress to the eighteenth century, and the Industrial Revolution to the 19t century, and not, the modern era, which went into detail about the 1900’s to today.

Each of these sections were well written and very detailed. Being able to visually see photos of how typography has evolved continued to spark my interest each time the chapter introduced a new era. I got to see how type would change and become more of what it is today. It still is interesting to see how some styles of type would go away and then return several years later. Some of these photos were very intriguing. They introduced how type came about and I appreciated how they would talk about the art behind typography. Many of these descriptions taught me more about the detail behind type.

Chapter 3: The Syntax and Communication was a great chapter to read because it taught me more about how type can be communicated to the world today. I knew that syntax is the connecting of typographic signs to form words and sentences. This chapter when further into depth regarding more elements of design such as letters, words, lines, columns, margins and how these elements form a way of communication. This information is very valuable to me because I am a Marketing Major, and it is a marketer’s focus to be able to effectively communicate a business product. I have worked with many graphic designers, and they have helped me understand what kind of typography to use in order to effectively carry a message. I never really realized until I became a marketing intern and graphic design minor how much typography matters in everything. Logos have always been important in every product I have worked with, and I enjoyed reading about the details behind logos and how certain elements relate to one another to provide balance and support. It was really cool to understand that how things are adjusted not only to visual appeal, but to the information they support as well. I think this chapter will help me improve at my job with working with graphic designers and being able to express what needs to be communicated. It was nice that this chapter brought in some very professional examples that people would typically see on a television network or an extremely popular company. Another important part I got out of this chapter was doing more independent research on Pau Rand, a famous graphic designer, and I think he is a necessary person to learn about because I hear his name often in my other graphic design classes.

Chapter 6: The Typographic Message was a brilliant chapter to read because it expanded further into communicating through type. I think people love to see messages within everything they see in their daily lives, and those who have the ability to create a clever, beautiful message have the capability to change this world for the good. Creating a message through typography is such a crucial part of graphic design and marketing. I think the society I live in has developed such incredible graphic designers that find a way to convey messages very well, that sometimes these great messages just go unnoticed because we see them in our everyday lives. This chapter covers verbal and visual equations that are involved in communicating ideas, and it allows me to focus on a rhetorical message within each design. I understand that many symbols or shapes can be interpreted differently, and that is the art behind everything.  Typographic messages do have the power to effectively influence consumers receiving the messages whether they are buying a product, voting on an issue, or deciding to attend an event, the type can have a say in their decision. Without typographic message, our world would be a completely different place than it is today, and I think it is incredible how things have evolved over time through brilliant designers and the way they create a message.