Patrevito - Chapter 3 Reflection

            Chapter three is all about syntax and communication through typography.  Syntax is “the process of arranging elements into a cohesive whole.”  I believe that syntax is extremely important in typography because it requires a great knowledge of how elements fit into a certain space and still remain legible and visually appealing.  The chapter starts out talking about the letter.  Letters can be part of a word, but they also stand on their own very well.  Often, designers will use letters and images to create new images.  Syntax involves designers using the letterforms and the white space (the paper) and manipulating both to compliment and balance each other.  When the letterform is not standing by itself, it is part of the word.  Form and counter forms also exist within the word.  The word suggests union and by adjusting spaces in-between the words and letterforms, the designer achieves balance and visual clarity.  Line, column and margin are highly important in typographic syntax because this is how the words and letterforms are arranged into documents and designs.  Whether you arrange lines symmetrically or asymmetrically, the designer must achieve balance in their overall composition through the lines’ point size, whether they are unequal or equal, and the placement of punctuation.  Lines, columns, and margins aid to the legibility of the design.  With all these, comes visual hierarchy.  Having knowledge of visual hierarchy is important because this is how the viewer will be interpreting the design or document.  Divisions of space, different letterforms, and the use of line all aid this and guide the viewer.  This chapter was extremely relevant to what I am doing right now in one of my other classes.  Currently, one of my assignments is creating eight compositions using type, a silhouette, and patterns and lines.   These compositions require knowledge of typographic syntax because we are transforming these letterforms, using positive and negative space, and still managing to create a legible, visually appealing composition.