modernism and constructivism

Modernism: late 19th - early 20th century, shaped by industrialization and urbanization of western society. Functionality and progress were key concerns. Modernist typefaces forced viewers to see everyday differently using unfamiliar forms. In artwork such as paintings, deliberate distortion was used as well as large flat areas of color. ‘form follows function’ which means that the form of letters and words grows out of their purpose, their materials and how they are used. Out of early modernist typography came the sans-serif typeface.

Constructivism: originated in Moscow in 1920, lasted until 1934. It dismissed “pure” art for art that had social purposes. Constructivism believed in the use of industrial materials to create non representational objects, often geometric. Constructivism was influential to modernism with its black and red sans serif fonts that were arranged in asymmetrical blocks.

Question: What typeface came from modernism?

modernist typefaces

Johnston typeface (modernism)


constructivismconstructivism









http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~almeroth/classes/tech-soc/2006-Fall/nov-07.ppt


http://www.type.co.uk/images/imgs/products/gillsans_weights.gif


http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Graphic-artist

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Johnston-%28typeface%29


http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Constructivism-%28art%29#Constructivist_Graphic_Design


http://blushandflax.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html



http://www.eprarebooks.com/cgi-bin/phillips/89

definitions

Absolute Measurement-measurements of fixed values. measurements expressed in fixed terms that cannot be altered, ie: points and picas.

Relative Measurement-measurements that have no perscribed, absolute size, ie: character spacing.

Points-the unit of measurement used to measure the type size of a font. Refers to the height of the type block, not the letter itself. Equivalent to 1/72 of an inch.

Picas-unit of measurement equal to 12 points that is commonly used for measure lines of tpe. There are 6 picas (72 points) in an inch.

x-height-the height of the lowercase 'x'. It varies from typeface to typeface. Also used as key reference point in layout of designs.

The em-a relative unit of measurement used in typesetting to define basic spacng functions, and therefore it is linked to the size of the type. If typesize increases, so does the size of the em.

The en-unit of relative measurement queal to half of one em. An en rule is used to denote nested clauses, but it can also be used to mean 'to' in phrases such as 10-11.

Dashes (hyphen, en, em)-en and em used in punctuation to provide a measurement for dashes. Not the same as a hyphen, but related. An en is half of an em, a hyphen is one third of an em. Hyphens used to link words, for compound words etc. En dash used to separate page numbers, dates and to replace the word to in constructions implying movement. Em dash used to form lines and house nested clauses.

Alignments:
Justifcation-uses three values for type setting: minimum, maximum and optimum values. Words spacing is irregular in justified type.

Flush Left-The alignment of text or graphics up against the left side of the page

Flush Right-The alignment of text or graphics up against the right side of the page

Letterspacing-the addition of space between letters to improve visual look of type.

Kerning-the removal of space between letters to improve the visual look of type, manually or automatically.

Tracking-the amount of spacing between the characters

Word Spacing-the amount of space between words

Widow-a single word as last line of a paragraph

Orphan -A line of type beginning a new paragraph at the bottom of a column or page

Leading-refers to the space between lines of text in a text block.

Indent-text lines that are moved in from the margin by a specified amount.

First Line Indent- the text indented from the left margin in the fist line of the second and subsequent paragraphs.

Hanging Indent-the indentation from the left or right margin that affects several text lines, but first line is not indented.

Adrian Frutiger

Adrian Frutiger was born in 1928 in Switzerland where his love for sculpture influenced his career in printing. He was discouraged form pursuing sculpture and instead got interested in printing, but his first love is evident in his typefaces. When he was sixteen he was an apprentice as a compositor for four years. He released his first commercial font in 1954, called ‘President.’ In 1956 he designed his first of three slab-serif typefaces, which included Univers. In 1970, his Univers font variation caused French airport authority to commissioned Frutiger. The eventual font he created used Univers but used fonts by Eric Gill, Edward Johnson, and Roger Excoffon as inspirations for the modifications. The font was called Roissy, but was renamed Frutiger when it was released for public use in 1976. In the late 1990’s Univers was re-released with sixty three variants. He also re-released Frutiger and Avenir as Frutiger Next and Avenir Next, with additional line weights. In 2003 he was commissioned to design a new watch face for a vary rare limited-edition of watches by Ventura, a Swiss watchmaker. He also was commissioned to make a woodmark for the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, which changed its name from National Design Institute to match his NID logo on the sign.

Univers has a wide variation of styles and line weights that range from very thin to very thick and they can all be used with one another in harmony. The Univers grid shows all 21 of the weights and widths of the original type that Frutiger designed.

http://www.wikipedia.com/
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/univers/

John Baskerville

John Baskerville was born in 1706. He was a writer and a headstone engraver in England in the 18th century, but later became a printer. He set up a printing business in 1750, but it took him 7 years to produce his first book, in 1757 because he was such a perfectionist. He also had businesses in japanning and paper mache in addition, but prior to his printing and typography, but was most well known for the latter. In 1758 he became the printer for Cambridge University. He was an atheist, but in 1763 he printed his masterpiece, a folio Bible, for the University. His designs had level serifs and he contrasted the weight of heavy and light lines. He was a member of the Royal Society of Arts. Benjamin Franklin admired Baskerville, who was also a member of the Royal Society of Arts. Franklin took Baskerville’s typography designs back to the United States where they began to use them in government documents. John Baskerville died in 1775, but his wife ran the press until 1777. Because of jealous competitors, Baskerville’s fonts began to decline in popularity and became scarcely used until the 1920’s. His fonts, now mostly called ‘Baskerville’ have been re-released and given life again.

His type uses heavy and light contrasting line weights, curves, sharp serifs, and elegant forms to be unique.

http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.myfonts.com/person/baskerville/john/