Tracing 60 Years of Typographic Changes

60 Years of Typography

Typography is an important tool for every visual communicator.

There have been many revolutions in the process from hot metal to photo to desktop publishing

But the original intention of the revolution remains the same:

Make written language legible; more engaging; satisfying the viewer's needs

"Communication Arts" magazine compiled and collected the past 60 years

A selection of writing and commentary from font fanatics

Mid-twentieth century

"Typography is an art that requires imagination, intuition, common sense, and an understanding of certain basic rules and letterforms."

"I don't think typography is an end in itself,

But it is part of the overall message.

So for me,

Creativity, copy, art and typography go hand in hand. ”

Otto Storch McCaw 1962

Late twentieth century

Left:1968 Summer Olympics logo. Designer: Lance Wyman

Right:L'eggs logo for Hanes Hosiery, 1970. Art Director/Designer: Roger Ferriter;Writer:Tom Tom Carnase; Designer: HerbLubalinAssociates.

"When I do a book cover or any wrapping, it's art to me.

The truth is that it enhances the aesthetics of a product,

Boosted sales. ”

Alan PeckolickAlan Peckolick Graphic Design Company 1971

Left:1969 IBM Rochester Design Center poster. Designer: Walter Lund/Gary Springer; Art Director: Thomas Cole Thomas Coleman

Right:Book cover by Harcourt BraceJovanovich, 1976. Designer: Alan Peckolick;Art Director: Harris Lewine; span>Design Firm:LSC&P Design Team

"Dadaism influenced graphic designers in two important areas:

It frees typography from its straight line constraints,

reinforces the cubist idea of ​​type as a visual experience. ”

Allen Hurlburt 1977

Left:1978 Walker Art Center exhibition poster. Designer: James Johnson

Right:CBS television network promotion, 1978. Designer: Alan Brooks;Art Director: HermanAronson/BillSnyder

“Because typography is at the heart of design and communication,

When people because of the apparent efficiency of other systems

When giving up high-quality fonts,

It affects us all. ”

Nathan Felde Machine Tools Ltd. 1978

"If you cover up the font on your work,

If the overall work still looks good,

Then the font itself is not very good,

Either it's in the wrong place. ”

Robert Overby 1979

Left:Launch of the newspaper "Diarario do Paraná", 1980. Art Director/Designer/Illustrator: OswaldoMiranda

Right:Wall Street Journal commercial, 1983. Art Director: BoZaunders;Writer/Creative Director: Jim Johnston;Advertising Agency JimJohnstonAdvertisingInc.

"For me,

Bembo is a classic Roman style font with a long history;

If I were stranded on a desert island with only one typeface,

That's it. ”

Roger Black The New York Times 1983

Left:1987 Entertainment Technology Competency Manual. Art Director/Designer: MitchellMauk; Design Firm: MaukDesign

Right:Bloomingdale poster, 1988. Art Director/Designer: Robert Valentine;Creative Director:JohnC.Jay; Illustrator: Neville Brody

"Laser typesetting for your Macintosh.

This is a real font, but not real typography. ”

Wendy Richmond 1987

Left:Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. book cover, 1988. Designer/Illustrator/Calligrapher: Fred Marcellino; Art Director: SaraEisenman

Right:MIT Press book cover, 1989. Art Director: Diane Jaroch

“In terms of novelty in typography,

From the center to the extreme is only one step away.

Any fool can make a typography that didn't exist before. ”

Matthew Carter Bitstream Inc. 1989

Left:The cover of "Beach Culture", 1990. Art Director/Designer: David Carson;Photographer: GeofKern;GeofKern; span>Design Company: Carson Design Company

Right:Jim Beam Brands Co. Packaging, 1992. Art Director/Designer: Sharon Werner; Design Firm: Duffy Design Group

“Helvetica is always used by those who have no sense of typography,

Abused by people who have no sense of structure.

For example, classic typefaces are meant to be centered,

The meaning of Helvetica often stands for left alignment.

So when you center Helvetica,

You are dead wrong. ”

Massimo Vignelli (VassielliVignelliAssociates) 1990

Left:1996, Public Theater poster. Designer: Lisa Mazur/PaulaScher;Art Director: PaulaScher; Photographer: Richard Avedon;Designer: Pentagram Design

Right:1998, Swiss Army brand print advertisement. Art Director: Monica Taylor;Writer: Dylan Lee;Creative Director: Greg Bokor/Jim Garaventi;Photographer: Geoff Stein; Advertising Agency: MullenAdvertising

“We work more budget-consciously than anything else.

When people talk about our not breaking away from tradition,

They are talking about their heritage,

without realizing that something new is happening here that requires its own set of standards. ”

ZuzanaLicko "Immigrant Typeface" 1992

"Vertical emphasis in sans serif fonts affects readability.

Using Caslon (Caslon) font works can get a sense of reading,

Setting Helvetica font content will get attention. ”

David Lance Goines St. Cytronis Publishing 1999

21st Century

Left:The Architectural League of New York Poster, 1999. Designer: Michael Bierut/Nicole Triss; Art Director: Michael Bierut;Michael Bierut; span>Design Company: Pentagonal Star Design

Right:GQ Open Design, 2005. Designer: KenDeLago; Design Director: Fred Woodward; Illustrator: span>Noli Novak

"Cookbooks always start with "Choose the best ingredients,"

The same goes for choosing fonts. ”

Jonathan Hoefler Hoefler and Freire Jean 2004

Left:Stanford University book discussion poster, 2006. Art Director: Jennifer Morla; Designer: MorlaDesign.

Right:MalterserAmbulanceService TV commercial, 2007. Art Director/Creative Director/Director: Christian Mommertz; Writer/Executive Creative Director: Stephen Vogel ( Stephan Vogel);Chief Creative Officer: DelleKrause;Ad Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Frankfurt

"Proper scaling is the holy gate of typography.

like pulling baba on the floor

Or the French kiss your mother,

This is a rule that few designers are willing to break. ”

Ellen Lupton Maryland Institute of Art 2008

Left:CooperSpiritsInternational packaging, 2007. Designer/Creative Director: Steve Sandstrom;Illustrator: AntarDayal;Designer:SandstromDesign

Right:Human Rights Campaign Pamphlet, 2011. Designer: SuchaBecky; Art Director: JakeLefebure/PumLebebure; Designer: DesignArmy

"Nobody gets rich designing typefaces.

In fact, until recently,

Designing typefaces is also a classic way to lose money. ”

Allan Haley Monotype 2009

Left:826LA entrance sign, 2014. Designer/Art Director: StefanG.Bucher;Writer: MacBarnett/JonKorn826LA/J.RyanStradal; span>Design Firm: 344Design, LLC

Right: "Chronicle Book" postcard set with the initials dropped, 2016. Art Director: Kristen Hewitt

“ComicSans is the Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, Hemingway and Mozart of graphic design.

For those who don't know what graphic design means,

It means "graphic design". ”

Mitch Goldstein Rochester Institute of Technology 2015

Left: AIGA Los Angeles lettering works, 2017. Designer: Ana Gómez Bernaus; Art Director: Jessica Arana

Right: Graton Spirits Company LLC Packaging, 2018. Designer/Design Company: Stranger&Stranger

"Like fashion, typography surrounds us,

It is inseparable from everyday life.

Society cannot function a day without letters,

We probably shouldn't go out without clothes either. ”

Elizabeth CareySmith 2018

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