[week 7] Response+Discussion: Lupton

[Prof. Madad]

Post your responses to:
Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now by Ellen Lupton

[Jacqueline Marinacci]

These past three weeks i would say we have been working on merging
typefaces. In the reading from Lupton, she mentions P. Scott Makela,
He has a font called Dead History. Medium Orange- one of Makela's font
woud best be described as the begining of a transition. It is very
black and white that it has one side of thin serifs and anther of fat
rounded curves. It really is a very elegant type face. I think it's
hard to achieve this now as it can seem to a look of sloppy craft.
"Design is often an attack on structure, or an attempt to create
edifices that can withstand and engage the corrosive assault of
content." (Lupton) This is not only true with graphic designers but
also people who are within fine arts. If your design isn't about being
traditional then it's about breaking rules and merging from those
"fixed architectural elements" To achieve this a designer may look at
old Renaissance Typefaces. ( before they became consumed with mass
production, books, magazines, etc..) They tried to mimmic that look of
nib pen writings. It was very hand held and tactile. This kind of
writing can bring a lot of care to a composition making it special as
it isn't just using a balanced clean type.

[May Meyers]

Response to “Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now” by Ellen Lupton

Lupton draws on the history and evolution of typography, illustrating
how the rigid traditional typographic systems are deteriorating due to
constant diversification of type. She makes reference to the
architecture of the classical book, wherein the type conforms to a
preexisting structure (a container that cannot be altered), then goes
on to compare the fluidity of type in a modern world with fewer
boundaries.
The influence of digital media has played an enormous role in this
evolution; type is no longer fixed to a sheet of paper, but can be
scrolled through, emailed, copied and pasted, revised and reposted. I
can appreciate this type journey from an aesthetic perspective, but
not in terms of content. The internet is more often a tool of quantity
rather than quality. An unfortunate side effect of information sharing
on a mass level is that it plays out like a childhood game of
telephone. Even if the participants have the best intentions,
informational changes are inevitable and the outcome is more of a
rumor than factual information. This mobile type that Lupton refers to
as “The bastard offspring of hard copy…” is lacking any kind of
concrete typographical identity because it is always subject to
change. It also has nearly eliminated the need for typesetters, giving
designers unchecked freedom. In one sense this is a positive thing,
although I think that it is important to learn to design with
conventional restraints before taking the liberty of throwing them
aside, and to maintain knowledge of typographic history.
Lupton’s reference to typography as fluid in a container was
reminiscent of Beatrice Ward’s wineglass metaphor, although Lupton
elaborated on it, pointing out that the typographic content is no
longer content to conform to its container and rather the container
must reconfigure to hold its fluid.

On Oct 12, 11:26 pm, "Prof. Madad" <ama...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Emily Vukson]

Response to Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now
by Ellen Lupton

Ellen Lupton first makes reference to the rigid structure of
Renaissance typography, which consisted of justified type set between
margins on a page. It took a long time to either write these letters
in by hand or even to set the pieces of metal type into place to
eventually make up the page of text. There was a structure then, and
an even "grey" of text on the page, which was unbroken, uniform, and
reminiscent in ideas to Ward's Crystal Goblet. That was pretty much
the case until the computer rolled around.

Some may consider the typed word evil, although I'm sure that most of
us (especially designers) consider the computer a blessing as a tool
for creating and using type. We don't even really think much about
words or letters anymore, as they are now all over the place. We can
just hit a button on the keyboard and the letter of our choice
miraculously appears on the screen via photons--without any physical
drawing, cutting, pasting, or thought. Programs such as Word begin to
eliminate the role of a typesetter, as computer coding can
automatically (some times more successfully than others) set a line of
text with fair kerning, tracking, and leading. Even if these
automatic systems are not perfect, it only takes a couple of clicks of
the mouse to set things right, whereas one would have had to
painstakingly start all over again during the Renaissance. Computers
also help designers to take it one step further by enabling them to
completely abandon old conventions and scramble letters all over the
digital page as they please (InDesign/Illustrator).

"Soft copy," as Lupton refers to typed text, is so commonplace now
that people completely take it for granted. It's all over the web,
sent in emails, and used in almost every computer program out there.
During the Renaissance, typography took a long time to do, so it was
considered special. Now, we can just click the mouse and all the text
changes from Helvetica, to Baskerville, to Eurostile, to........
Floydian, etc. It's so easy that no one thinks about it. (Unless you
are a designer--then you should be consciously thinking about
typefaces and how they can add to a design/page.)

On Oct 12, 11:26 pm, "Prof. Madad" <ama...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Emily Vukson]

I agree with May that the internet is "more often a tool of quantity
rather than quality." It is now so easy for people to put their ideas
out there on the web that no one (or at least very few people)
consciously make an effort to make their sites look good or easy to
read. A few months ago, I was reading from a website that had a black
background with a night sky/starry texture, and the text was sans
serif, white, small point size, thin leading, and set the entire width
of the screen. It was so incredibly hard to read that it was making
my eyes hurt--but the information on the site was good. But that's
just it: information seems to be the big thing, and design/
readability seem to be secondary in some cases. It does seem at least
in some cases to be quantity (all about the content) rather than
quality (making the viewer actually WANT to view it).

[Patamavadee Nguiakaramahawongse]

I understand Lupton's main point in the text that the old form of type
and design are slowly being forgotten and that design these days are
breaking boundaries and in a sense more free. Just as May said, that
before breaking the boundaries, you should know the rules first. I
completely agree with that. However, in the world that we are living
in today, everything is mass. Especially the internet, it is endless
library of information. Which I think is totally different from the
world of design and typography. It is true that design and type are
involved; designing web pages and choosing type for these pages.
However, when browsing through the internet, I usually disregard its
designs and view it as something more 'academic,' paying attention
essentially to the information I am obtaining, scanning through them
without taking to time to evaluate 'secondary' elements unless they
are extremely aesthetically appealing.

[Rose DeMaria]

Lupton makes an interesting point when she creates this metaphor with
liquid and its container. I agree with her in a sense how we are
losing the architectural aspect of copy when we take it out of books
and have soft copy. Though I think this is just what comes with this
fast passed technology. Technology aids people in losing there
attention to detail and appreciation of it. Just like Patamavadee
said, when browsing the internet I also usually disregard many design
decisions that have been made unless they are extremely appealing and
catch my eye. That is just the way of the world wide web, its supposed
to be fast and its supposed to be a free medium where people can find
anything anything they want, as well as post anything they want. This
freedom leads to a lack of structure and lack of good design on the
web. So when Lupton makes the metephor of how containers now
reconfigure in response to the matter they hold I think she makes a
valid point.

[Victoriya Baskin]

Lupton discusses the way typography changes with time, starting with
the renaissance. She states that with the growing popularity of
technology, we are losing the basics that got the design world to
where it is today. Without the rigidity of typography in the
renaissance, what would our books look like today? As students it is
important to know and understand the history of the things we are
studying, or trying to be, before revolutionizing them.

I really liked the paragraph where Lupton talks about how from a
distance a block of text looks like an identifiable mass of gray, but
once you look closer you see the individual words and letters. She
says that "text is a body of separate objects that move together as a
mass.... Text is a fluid made from the hard dry crystals of the
alphabet." I think thats this statement is really rather beautiful and
makes me think of a simple block of text as something so much more
ornate and fluid. It definitely puts a different spin on how to view
something that can sometimes be so dense and dry.

[Olivia Gulin]

Lupton's essay frames the history of typographic design in terms of a tension between liquidity and structure. Traditionally, the physical constraint of writing in books which are organized into pages, columns, and other sorts of boxes provide rigit structures into which type is placed. The oganic act of drawing calligraphic letters with pen and ink imbues them with a liquid irregularity that rationalized mechanically reproduced type lacks.

She cites digital type as a breaking point for architecturally constructed typography. With the fluid constraints of "soft type" and endlessly scrolling and repositionable windows, type in the digital age is more liquid than ever. And so it has come to be that the strict constructions of modern type can and are broken again to be more liquid. Lupton credits designers such as P. Scott Makela with using these tools to play with (and break) the traditional rules of typography, instead of just following them.

I quite like this idea of design, as it seems to be unrestricted in its terms and encourages a sort of playfulness. I particularly agree with Luptons last sentences, "A fluid, by definition, is a substance that conforms to the outline of its container. Today, containers reconfigure in response to the matter they hold." That is, design (the container) should be responsive to the information it contains.

Of course, as many of my classmates have pointed out, one of the side effects of our world of infinite information is the lack of conscious and professional "design" used to present it. Naturally, most computer programmers, web developers, email users and desktop publishers are not designers, and so the virtal world of information is also one of poor design. However, I think more than the fact of overwhelmingly bad design, the nature of the internet and computers to provide endless information has had more of a conceptual impact on design. In a place where there are endless things to read, to look at, to scroll past, to interact and mix up, to get wrong and make new things with, it makes less sense (at least for me) to always get stuck on "good design," when it seems that there are so many more exciting and new possibilities to explore.

Incidentally, this article made me think of not necessarily type I've seen on the web, but lots of net.art. The fluid nature of computers has not just made graphic design somewhat "liquid," but has produced an onslaught of new media art. Fine art isn't just static paintings or sculptures or even kinetic sculptures, but on the internet, freely interactive and fluid. I don't mean venues like deviantArt or flickr, but art that uses the web as a medium in its own right...For example, check out: My boyfriend came back from the war. After dinner they left us alone.  

--
- OG
http://www.oliviagulin.com

[Alison Marana]

On Oct 12, 11:26 pm, "Prof. Madad" <ama...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Post your responses to:
> Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now by Ellen Lupton

Alison Marana



Ellen Lupton compares two generation's description of design. Several
decades ago, the aim of designers was to solve problems and determine
a visible solution. Now, designers focus on "solvents", or the things
that happen when searching for a solution. This relates to our class
because with each project, we are encouraged to bring in the sketches,
the mistakes, and the different versions of our solution. The most
interesting aspect of a project may be the various pieces that are
created before a design is finalized.

May said, "The internet is more often a tool of quantity rather than
quality" - I completely agree with this. On one hand, having access
to countless design work is inspiring. On the other, it is can be
cheaply copied and pasted between the minds of viewers or designers.
Having a surplus of information can sometimes lead to indecisiveness
and confusion. Rather than being inspired by a few great works, I
often have an entire folder of twenty or more images to reference-
almost all of which I find online. Soft copy does not have a definite
typographic identity, according to Lupton. A typesetter or a
typographer becomes unnecessary, as anyone can pretend to be a
designer if they know how to use a computer program. When utilizing
soft copy, aesthetic standards may be neglected.

[Inyoung Choi]

Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now

Ellen Lupton

 

After I read this essay, I am interesting in recent design issues especially typography.

She told that today, the simultaneity of diverse content streams is a given. Furthermore  alongside the archetype of the printed page, the new digital archetype of the windeow has taken hold.

In the past, people just wrote down their letters or symbol on paper, ground or some real space. However, these fluid has been changed comparatively.

People can expree their thought and feeling through their blog and the hundreds of thousand website by using digital media such as a computer, a cell phone.

 

Also, she thought that "Typography is the art of designing letterforems and arranging them in space and time."

I focus on the meaning "in space and time."

Evolution and trasition in the life of the letter can make our real life more influential 

[Sarah Nock]

Lupton's essay talks about the change in typography's structure
over time. She goes over the original rigidity of type's structure so
that it could fit into columns and pages and then she discusses fluid
type. The creation of fluid type came about with the development of
technology. Fluid type changes its structure to fit its container that
can easily be reworked. I'd say that basically everyone is familiar
with basic fluid type because they see it in their use of the internet/
e-mail or computer programs. Fluid type got me thinking about some of
my favorite party flyers and posters that contain type and how some of
my favorites didn't have a very rigid type layout. The type in these
posters and flyers would move/flex though the piece along with the
illustrations and ultimately created balance in the piece.
I think that the development of technology is only beneficial to
design... it's a lack of culture and job pressure that are the real
issues. Some people argue that having so much information and work
available to us or the new ease in developing work makes design cheap.
These days everyone is a "graphic designer". I don't think it's bad to
have a baseline. Sometimes crappy work makes good work stand out
more...and you can learn from other people's mistakes. Also, in
Brooklyn specifically, I feel like there has been a sort of trend
towards counterculture graphics that can have roughly hewn hand-drawn
type, ugly illustrations, unusual color schemes etc that people would
normally frown upon...but they still work. They get their messages
across(usually) and they can be pretty interesting to look at.
Sometimes you have to wonder if these designers are especially good
because they have taken structural norms, thrown them out the window,
and they have still gotten the job done. On the other hand, I have
been in situations where I've been designing for people who have told
me expressly what awful typeface to use, the copy they've given me is
riddled with random capitalizations and multiple exclamation points
laid out multiple spaces away from a statement. You can try to salvage
that kind of mess, but one time I was actually asked "What do you see
that I don't?" and when I answered I got "did you learn that in
school?". It's a shame that sort of design gets published anywhere,
but since we have access to so much it can easily be ignored. I like
that.

[Daisy Chong]

Response to Fluid Mechanics: Typographic Design Now by Ellen Lupton

I enjoyed how Lupton compares and contrasts typography to a physical
form, it makes his title meaningful and it makes sense, "like a glass
into which text is poured, spilling over from one leaf to the next".
It took me awhile to understand the concept of 'soft copy'. Was it
somewhat like a template that allowed designers to change the width
and typeface, etc as they pleased?
Compared to other articles, some more dense than others, this was
fairly easy to understand and grasp the concept of.

[Danielle Heard]

I find it interesting how Lupton describes and compares typefaces of
the Renaissance and what designers do today in the modern word. Yes
since technology was limited, more emphasis was put on the
"architectural" structure of the typeface. While cursive was very
popular you would expect fonts to mimic the fluidity of that writing
style. Today with the advancement of technology, typography is
overshadowed with mixed media. Its only a sign of change. With pop
culture bein such a wide realm in our society, designers are bound to
incorporate some of its elements if not all. In my opinion I find
that much more can be done with typography with all the new technology
we have. Its more expressive making it appealing to its reader. The
only issue is with the modern techniques being so popular right now,
people are soon to forget what the original typographers did before.
This can be a problem.

[jess]

Until the computer, type was being set by hand or with actual metal
pieces. "Soft copy" was the birth of editing made easier. Soft copy is
the digital, unprinted document file. It saves time by allowing us the
ability to digitally fix errors. We use programs like word, indesign,
etc. rather than manually doing things by hand. i can very much
appreciate hand done work. however i do love the computer. graphic
design is made faster and easier by using the computer as a tool.

Text in general can be beautiful. Just as Lupton says from far away
you see a block of gray text but going up close you get to examine and
read the letters. Today many people over look typography, just as many
other things in the media. We are so bombarded by these things daily
that we just say "hey that looks good" or "wow thats horrible". They
forget how interesting and fun it can be to make your own style and
incorporate that style into type & design.