Posts Tagged ‘legibility’
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
Monotoype UK recently staged Pencil to Pixel: a small-but-perfectly-formed exhibition about the development of typeface production—well worth the minor trek to its slightly off-grid Wapping location.
The decades of change between hot metal and digital production could easily make you overlook the extent of labour and craft that is still involved in bringing type to use. Type may be surface design but it has more in common with furniture or other product design in its mix of essential functional and aesthetic requirements than with most of the graphic design it serves. The sheer beauty of the pencil-drawn curves of pre-digital type masters is something I had seen before but almost forgotten. In the exhibition the evidence of mid-20th century type impressed most, the physically less present display of digital era work on show suffering by comparison: pencils 1, pixels 0. Anyhoo—all of it is better seen than waffled on about. Below are some snaps of things that caught my eye:
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Tags: graphic design, inspiration, legibility, product design, typography
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
That ‘knowledge is power’ is not disputed, but acceptance of the value of information is under threat. With unprecedented budget cuts becoming ‘normal’, the cost of communicating is called into question whilst its value is ignored.
With Crazy George & chums currently riding roughshod through UK public services, machetes flailing, there is financial pressure of the most intense kind on public institutions. Used to state regulation, detached from the free market’s instant and unforgiving feedback, there is no solid tradition of objectively balancing prioritities. Forced to plan big cuts, decision-makers may already have reached the “if I cut this will the entire institution fail tomorrow?” stage. Can we hope for measured appraisal of the worth of communications design in this climate? This must be a good time for designers to argue for the value of communications and information design wherever they get the chance.
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Tags: accessibility, brand design, budgets, communication, cost-cutting, cuts, economy, effectiveness, graphic design, information, information design, institutions, language, legibility, public services, spending, value, value for money
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Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Randomly chosen newspaper spread with stories grouped under two page headings. The wide field of vision allows many other connections/reasons-to-read
The Death of Print is a phrase regularly bandied about since the invention of TV (and probably radio before that), appearing with renewed vigour with the arrival of every new communications platform. The actual death of some newspapers and print publications lends urgency to the drama, but the reality is less apocalyptic. Jobs are lost, companies fail, the media landscape changes, but old formats (with the notable exception of the unloved videocassette) assume new roles rather than become extinct. The life and death struggle of old vs. new media is the easy narrative but old media has unique value which should ensure at least a modest survival.
New media platforms have given us massive advances in accessibility and empowerment – but they also come with a predisposition for targeted communication, ‘narrowcasting’ and self-selection. Old media, print especially, has one underappreciated benefit that is absent from the new stuff. It doesn’t decide quite so forcefully in advance what information will be of value to me, limiting what I might learn about the world.
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Tags: communication, design, graphic design, information design, iPad, legibility, media, newspapers, TV, typography, words
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
This is my favourite road sign. I like it because it treats me as a sentient human being rather than a mindless drone incapable of independent thought. It encourages me to consider the possible hazards of my situation and trusts that having so reflected, I will make good decisions. Were I not barrelling along at 70mph it would also inspire me to muse further on the meaning of life, the universe and everything…
The rarity of such ‘thoughtful’ road signs makes me wonder why few communications assume an intelligent audience. Too much ‘telling’ surely eventually breeds disinterest. On the roads we all see plenty of poorly regulated over-signing: badly placed, ugly ‘street furniture’ laden with overly instructive signs, sometimes there (it would seem) as much to prevent the local council from being sued as to actually help the public. Credible research now shows that careful removal of oversignage increases road safety. De-signing can be good designing. As in most areas of communication design, consideration of the user and limiting the number of messages to be processed increases the likehood of effectiveness. More thoughtful communications crediting users with some intelligence would be no bad thing.
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Tags: accessibility, communication, design, graphic design, information design, legibility, typography, visual culture
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Thursday, February 18th, 2010
I put up a shed last weekend (yes, the designer lifestyle is that glamorous): two days of stressful toil lengthened in no small part by the appalling quality of the ‘instructions’ provided: 14 pages of verbal and visual redundancy, irrelevance and confusion. Well what did I expect for £99?
Most products arrive with scant, inaccurate or misleading information for assembly and use. Many well-designed consumer products neglect information as part of the product experience, leading to returns, safety issues, customer dissatisfaction and erosion of brand loyalty. This seems overwhelmingly the norm and we are accustomed to sucking up all the wasted time, the frustration and stress, and moving on with our lives. Why are ‘instructions’ such a design-free zone? (more…)
Tags: accessibility, communication, creativity, graphic design, information design, language, legibility, service design, typography, words
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
Well that’s it then. The End of Days. Armageddon. Civilization? all over. I have seen a sign: Someone with sufficient cash for a brand new Bentley has seen fit to customize it not only with a personalised license plate (tacky, but unsurprising) – but one set in design’s least favourite typeface: Comic Sans.
Momentarily traumatised whilst driving I failed to whip out the phone camera to record this portent of doom or to note particulars for the design police, but trust me – its out there somewhere… (more…)
Tags: graphic design, legibility, letterform, license plates, security, typography, visual culture
Posted in information, typerbole | Comments Off on Comic Sans apocalypse
