the grand design

I love a reading like Robert Bringhurst's writings on the principles and tactics of typography. Though it's really not the subject matter here that draws me, so much as the self-reflexivity. Like Mitchell's point about meta-pictures, there is a tension within "The Grand Design" since the ideas that Bringhurst brings up are being (or have been) utilized in the printing of the text itself. I read how a typographer does (or should do) their job; I realize someone has done that job for this very text. (My brain says, "Ah, how clever!") ...So, have they done their job well?  read more »

When I read a book, an article, look at a flyer, or a billboard mostly I focus on the message and few times do I notice the details of the presentation. After reading the excerpt from Robert Bringhurst's The Grand Design, I realized that whether I notice it or not there is a lot more going in through my eyes and influencing my thoughts than just words on a page.

I would argue that typographers are one of the unsung heroes in literature today. When I read a magazine I do not particularly notice the style of text or layout on each of the pages and yet someone carefully chose the textual styles to accentuate a seperation and still complement eachother. So much detail goes into the bigger picture. Even on this very web page, different letterings are used for the title, the tabs, the links on the side, etc. The thought that a person puts into choosing fonts and such really make a difference. (Good job Zach!)  read more »

You might not realize it but its everywhere. Its on the news when you wake up. Its in the alligator that you read. In the text that you study. In the mail that you read. We are engulfed by it. So what is it? TYPOGRAPHY of course. At its very basic essence typography could be describe as the "art of print". According to Bringhurst though, the definition that I gave would bring no justice to typography and be "deliberately misused." "It [typography] takes various forms and goes by various names, including serenity, liveliness, laughter, grace and joy' Bringhurst exclaimed.  read more »

Just finished reading the historical article by Bringhurst on typography (form and content), and was impressed by the amount of detail with which he perused its intricacies. His tactics for capturing the spirit of a text is fascinating, and I want to specifically discuss 1.2.5 on page 6 of the course pack ("Shape the page and frame the textblock so that it honors and reveals every element, every relationship between elements, and every logical nuance of the text")...

First of all, this is a tall order. The factors that compose a text (especially one involving imagination and creativity - a novel, for example) are so numerous that it could literally take weeks of study, let alone the time spent assembling the proper medium to communicate it. Here are a few mentioned by Bringhurst, in addition to several that came to my mind...

-Text font/size/color/placement (these are four lengthy studies that might/most likely will change over the course of the text)
-Image choice/size/color/placement in the text (placement can be critical)
-References/footnotes (placement, amount of explanation)
-Dialogue presentation (if needed)  read more »