Humans have been trying to communicate messages since the beginning of time. From cave drawings and hieroglyphics to Gutenberg and his Bible, history has shown that man is constantly trying to evolve the methods of visual communication.
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| A bitmap example from designhistory.org |
The 21st century is no exception. Digital communication is a standard form of communication that has had a profound effect on the way we communicate.
Computer graphics in the basic form originated in the 1960’s with the Cathode Ray Tube, but the first digital typesetting system was introduced by Dr. Ing. Rudolf Hell in 1965. According to designhistory.org, it was the first device to produce characters entirely from digital masters (Sec. 4).
The first generations of letterforms were called Bitmap fonts. Fonts.com describes these letterforms as, “comparable to superimposing a sheet of graph paper over a drawn letter and coloring in the boxes (pixels) that fell within the outline of that letter.” (Sec. 1)
Over the years, digital type has evolved into more than colored boxes. It has evolved into forms that have increased clarity, formatting flexibility and require much less memory space than before. And with the evolution of the characters themselves has come a revolution in the way designers design.
In the 1980’s, fonts could be designed, perfected and made available to the masses, not exclusively to ad agencies and design firms. (Selby, Par. 1) Publishers welcomed the ability to use independently created typefaces that weren’t constricted to sizes and formats specifically for printing equipment. (Pollack, Par. 4) And it only grew from there.
Although words on paper no longer ruled the road, the digital typography revolution changed electronic and print design forever. It had freed letterforms from their static size and shape and allowed them to break free of standard grids if they choose.
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| Bezier Curves allow for customized letterforms. Credit: designhistory.org |
Today we are a society of electronic media. Many experts feared that the digital age would be the end of typography and print mediums. According to Ellen Lupton in her book, “Thinking with Type”, it has actually led to the “burgeoning of alphabetic empire” because a computer display is “more hospitable to text…because it offers physical proximity, user control, and a scale appropriate to the body.” (page 76)
Caroline Archer, a writer and print historian fears that the word ‘typography’ has become an abused term. In her article, “What is typography?” she expresses her concern over the confusion of what typography is.
“My students not only regard hand-lettering as typography, they also apply the term to handwriting, hand-engraving and sometimes even calligraphy and graffiti. While letterforms may be the common denominator of these allied disciplines, they remain separate subjects.” (Par. 1)
Despite fears of artists and designers forgetting the roots of typography, designers seem to agree that digital type has changed design for the better. Communicating messages is faster and is relatively limitless in possibilities.
Sources
Selby, Michael. “1980s type – The Digital Revolution.” Michael Selby. 23 Sept. 2008 .2 Dec. 2010. <http://www.michaelselby.blogspot.com>
Archer, Caroline. “Print’s past – What is Typography?” Printweek. 12 Mar. 2010. Postscript 51. 1 Dec. 2010. <www.http://lexusnexus.com>
Lupton, Ellen. Thinking With Type. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004.
Monotype Imaging. “A Brief History of Digital Type”. 2 Dec. 2010. http://fonts.com
Pollack, Andrew. “Typesetting Gets a Digital Facelift.” The New York Times. 2 Aug. 1989. Sec. D, Col. 3. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.lexusnexus.com>
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