[Type]

Text is one of those things we take for granted. Since the invention of the computer, the printer, and the odious free-font website, text and type have become so much apart of our world and simply blend into the background, the art of type making all but forgotten.

Ah, but what a rich history to forget! So full of painstaking exactness, mind-numbingly precise measuring, and of course, a grandiose lexicon of pulchritudinous nomenclature for your edification.

I could go through such codification, listing off hither and thither the anatomy of type, but alas, these appendages are much easier shown than explained. Thus, I will attempt to rationalize the reasons for us to understand type and its apportionments.

Letters (and most every object in our world) exist in two different realms: the realm of the Signifier, and the realm of the Signified. Charles Sanders Pierce, the propagator of these two terms, said that every object in our world has "Meanings"; what the form of the object suggests, the realm of the Signifier, and what the culture surrounding the object suggests, the Signified.

Now the realm of thought that we initially recognize letters as placing themselves in is the realm of the Signified; rarely do we consciously recognize letters for their form, but rather we recognize them for their meaning. When looking at a curving path, we are more likely to comment that it looks like the letter 'S', thus putting our focus not upon the form of the 'S', but rather the cultural significance we have associated with that shape.

However, as designers, we cannot divorce the realm of the Signifier from the realm of the Signified. We must have the two hand in hand as we traverse the treacherous terrace of typography. We must readily accept that the Signifier, the form of the object, will affect the Signified, the understanding of the object.

To give an example, let us turn to signs. Why is it that for more serious signs, we use capital letters? Look at the form of the CAPITAL letter: It's size implies a certain austerity. There is a lack of roundness it its form; it appears far more geometric.

This is but one example of how the form affects our understanding. And so, as designers, attempting to portray a certain idea, it is important to understand the parts of fonts, so as to better understand their form, and thus, so we can create the proper response from our viewers.

{SDG}