Project. Typographical
Dialects
Purpose. Typographical Dialects
was an experiment during the Typography-Seminar at the University
of Arts Berlin in the summer term 2005. The participants of the
seminar researched characteristics and
peculiarities of shaped types. Every type speaks its own language.
If one compares types with spoken language, one can say that this
can be understood as a form of dialect. In my opinion it is a typographic
ability to consciously
draw peculiarities, or rather dialects, into consideration of arrangement
and selection of type.
Assignment. Fabrication
and playful use of type contributes to the comprehension of type.
On account of this approach, typographic dialects were developed
during the seminar. The typeface Georgia represented High German
language. Georgia was also the basis for experimenting and for
further development. The students did not develop new types, they
rather developed typographical transformations of Georgia with
the software FontLab. As a result, the students created type experiments
worth seeing, from cool Küsten-Platt to singing Schwiezer-Dütsch,
from crude Berlinerisch to broad Bayerisch.
The experiment was influenced by several factors:
the selection and characteristics of language dialects as well
as the characteristics of shapes of letters. We chose Georgia as
the
basic type on account of it’s minor
differentiated letters and pleasing legibility. Together we investigated
shapes
of letters of the font-family
Georgia choosing the basic font Georgia Normal. Subsequently, the
students investigated a dialect of their
own choice, working out its characteristics and peculiarities.
As mentioned before, the
students did not deal with the linguistic analysis of phonetic
scripts – they chose five typical characteristics
of the spoken dialect. The students developed a metaphorical visualization
of these five characteristics,
converting them in the software FontLab. The intensive work on
type and letters was
put into the foreground of the experiment.
The
results of the project are reflected in very interesting works.
The students developed typeconcepts with an experimental character,
visualizing type letters of a certain dialect. Working with typography
on a playful level provided emotional access to designing fonts,
taking formative and technical aspects into account. Finally,
lovingly prepared type-fragments were developed during the project
associatively combining both language and type.
Format. 2.4 X 8 Inches (60 X 200
centimeters)
Time. 8 weeks (4 hours a week)
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