Type had to be set by hand for over 400 years prior to typewriters and computers. It wasn’t until the late 1800’s when automated type-setting became available. It is clear that Gutenberg’s movable typeset had a huge impact on communication throughout the world.
Typography has advanced to the point that an artist can choose from a wide variety of fonts for written communication or design elements. Typography is seen everywhere. Typography is seen on artistic layouts used for publications and found on functional computer-based products such as telephones, remote controls, and microwaves.
In today’s software, typography can be turned into “outlines?as in Illustrator; or in Flash, the fonts can “break apart.?This too, was advancement for typography, because the Internet recognizes *digitally converted fonts* as artwork and not as typography. Digitally converting typography to artwork is important to today's technology, because artistic or unknown fonts (not digitally transformed to artwork) do not have to be converted to default fonts by end users?computers.
Since type creates shapes in layouts, type can be arranged to be a focal point or it can be used to create texture. When type becomes the focal point, it goes way beyond what graphics can do in visual communication. In most circumstances, graphic designs play second best to typography especially in layouts as opposed to vice versa. Generally speaking, typography is easier to comprehend when comparing to graphic elements and illustrations; and most often, graphics are usually not as precise as written typography. Even though a picture is worth a thousand words, misinterpretations of graphics are probably more apt to occur when compared to straight-forward written communication.
When stylized fonts harmonize with the meaning behind them, they can give a stronger punch to what is being communicated.
Debbie Jensen, Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Photographerhttp://www.debjensendesigns.com