John W. Seybold
Can the computer achieve the same quality composition as a skilled typesetter? The author identifies some factors which contribute to successful esthetic solutions and discusses the compromises that must be considered, for example, in hyphenation and justification. “Feedback” of information and ideas from typographer to computer programmer is encouraged.
October 1968 · issue 2.4 · abstract permalink
L. Leering-van Moorsel
Around 1920 there was ferment in all of the arts. Lissitzky (1890-1941) developed his art during this period and was influenced by such men as Malevich (supermatism) and Tatlin (constructivism). His typographic innovations are individualistic and connot be classified with any single “movement.” Lissitzky’s work and ideas on typography—of a pre-eminently pictoral quality—are summarized and illustrated.
October 1968 · issue 2.4 · abstract permalink
H.W. Mergler , P.M. Vargo
ITSYLF is an interactive synthesizer of letterforms, which can be used in the design and study of alphabets. It is a computer assisted, operator oriented programming system which allows a typographic designer to enter numeric values through a keyboard and manipulate the characteristics of the letterforms quickly and easily. The alphabet was divided into classes, based on geometric properties of the letters. A set of parameters was derived that allows the construction and manipulation of the letter shapes based on mathematical models of the letters. A set of programs was generated that produces a drawing of the letter which corresponds to the current parameter values. Examples of the effects on the letter shapes of various sets of parameter values are presented for E, A, D, C as well as examples of computer generated serifs and three sets of consistant letterforms that could be used as the basis for several new alphabets.
October 1968 · issue 2.4 · abstract permalink
Jan van der Marck
Language and pictoral representations are increasingly being fused in contemporary visual arts. This trend toward a visual language—poetic rather than communicative—reflects a breakdown of tradition in all the arts. It is discussed and illustrated in terms of the work of specific artists brought together in an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
July 1968 · issue 2.3 · abstract permalink
No standard of measurement yet exists to measure computer hyphenation accuracy. The author discusses the need for such a standard; among considerations discussed are: word frequency, hyphenation probability, inter-word spacing, and line expansion factors. Very high hyphenation accuracy can be obtained if the computer program can select the words it chooses to hyphenate without being “chastised” for failing to hyphenate where hyphenation is possible. The author presents a series of formulas for arriving at hyphenation accuracy ratings in hyphenation errors.
July 1968 · issue 2.3 · abstract permalink
Jan Slothouber , William Graatsma
Anamorphosis, an optical phenomenon meaning “return of form,” consists in the perception of a deformed figure as a normal figure. An example of letter-anamorphosis recently created in Holland is discussed an illustrated.
July 1968 · issue 2.3 · abstract permalink
S.B. Telingater
During the historic development of our national alphabets the direct relationship between the sound of the language and its visual symbols has become obscured. The need for a stronger, direct relationship between sound and symbol is discussed; a suggested rearrangement of graphemes within our alphabet is illustrated.
July 1968 · issue 2.3 · abstract permalink
John Mountford
The two English words “writing” and “alphabet” are both linked to language. The notion of language is built into “writing,” and the notion of writing is built into “alphabet.” Different disciplines which use these words and technical terms, use them differently; and everyday usage is often imprecise. Linguistics, as the science of language, can contribute towards sorting these meanings out. A start is made in this direction, in the belief that related disciplines ought not to be “divided by a common terminology.”
July 1968 · issue 2.3 · abstract permalink
Gui Bonsiepe
A description is given of a method to compare in quantitative terms the degree of order of two typographically designed pages. A distinction is made between two kinds of order: the order of a system (systemic order) and the order of arrangement. The Shannon formula was used for measuring the degree of order of the two designs—an old version and its redesign. It shows that a judgment based on optical evidence can be supported by a mathematical-empirical judgment. Possible consequences for an aesthetics based on information theory are drawn. A design heuristic is sketched, and the possibilities as well as limits of an algorithmization of design decisions are discussed.
July 1968 · issue 2.3 · abstract permalink
Jesse H. Shera , Conrad H. Rawski
The diagram is a special case of picture-making. It involves the same representational condition: the mapping of a content in shapes which themselves possess—and transmit—a characteristic content. It is necessary to distinguish between the paradigmatic intent and the emblematic form of a diagram. In the postscript the error potential implicit in the interplay of these properties is demonstrated by examples which include the book arts.
April 1968 · issue 2.2 · abstract permalink
A.T. Turnbull , D.E. Carter
Experts differ in their opinions regarding the effect on readership of composing an entire advertisement in all-display typography. A sampling in Life and Ladies Home Journal magazines from 1954 through 1965 has revealed an upward trend in the use of such ads. To measure the effect, correlative studies were made relating the numbers of words to Daniel Starch readership records. Negative correlations were found for “Read Most” and “Seen Associated” ratings. With inherent reader interest in the advertised product held constant, correlations for both ratings were low. It was concluded that all-display typography may not be restrictive in dampening readership. However, rank correlations of all-display product categories with category rankings from Starch findings were so high as to lead to the conclusion that the effect on readership beyond the reader-interest level was not likely.
April 1968 · issue 2.2 · abstract permalink
L.M. Horowitz , M.A. White, D.W. Atwood
This paper discusses the organization of a single word. It shows that the beginning of a word is the best cue for eliciting that word; the middle is the poorest cue. Subject was shown a list of words one by one on a memory drum. (Some lists had six-letter words and some had nine-letter words.) Then subject saw a fragment of the word, and he had to recall the entire word. A beginning fragment elicited the correst response most readily and with the shortest latency. The middle elicited the correst response least readily and with the longest latency. These results are also related to the issue of associative symmetry.
April 1968 · issue 2.2 · abstract permalink
J.W. Click , G.H. Stempel
A study of responses to newspaper pages indicated that persons may make judgments about the entire newspaper on the basis of typography. Respondents were shown front pages from six newspapers they had not seen before and were asked to rate the newspapers on 20 semantic differential scales. There were significant differences between ratings of newspapers on 12 of the 20 scales. Respondents seemed to prefer horizontal pages and disliked symmetry.
April 1968 · issue 2.2 · abstract permalink
Glendon C. Smith
The most advanced personal type reading machine described provides the blind user with an aural “spelled speech” equivalent for each upper- and lower-case letter or ligature scanned by a hand-held optical probe. This character recognition machine recognizes the most popular type fonts with moderate accuracy and speed (80-90 words-per-minute). The development of the hand-held probe for this machine has resulted in a family of aural and tactile “direct translation” reading aids which are pocket-sized and battery-operated and may be used independently for low-speed reading.
April 1968 · issue 2.2 · abstract permalink
On February 6, 1967, Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad introduced unjustified composition throughout the newspaper. The advantages and disadvantages of unjustified newspaper composition are discussed. The history of its innovation in Rotterdam is described and illustrated—including the problems, benefits, and reception by readers. This article has been adapted from a report to a conference on the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers in Paris last fall.
January 1968 · issue 2.1 · abstract permalink
F. Kenneth Jones
While use of color in the various visual media has increased enormously, typography remains essentially black and white. Colour Story Reading was developed to make use of color in helping children learn to read. The theory and practice of Colour Story Reading is discussed, including two studies testing this approach: one showing children’s preference and better performance, and another showing superior reading attainment in black and white after initial reading with color.
January 1968 · issue 2.1 · abstract permalink
Lillian R. Hinds , William G. Dodds
Development of the use of color as an initial added dimension in beginning level reading is discussed, including the exploratory studies of the Gattegno Words in Color approach. Two experimental studies tested Words in Color: the Dodds study with primary-school children describes significantly superior scores in vocabulary and spelling; the Hinds study reports superior vocabulary and comprehension gains with inner-city illiterate adults.
January 1968 · issue 2.1 · abstract permalink
André Gürtler
In 1965 the Visual Graphics Corporation organized an international competition for new typeface designs. The author directed his typography class at the Kungstgewerbeschule, Basel, Switzerland, in designing a class-project entry: Egyptian 505. The students’ training for type design is described together with the specific development of Egyptian 505 for photocomposition. Art school education for script and type design is discussed.
January 1968 · issue 2.1 · abstract permalink
The semantic differential, a technique of standardized descriptions for various kinds of objects in order to obtain quantitative measures of similarity, can be applied successfully to discriminate between typefaces and to locate them in a semantic space. Two different semantic differentials—a more general and a more specific one—yielded semantic spaces of three and four dimensions, respectively, on independent aspects. Results are interpreted briefly and with some caution. The main point is the demonstration of the applicability of this technique to typographic problems.
January 1968 · issue 2.1 · abstract permalink
G. Thomas Tansell
Two suggestions may be helpful to descriptive bibliographers in working out a method for describing the typography of a book: bibliographers should base their measurements of type on its appearance on the printed page rather than to infer the size of the type body; and their system of classification of type designs should be graduated so that different degrees of detail can be presented under differing circumstances and for the several periods of book production.
October 1967 · issue 1.4 · abstract permalink