Public lecture HfG Schwäbisch Gmund Germany 10.1.2011

1. The Shock of the New
Public lecture
HfG Schwäbisch Gmund
10.1.2011

20. Extended version 16.1.2011 [• T 1]
[• T 2]
‘neue typographie ist die typographie des besseren lesens, der besseren
information, des bestmöglichen angebots für auge und verstand.’
typographie, otl aicher
[• T 3] Goodmorning.
[• T 4] I am very pleased to meet you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[• 5] As you may spot, luckely, I am listed in ‘Dutch Graphic Design. A century of
innovation’ [• 6] which was published in 2006.
[• 7] An early example of my work, presented on page 378, is from 1991.
[• 8] The same bookcover for ‘The Shock of the New’ by Robert Hughes is on the next
slide, [• 9] but surrounded by some of my designs out of the same period, [• 10] which
is exactly twenty years ago!
Please excuse me for talking English. [• 11] To show my very best [• 12]
I prepared most textslides in German [• 13] and enjoyed reading [• 14] these
outstanding titles [• 15] to catch some remarkable quotes [• 16].
So this lecture is really up-to-date because it is bi-lingual [• 17], cross cultural [• 18],
and very global [• 19].
By the way is n’t it interesting, in this perspective, that Nandhini Mehra [• 20], a young
Indian designer who graduated in May 2010 at Savannah College of Art & Design in
Atlanta (US), is presenting a bilingual poster on DIN [• 21], a famous, anonymous
German typeface, which was re-drawn as FF DIN [• 22] by Abert Jan Pool [• 23], a

21. Dutch typedesigner working in Hamburg, because Erik Spiekerman [• 24] – at that time
still at Meta Design in Berlin – told him to, while finalizing the 1994 ATypI conference in
San Fransisco?
As an intermezzo,– to introduce myself, I selected three examples of my recent,
mainly, editorial work.
• First [• T 25]: Dutch opinion magazine Vrij Nederland (main issue: handling the
transformation from newspaper to magazine)
• Second [• T 30]: First View, a visual report of the Willem de Kooning Academy
Fashion Show 2009 (main task: the manual selection of over 1,000 photographs)
• Third [• T 34]: Ben Joosten, a monography (main issue: the balance between much to
much text and the actual work)
Today on special request i am going to talk to you about ‘basics’ & typography.
PREFACE [• T 38]
[• T 39]
‘Die Aufgabe beschreiben, ist ein Teil der Lösung. Impliziert: die kreativen Entscheide
nicht dem gefühl entsprechend treffen, sondern nach intellektuellen Kriterien. Je präziser
und vollständiger diese sind, desto kreativer is die Arbeit.’
Programme entwerfen, Karl Gerstner
Already for ages Typography is a simple craft driven by language and logic [• 40],
and practised by deducting and combining [• 41].
Please do not misunderstand me: some assignments – for instance a newspaper [• 42],
which nowadays in fact is a ‘communication package’ [• 43], and probably will be
publicated in print, online [• 44] and via several mobile applications [• 45] – may be
very complex [• 46],– I am only aiming at the resources.

22. [• 47] This contemporary solution by CAFA students presented on the Beijing campus
during Icograda 2009 in a beautifull building [• 48] designed by the renowned Japanese
architect Arata Isozaki [• 49] did remind me of another important, distinctive,
characteristic of Typography: it is user orientated.
[• 50] The overal design will be tested, in a very straightforward way, by the user,
probably a reader, in the end. Always . . .
. . . [• 51] In this case the legibility was ok, but the usability was not sufficient.
I got lost.
[• 52] I am not a product designer but I suppose some resemblance with an actual
design philosophy like ‘User Centered Design’ does exist, since UCD [• 53] focuses on
the needs and abilities of the user, in order to create applications, which are easy to
use, and are of added value.
[• 54] My approach to typography has always been systematic and might be called
programmatic.
[• T 55]
‘Programme entwerfen: Warum ist es so schwierig, was gemeint ist, kurz und bündig zu
definieren? Der Untertitel: statt Lösungen für Aufgaben Programnme für Lösungen ist
zwar präzis, aber kaum plastischer als der Titel.’
Programme entwerfen, Karl Gerstner
Like others I distinguish a comprehensive, media independent, set of related variables
like for instance: type, pointsize, linelenght and transport.
[• T 56]
‘Gute Typographie ist wesentlich ein Ergebnis wohlüberlegter Anordung. Einer
ungeschickten Anordnung helfen selbst die allerschönsten Schriften nichts, aber selbst
mit mittelmäßig guten Schriften kann man
eine gefällige Anordnung treffen.’
Erfreuliche Drucksachen durch gute Typographie, Jan Tschichold

23. Although the same basic set is used over and over, the solution to a problem is unique
when the selection and use of variables differ, and the assignment of values depend on
specific context and content.
[• T 57]
‘Das Technische, Praktische und Ästhetische sind nicht Teilgebiete der Typographie,
sondern Seiten an ihr, es sind Teilaufgaben, die mit jeder Einzelaufgabe immer wieder
gestellt werden.’
Die Kunst der Typographie, Paul Renner
Society is rapidly transforming, and technique is always innovating.
The industry is completely digitilized during the last thirty years of the past century.
Please look at the next two sequences.
[• T 58] Printing [• 59-74] . . .
[• 75] Recently the Espresso Book Machine is available at the American Book Center in
Amsterdam and will deliver anybody a book within minutes if an accurate .pdf is
provided.
[• T 76] Composing . . .
[• 77] By the way it is a persistent misconception to suggest Gutenberg ‘invented’
printing: the Chinese did. [• 78] He introduced typecasting and the use of movable
type.
[• 79] Gutenberg – originally a goldsmith – changed profession to become a punchcutter
and printer. [• 80-98]
[• 99] Of course, we all know ‘the reader’ is rather conventional . . .
[• 100] But how come the fundamentals of Typography did hardly change?
[• 101] Is n’t the issue more related to the biological: to the ‘universal’ human eye and
the brain?
[• 102] More specific is it because we are reading from left to right, from top to bottom,
already for quite some time?

24. [• 103] Maybe with the introduction of the e-book, the smartphone and the i-pad, our
reading habits will change as some predict.
[• 104] But how and why exactly?
[• 105] Only because of the introduction of a non-linear time-ax and a much more
layered environment?
[• T 106]
‘schrift ist der visuelle niederschlag von sprache.
was heißt das?’
die welt als entwurf, otl aicher
Will we stop reading in one direction?
Or will the replacement of language by image, in visual communication – which is
happening at this very moment – not prove to be much more influential concerning the
scope of typography?
[• 107] The Egyptian hieroglyphic system, which increased from approximatly seven
hundred to around five thousand signs, is not only made up of pictographs, but also of
phonograms and determinatives.
[• 108] Most important, hieroglyphs are written from right to left, or from left to right,
or from top to bottom. The reader must consider the direction in which the asymmetrical
hieroglyphs are turned in order to determine the proper reading order.
[• 109] Jean-François Champillion was the first to understand the originality of the
script, and explained how to decipher the hieroglyphic in Précis du Système
Hiëroglyphique which was publicated in 1824.
[• 110] ‘It is a complex system, writing figurative, symbolic, and phonetic all at once, in
the same text, the same phrase, I would almost say in the same word.’, he writes in a
letter to his editor two years before.

25. BASICS [• T 111]
[• 112]
‘Elementare Typographische Gestaltung ist die Schaffung der logischen und optischen
Beziehung der durch die aufgabe gegebene Buchstaben, Wörter, Satzteile.’
Elementare Typographie, Iwan Tschichold
Some years ago I had to re-think a Typography programme concerning the first two
years of a four year curriculum.
[• 113]
‘Das einzelne Wort und die Satzseite [...] sind die Elementaraufgaben, an denen wir die
algemeinsten Formgesetze kennenlernen wollen [...]’
Die Kunst der Typographie, Paul Renner
I must have been in pretty good shape and rather concentrated, because I ‘treasured’ an
obvious structure quite soon.
[• T 114] (‘Das Programm’)
First [• T 115] 1. Letter [• T 116]
Second [• T 117] 2. Word [• T 118]
Third [• T 119] 3. Sentence [• T 120]
Fourth [• T 121] 4. Paragraph [• T 122]
Fifth [• T 123] 5. Page [• T 124]
Sixth [• T 125] 6. Book [• T 126]
Now I could easily scedule [• T 127] Typehistory [• 128, 129, 130, 131],– [• T 132]
Classification [• 133, 134, 135, 136] and,– [• T 137] Nomenclature [• 138, 139, 140],
and of course also the most important typographic basics – first introduced by Emiel
Ruder [• 141] – like [• T 142] Contrast [• 143, 144],– [• T 145] Direction [• 146, 147]

26. and [• T 148] Rhytm [• 149, 150] ([• 151] I am sorry this is not typography . . . but is
it not a beautifull painting?).
Also within this frame we would study [• T 152] Proportions [• 153, 154, 155, 156,
157], the inner [• T 158] Relations [• T159]
‘[...], jede Schrift findet ihre beste Lesbarkeit und ihre günstigste Wirkung bei
bestimmten Zeilenbreiten, Zeilenabständen und Wortzwischenräumen.’
Die Kunst der Typographie, Paul Renner
and all about [• T 160] White (called space in typography) [• 161, 162, 163], et cetera.
[• 164] I even could pay [• 165] some attention to [• 166] visual poetry [• 167], to
tribute Jan Vermeulen [• 168], my own typography teacher [• 169], who might start
one of his lessons by reciting, poets like, Gerrit Achterberg [• 170] or J.C. Bloem [•
171], presumably to indicate the strong relation between language and typography . . .
[• T 172]
Spring
Through desolate spring skies the sun broke clear.
A flight of birds dropped in a sudden sheer.
The thinly sown snow melted on the earth.
Heart, you are free: you had no grounds for fear.
J.C. Bloem
[• 173] In the end the only real problem to tackle seemed to be rather formal: how to
fit the course in four semesters while the division is in six?
[• 174] Sometime later I discovered – by coïncidence – that Paul Renner [• 175] used
more or less the same subdivision in ‘Die Kunst der Typographie’ (Erstes Kapitel: Das
Einzelwort // Zweites Kapitel: Die Satzseite // Drittes Kapitel: Das Buch) before he
wanders from his subject to head for other directions.
[• 176] The ‘link’ with Jan Tschichold – Iwan at that time – is quite obvious, since

27. Tschichold wrote, in Leipzig, some twenty years before [• 177]: ‘6. Elementare
typografische Gestaltung ist die Schaffung der logischen und optischen Beziehung der
durch die Aufgabe gegebenen Buchstaben, Wörter, Satzteile.’
[• 178] Once more, in this context, demonstrating the elegance of the scheme [• 179]
I would like to emphasize the break between the third and fourth item, [• 180] to
classify the first part as ‘basic’ [• 181], and the second as ‘advanced’ [• 182, 183].
[• 184, 185, 186]
[• 187] So no, I would not change the format [• 188] if someone would ask me to re-
think the programme once again, [• 189] [• 190] although actualizing assignments,
[• 191] and keeping all information up to date, [• 192] is always required in education.
[• 193] In The Tipping Point – an excellent study, and wonderful guide, which should be
read by every design-student – Malcolm Gladwell is introducing three kind of people who
matter in a social epidemic.
[• 194] Connectors: ‘people with a special gift for bringing the world together’, and ‘who
know everyone’. [• 195] Mavens – the word comes from the Yiddish, and it means one
who accumulates knowledge – ‘information brokers, sharing and trading what they
know’. Mavens are data banks. They provide the message.’
[• 196] ‘Connectors are social glue: they spread it. [• 197] But there is also a select
group of people – Salesman – with the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of
what we are hearing [. . .].’
[• 198] Although it is not the task of a teacher to start, nor spread an epidemic, I am
quite sure something of a Connector or/and a Maven is in us all. Or to put it in
Gladwells words: ‘To be a Maven is to be a teacher.’
But apart from actualizing . . . [• 199] after visiting the Shanghai International Fashion
Culture Festival in 2010 and listening to a stunning lecture titled: What guides the
designer’ hand? Inside the ultimate design studio: the brain by Art Historian John Onians
[• 200], I am prudently concluding every design programme might need some tuning
re-introducing the manual experiment. [• 201] Recent neuroscientific insights seem to

28. confirm not only the eye and the hand need training, also the designers brain needs
manual feed to keep in optimum condition. [• 202] The key concept to grasp is that of
neural plasticity.
I quote: [• 203] ‘Another is that the laying down of those memories is associated with
structural changes in the brain. [• 204] We have always known that previous experience
is important for artistic success, but we never knew exactly why. [• 205] Now we know
that it is because each experience we have actually changes our brain’s structure,
leaving us with better resources for dealing with that particular experience if we have it
again.’
And: [• 206] ‘Each trained artist or designer acquires over time a brain whose structure
helps him or her to perform the particular tasks he or she is engaged in.
[• 207] The process by which this happens is one that is only recently has been
understood. [. . .] [• 208] By concentrating on a particular activity we redesign the area
of the brain that we use for it. [. . .] [• 209] Of course those neurally based motor
skills will then influence his own work, [• 210] and they will do so without him being
conscious of it.
[• 211] This is one of the most important insights yielded by neuroscience. [• 212] In a
field like art or design you can have lots of bright ideas, [• 213] but if you don’t have
the required motor skills with pencil or mouse your work will not be a success.’
[• 214, 215, 216] During the past years, I provided a manual exercise, each time at the
start of a fresh course. [• 217, 218, 219] Not only to introduce type quite
straightforward to all students, [• 220, 221, 222] and encourage them to develop some
basic skills. [• 223, 224, 225] But also to enable me to start memorizing all those new
names after finishing the project.
[• 226, 227, 228] The first class in the sequence is of 1981. [• 229, 230] The last
pictures, which are actually selfportraits, are of 2006.

29. BEYOND [• T 231]
[• T 232]
‘Die Lese-Erfahrungen gelten für die Handsatz-Technik von vor 400 Jahren wie für die
Technik von übermorgen. Selbst wenn Bücher nicht mehr auf Papier gedruckt werden
sollten, bleibt vieles gültig.’
LeseTypo, Hans Peter Willberg
Remains the last part of this talk, which is about The State Of The Art
In The Digital Age . . .
. . . I have already described the change of the profession due to a number of
technologic innovations. Probably design and technology are linked due to mass-
production. [• 233] Is design not driven by technology?
[• 234] . . . And I have tried to research the state of mind of The Contemporary
Reader. Ok, the times they are a-changing [• 235], but are we?
[• 236] Meantime, over time, we all changed pencils, [• 237] and bought quite
expensive digital ones.
Which reminds me: back in the seventees, [• 238] I was one of the first graphic
designers in Holland [• 239] working on a huge mainframe [• 240] studying Fortran and
[• 241] Computer Sound Synthesis.
Then in the eighties, starting as a feelancer, I – of course – could not afford a Mac.
[• 242] Much to expensive, and over budget. [• 243] So, those first years, we mainly
used Atari . . . [• 244]
[• 245] . . . Besides the (German)machine was quite good, [• 246] especially because
the ST was ‘open’ & easy to program.
As an example I’d like to present these early digital sketches, [• 247] made with
Degas, the popular, Atari based, much cheaper rival of Mac Draw [• 248-251].
The assignment is a very special stamp, [• 252, 253] which is distributed in the
beginning of december by Royal Dutch Post.

30. So I guess my remark that programming, writing code – for instance simple pen-up-
pen-down Turtle Graphics [• 254] – should be part of every up-to-date curriculum to
offer students another perspective and influence design-methodology, is not surprising.
Like Harold Abelson is stating in the Preface of Turtle Geometry:
[• 255] ‘It is our hope that these powerfull but simple tools for creating and exploring
richly interactive environments will dissolve the barriers to the production of knowledge
as the printing press dissolved barriers to its transmission.’
[• 256] ‘This hope is more than our wish for students to experience the joy of discovery
and the give and take between investigator and investigation that typifies scientific
research. Like Piaget, Dewey, and Montessori, we are convinced that personal
involvement and agency are essential to truly effective education.’
[• 257] In this first year exercise, [• 258] students did experience some of the main
difficulties, [• 259] when digitalizing type manually, on a primitive grid.
[• 260] They all had to study the characteristics of a typeface closely, [• 261] while
choosing between zero or one, which in fact may be converted in ink, or no ink . . .
[• 262] Another example: third year. [• 263] What about existing Dot Matrix Alphabets?
[• 264] And how to create your own? [• 265] This exercise is about black and white,
scale, legibillity and consistency most and for all.
[• 266] Nowadays students of course should learn everything about stylesheets, [• 267]
Adobe InDesign and XML.
[• 268] They should study the applications of Woodwing, a Dutch based rather succesfull
firm specialized in Cross Media & Publishing.
[• 269] But I am afraid, by then, they have entered the professional domain of
advanced Typography.
[• 270] We have passed the bounderies of the basic anyhow.
Time to stop.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[• T 271] Thank you.
[• T 272] Any questions?