Text in Communication Art (Part 1) - Pratt

Nowadays Communication Art is one of the most important ways of art that makes artists can communicate with audiences, and in Communication Art; text or message is another method that use to delivery the messages to the audiences beside pictures. Communication Art sends message to audiences not just by normal text message or says every information, but it has to consider many thing about text such as typefaces, character of type, how to express emotional, even size of type. Also Communication Art has various media to deliver message to audiences, so how to choose the right media and the right typeface to put in artworks and to send message to audiences, and make audiences understand and feel the message; these call the art of Communication Art.

Text or message in artworks is very important element in Communication Art which artist or designer calls typography or typeface, also typography is the key that makes communications more work and effective.[1] Every typeface has different characteristics, and personalities, so it depends on designers: how to use typefaces for artworks.[2] Since 1900s people has known Communication Art from many media like newspapers, magazines, or posters. The most famous poster from 1917 is “Uncle Sam” poster by J.M. Flagg; using red bold text for the word “YOU” to call American male to join the army.[3] Then from 1960s digital media became the main process of producing artworks in Communication Art. In digital media most of designers use computer to create artworks, and how to choose to use typefaces also is the most important thing that designer has to consider; either characteristics (Serif, Sans Serif, Slab Serif, Script, and Decorative), size, weight, line length, spacing, and personalities of typefaces. 


We can see how designers using typeface around us everyday and everywhere. Many people don’t know that the street signs that they see, subway map that they use, even many of product logos that they use everyday are typeface name Helvetica. In urban areas people can see the urban signs like street signs are all created by Helvetica typeface because this typeface is clarity character, modern design, and variety of used.[4] Also many artists and designers believe that Helvetica can turn a bad picture to be a good picture by put a nice caption by Helvetica typeface.

  

Massimo Vignelli is a designer from Italy who designed AmericanAirline’s logo, Bloomingdale’s logo, I love NY, and New York City Subway’s Map. For Massimo Vignelli, he using color, weight, size, and characteristic of typeface to delivery his design like AmericanAirline’s logo; he doesn’t divide words American and Airline, but he uses color and characteristic of typeface to separate word of American and Airline. From Massimo works show the characteristic, weight and color of typography that show the main message that designer want to express to audiences.

Utah Commission on Marriage created the poster campaign for help people from marriage problems in campaign “Work on it Together”.[5] In the posters they use words “ME” and “MINE YOURS”, and put the cutting frame around the part that people can play with it. The poster “ME” show that in marriage life; if you cut “M” out and turn it 180 degrees, and turn “ME” to “WE” the problems will less. Another poster is “MINE YOURS” show that in marriage life; if you delete “MINE Y” out of “MINE YOURS”, you will have just “OURS”, then you will ensure your marriage life. These posters show how designer uses the characteristic of character to change the meaning of words. 

Another example of works that using characteristic of characters to send the message to audiences is the advertising campaign “Travel with the words” from Penguin Books.[6] In this campaign’s posters show name of cities which are the traveling places in Europe by using typeface, and play with character in each word. The first poster is for Paris; designer emphasizes at the letter “A” by makes it tall and thin to be a shape of Eiffel Tower which is the landmark of Paris. Second poster is for Pisa; this poster is designed to focus on “I” by made it bigger than others and italic which make audiences think of Tower of Pisa that also leaning. The last poster is for London; in this poster designer designs the word “London” to imply the Sightseeing Tour on a big bus in London by creates “L N D N” from word London in red color to imply the red bus, and makes two “O” from word London in lower case and using black color to make it look like wheel of the bus. So these posters send the parallel message from the posters to audiences by using the characteristic of letters as its show in posters: “A” in Paris makes people think of Eiffel Tower, “I” in Pisa imply Tower of Pisa, and “LoNDoN” that made in a shape of bus to show the Bus Sightseeing Tour in London. 

From four example earlier like Urban signs, Logos, and Poster design that designer play with characteristic of characters to change meaning of the words or play with the letters to double meaning of the words and letters. These show how designers using typography to delivery message of works to audiences by giving an explanation like in street signs or map, expresses the idea of organization like logo design, and sending messages to audiences by play with the words or letters to change or double meaning like in poster design. Designer using typography to be a main tool that use to sending messages or ideas to people in many ways. We can see how designer using typography around us all the time especially in Communication Art; especially in Advertising.

To be Continue...... >>>

                                                                                                                                                                   

[1] Gottschall, Edward. Typographic Communications Today. New York: The MIT Press, 1991. 1
[2] Gibson, David. The Wayfinding Handbook. New York: Princetion Architectural Press, 2009. 77

[3] Fine Art Slider Puzzles, "Data Re The James Montgomery Flagg "I WANT YOU" 1917 Poster and Posters Generally." Accessed October 12, 2012.

 http://web.archive.org/web/20041028073959/members.rogers.com/29194174476/posterdata1.htm.

[4] Hustwit, Gary. "Helvetica." Matt Grady of Plexifilm. September 12, 2007. Film

[5] Marc, . Osocio, "Work on it together." Last modified January 2010. Accessed October 13, 2012. 

http://osocio.org/message/work_on_it_together/.

[6] Ads of the World, "Penguin Books: Travel with words, Pisa." Last modified January 2010. Accessed October 13, 2012. http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/penguin_books_travel_with_words_pisa