Typography is one of the most important tools for an effective visual communication and as a graphic designer. The instant words materialise on page or screen, they begin to express ideas and possess a meaning.
Something with a meaning relies upon its ability to present its idea in a form that can be communicated and received. This communicability is based on sets of symbols, which include letters and words and also on the space between words, punctuation and placement of the characters.
Words are powerful things, they can evoke emotions, guide aesthetics, prompt actions, convey ideas and first and foremost allow us to communicate. It is this ability of words to efficiently encapsulate a concept, to represent ‘memes’ that have made them a prime unit for carrying cultural ideas, behaviour, style or usage that can be transmitted from one mind to another.
Words are becoming more powerful as we condense text strings. In graphic design there is a real need for more efficient usage of words within a defined space. This has inevitably helped to augment the power of words.
Language has many ways of communicating ideas and has more than a few tricks that efficiently communicate in a way that is highly memorable. Every symbol including typefaces and language has a dual meaning – what it is literally and what we have learnt to associate it with. The way we select typefaces is intentional because they tell stories, beyond the literal words. They can be subject to emotions and aesthetics i.e. serious, light hearted, comical, pretentious, etc.
A typeface could be made more expressive through the way we apply colour, weight, form and spacing. With customisation type can function as an image. To be effective however positions and forms must reflect meanings and functions.
Yolanda Wafaquani’s Graphic Design Blog 