Portfolio Task 5- Graphic Design & Deconstruction

Lupton, E (2008) 'Thinking With Type'
of Graphic Design focusing on the aims of Deconstruction in Graphic Design.
Possible designers to look at could be Richard Eckersley, David Carson, Allen Hori, Ed Fella or David Frej.

'Thinking with type' is a deconstructed breakdown of how text and typography are used and there functions when used to inform the public. Text and typography differ in their visual appearance ,purpose and outcome. Before typing technologies were about such as the printing press and computers, common mistakes were made in advertisements, articles and instruction Manuel's which in turn would have been disruptive and often rupture clear communication towards their audience, however this almost gave each deliverable a unique difference to their appearance visually. Common mistakes made were lack of regularity , kerning and unbalanced spacing between the text, which would rarely be seen in today's informative designs. 

Once print was introduced by Glutenberg in the 1450's there was a dramatic change. Books , posters and text in general were becoming much more invariable. This gave authority to authors as the text became their own, and allowed typographers to focus on minor imperfections made in a piece of text when producing them. This in turn created sense of fulfillment to all text in general arose but also concluded its purpose and outcome. 


Typography generated using print is known to be set out in a certain format which people claim to be blunt and rounded which leaved no room for interpreting meaning. Although not every reader looks at text in the same way. The obsessive organisation of a piece of text can distract the reader from the truth and emotion of the meaning. Simple and Modifications to the layout encourage this such as headers, footers, numbers, boarders, index and accents etc. This encourage the reader to follow the text 'like in a book' buy instructing them with features. 


Text plays a key role in the process of design, as a graphic designer  i am always looking for the best possible ways to communicate and engage my audience using typography and layout. Typography's main purpose is  'to help readers avoid reading' making it less of an effort for the reader to engage and understand what is trying to be communicated. Graphic designers do this by breaking down the masses of text , modifying them and laying the text out in the most readable way. 

Ed fella is known for his innovative responce and development to deconstructionist deisgn, the piece above This is a perfect example of one of his deconstructivist typography illustrations. The explosion of colour and variation of fonts and sizes is very innovative and shows his free spirited design style which i much prefer to the constructivist print like typography. It is quite un-clear which encourages the reader to look closer into the message to understand what the typographer is trying to portray by using this specific style.

'Typography gives words nostalgia, history or an aesthetic energy that seem right, just so, or just AMAZING!'

- Ed Fella 

http://www.oberholtzer-creative.com/visualculture/2008/12/quote-of-the-week-23/