Design Principles - Typesetting

Research into David Carson
Post-modernism - expressive
Futurist

Lewis Carrol - 'The Mouse's Tail'

Original:

Fury said to a mouse, That he met in the house, 
“Let us both go to law: I will prosecute you.”
Come, I'll take no denial,
We must have a trial,
For really this morning I've nothing to do.
Said the mouse to the cur, 
“Such a trial, dear sir, 
With no jury or judge, 
would be wasting our breath.”
“I’ll be judge, I'll be jury” 
Said cunning old Fury; 
“I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death."

The typesetting has been manipulated to produce concrete poerty; using the typography to create a shape and stress how the word 'tail' and 'tale' can be interpreted.

Adapting the type setting to bend the design rules of Vignelli and Mueller-Brockman creates a shape that resembles a mouses tail. Even though there are orphans and hyphanated words, they're appropriate in order to create the shape. 

David Carson

Carson is a post modernist graphic designer, renowned for his expressional compositions:

Random overlapping of typography and inconsistent stroke width pushes the boundaries of design to create an expressional and textured outcome. 

Changing the scale of the type creates contrast and negative space. Personally I don't think the imagery is required, however it does put the poster into context. I like how Carson's work is unconventional and pushes the boundaries of graphic design and self expression combined. 

Carson has been criticised for his controversial practice, however I believe the rules of design are made to be broken and post-modernism should encourage this type of design. However, it does need to be changed depending on who and what you're designing for. 

Anotel Knotek 

http://www.anatol.cc/concrete_poetry.html#.VmmQBeOyOko


Depending on the typesetting, it is possible to change the way the audience reads a section of text:

Tried to re-typeset 'The Mouses Tail':

Wanted to put the type inside the 'H' for 'House' to make the type give a visual cue as it's being read. Used Didot because I thought the structure of the type, with the serifs, would be better to symbolise the 'house'. However, the 'H' is far too close to the 'o' which makes it unpleasant to read.

I made all of the type Helvetica due to its consistency and balance. Objectively made 'mouse' smaller to connote how small the mouse is in relation to the size of 'house'. Setting the type with large spacing and disjointed lines forces the audience to look around the page as if it's imagery, not like conventional text in a book. 

Created the title, incorporating the author. Like Knotek, I played with the kerning and spacing of the characters to make the text disjointed. I like how adapting the position/kerning of the characters and words change the way it's read. 

Continued to experiment with typesetting, changing the  size of some words to fill blocks in a narrow composition. 

Added pictogram of a house because it fits neatly in the space and adds a visual cue next to the lexis 'house'. Reminds me of the typesetting layout when physically printing with lead type. 

Other example of typesetting:

Layering type can make it illegible, like some of Carson's work. However, putting a bold colour in the foreground and gradually fading it using an analogous colour scheme can make it easier to read and the colour makes it harmonious. 

Typesetting can be used to express a certain mood or tone, no matter what the copy says. Post modernist graphic design pushes the boundaries of design to make simple typography visually interesting. It is important to think about what is appropriate for the purpose of the design.