Undescribed Ground: A PhD Case Study in Typography

Technological and stylistic developments in the design, use and reproduction of text since the invention of the alphabet three-and-a-half thousand years ago have been exponential in the last two decades of the twentieth century, due significantly to the ready access of designers to the desktop computer and associated software. This paper presents key features of one of the first Australian PhD theses in typography. Completed at Curtin University of Technology in Perth (Western Australia) in 2004, the PhD investigates the late twentieth century phenomenon of the proliferation of an estimated 100,000 Western typefaces by understanding and interpreting the phenomenon from the perspective of those studied—graphic designers and similar experienced users of typefaces, rather than the general population of computer users. The research involves three primary areas of enquiry: the phenomenon itself, the popularity of typefaces and the broader context of typefaces in society, which were framed in terms of three hypotheses and three research questions reflecting the themes of type, trends and fashion. This paper documents the reasons for undertaking the study, the research method utilised, the significant outcomes of the study and future directions for research in the field. The methodology developed for this thesis draws significantly on research in the social sciences and began with broader brush strokes and gradually focused in—from the unknown and disparate voices of email discussion lists to the more focused results obtained from experienced type users and type designers who responded to an international questionnaire, then to targeted international interviews with experts in type design and type education and finally the application of the data to two typeface case studies. The first conclusion of this investigation is that the explosion of typeface designs has caused a contraction in the typefaces being used by professional users of type and the appetite for an ever-increasing number of typefaces does not appear able to be sustained in the marketplace. The second conclusion is that a checklist of criteria which are likely to have an impact on the popularity of a typeface would prove invaluable to designers and distributors of typefaces in a contracting and highly competitive marketplace. The third conclusion is that the explosion of typeface designs has caused the significance of typefaces to move from being viewed as the products of a specialist area of printing craft with its own mystique and history to one of a tradable commodity of debatable value within visual culture, susceptible to piracy, and able to be considered in theoretical terms of consumption, trends analysis and fashion.