Crystal Goblet Analysis

ESSAY IDEAS

Not neutral/invisible- no type can be invisible all caryy connotations, Helvetica example.
Mian idea is to deliver a message.what if the message is non –verbal? Semiotics- the message is more then what the words say.

The idea of modularity gave rise to the letterpress technology and also influenced the shape of graphic design, establishing principles that were crucial to later industrialization.

Beatrice Warde’s Crystal Goblet, through extraneous metaphors, proposes the idea the good typography is typography that is invisible, in that the type should adhere to the readers expectation so as not disrupt their immersion in the content. The basis of this idea is that type’s main purpose is transfer
While generally accepted at the
Monotype, a type caster and composing machine manufacturer that collected and issued typefaces, produced multiple infamous typefaces; Times New Roman, Baskerville, Gill Sans . Warde, being in charge of the advertising and marketing communication department for Monotype, worked with Eric Gill to produce the successful Gill Sans typeface during 1929 for the London Underground. The artistic and typographic style developing during the 19th century was that of clean, quiet and purposeful. The traditional designs utilizing flourishes and visual ornamentary was seen as the antithesis of modern design . Being a redesign of Edward Johnston’s original typeface – rounded and natural in appearance- Gills Sans, though reminiscent of ancient Greek lettering, exemplifies the clean modern styling of the 19th century influenced by the accessibility of type casting and setting machinery . In the Crystal Goblet Warde states that type that draws the eye to focus on it rather then through it, say with an ornamental script font versus the simple orderly lines of Gill Sans . This stance is questionable considering her position in the Monotype Corporation. However Warde’s pro-modern mass-produced stance was not entirely uncontested. Coming off the tail in of the Arts and Crafts movement several prominent designers were against the move to mass-producing and considered designers who accused their talents for advertising to be part of a “filthy business” . One such person was co-worker Eric Gill himself, who despite his working relationship with Warde was vehemently against her ideals concerning advertising, specifically of his own typeface. Warde, in a letter to Gill, defend and advocates for advertising and mass production comparing books to meals and lack of mass production would cause men to starve1. While her condemnation