(section 091)
October 27th: More on Type

You know...I've got a fever
I've got a fever...and the only
prescription is more
typography

Announcements

• Election Day--next week!!!
  Tues., 11/02, 6:30 am - 7:30 pm
  Go out and perform your civic duty
• Belk College Speakers Series with Freakenomics Authors
  Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
  Ritz-Carlton Charlotte 201 E. Trade St. (rides available)
  Students $10 Fac/Staff $25
  Thurs., 11/04 @ 6:30 pm
• Brian K. Sims--Outspoken Series Speaker
  "Combating Homophobia in Sports"
  Wed., 10/27 @ 7:00 pm
  McKnight Hall Cone Student Center
  
• 11th Annual EGSA Conference--"Changing the Language Game"
  Submission Deadline: Wed., 12/15 (350-word abstract)
  Conference: 01/28/2011
  Students Union
  
• Southeast Women's Studies Association Annual Meeting
  Submission Deadline: Mon., 11/01 (250-word abstract)
  Conference: March 24-26, 2011
  Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
• Annual Meeting of the Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, Southwest/Texas Region
  Submission Deadline: Wed., 12/15 (250-word abstract)
  Conference: April 20-23, 2011
  Marriott Rivercenter San Antonio, TX

Plan for the Day

We've got a few things to do today, so below is a list:

• Effective Repetition: ethos, pathos, logos
• Chapters 9, 10, and 11 in The Non-Designer's Design Book
• Typefaces Groupwork--Discuss what you brought last week
• Document #4 Preview
• Introduction to Text and Subtext
• Preview for next week--working with graphics

Don't forget to hand in your Document #3

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Again, type is probably more of an appeal of ethos, but, as Robin Williams suggests regarding decorative type (p. 160), it may also evoke emotions. Remember, ethos and pathos aren't either-or when it comes to design. After we go over some of the reader, it'll be your turn to describe the ethos and pathos of the typefaces you brought in last week.

Ethos

• character: an assumption of one's moral or ethical nature--good, bad, ugly.
• credibility: an assumption that an individual or group is fair minded, believable, trustworthy.
• characterize: marking an individual, organization, idea, situation, or text (e.g., document) with specific attributes or characteristics.
• look and feel: this is an idiomatic expression we use in American English to refer to the qualities, attributes, characteristics, and textures of an item, person, or text.
  • Feel in this phrasing has NOTHING to do with a speaker or document trying to evoke an emotional responses of an audience.

Pathos

• emotion: sadness, anger, happiness, joy, celebration, etc.
• affect: response to emotional stimuli.
• feeling: can refer to emotions but is also used for senses like touch, which has NOTHING to do with a speaker or document trying to evoke an emotional responses of an audience.

Logos

• logic: as in a formal study and not an audience's interpretation of what's "logical"
• argument: reason behind supporting a position through evidence or formal logic (as in syllogism)
• facts: evidence claimed to, assumed to, or known to be true
• statistics: collection, interpretation, and organization of data; often numerical or chart-based representations

Please consider the above elements when doing your assignments and use the terms in your discussions and memos.

Chapters 9 and 10

Try your best to use these terms when you describe your assignments (in memos and reflections). Of course, when I say use, I really mean know them and use them properly. The following come from Robin Williams' book (p. 145):

• Concord--typefaces have little or no variety within a document; elements are of the same family.
  Not to be confused with Concord, NC.
• Conflicting--typefaces are similar (but not the same), and that similarity is what's distracting; such type looks like a mistake.
• Contrasting--typefaces that are moderately to dramatically different.

When you use the above terms, make sure you explain why typefaces are concordant or contrasting and why you chose conflicting typefaces...why you broke the rules.

Categories of Type

We mostly think of (at least in my design classes and research) two types of fonts and sometimes a third--serif, sans serif, and script. Of course, artsy, crunchy Robin Williams has to have six types. Well, she is the design guru. What do the following category types say? In other words, when might you use them? In even other words, desirable their perceptual, cultural, and rhetorical effects.

Oldstyle

Modern

Slab Serif

Sans Serif

Script

Decorative

Hey, at least we have choices. But why?

Chapter 11

Are you ready to be bold? What have you learned from Williams this semester?

LET'S BE BOLD...or should we?

Chapter 11 concludes Williams' book (we still have Chapter 7 in two weeks), and she commands designers to be bold. So I have to ask, when can/should you be bold, and when should you be...more reserved?

Type and Culture

Read over this section. Before we start discussing it, though, I want you to do something. Get on Moodle and describe your culture(s). How do you define the culture(s) to which you belong?

Last week I asked you to have a typeface that you'd be able to explain. Let's discuss these as a larger class. If possible, point us to an online display of your font.

Consider the following cultural questions:

• Are there any regional conclusions I can make about type?
• What is the dominant industry, organization, bureaucracy, or condition that seems to govern business standards?
• What is the dominant industry, organization, bureaucracy, or condition that seems to govern social standards...
  • in the country?
  • in the world?
  • in the region?
  • in the city?
  • in the city?
  • in the community?
  • in your occupation?
• What defines Charlotte life? Or what defines your hometown's life?

Text and Subtext

I want us to start thinking about implicit communication, the communication conveyed outside of standard language. Whenever we approach a communication situation, we have a priori ideas about a speaker/author based on previous assumptions. Also, sometimes a speaker communicates a message he or she did not necessarily intend, but the context creates the meaning for the listener. Sometimes the speaker is trying to be subtle about an implicit communication (e.g., You're a "really" good dancer).

Based on our discussion of assumptions, culture, and experiences (my lengthy explanation about traveling on the Chicago L), consider the following communication acts and discuss with a neighbor the subtext of the communication. The text is there, but the context clues might present different subtextual meaning(s). Try to discover the subtle, subtextual message/s in the communications. The rows below correspond to the class rows:

• Rows 1 and 4
  
• Rows 2 and 5
• Rows 3 and 6

Next Week

Make sure you read Chapter 7 in Document Design before coming to class next week (11/03). Chapter 7 in The Non-Designer's Design Book is assigned for the following week (11/10--visitor) when we discuss color. We'll be discussing graphics next week.

For next class, review November 3rd's links to graphics and ethics related topics. Don't forget to bring in graphics that you can work with for next week's in-class webpage assignment on digital graffiti and/or doctoring assignment.

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