How Type Can Create Impact

The history of type is so long that it could quickly become boring. Suffice to say that prior to the Gutenberg press in the mid-1400s, books could not be printed quickly. Type was immovable and the entire text was into carved into blocks of wood which were used to print a page at a time. After movable type was invented, books were easier to print, but reading was still the pastime of the privileged. By the mid-1900s, books were commonplace in America, and families would have small, or large, libraries of their own. However, ordinary people could not print their own books, and they certainly didn’t have access to the hundreds of digital typefaces that we have.

Today, a self-published book is a common thing. College students pick fonts that are a form of self-expression or because they want a specific kind of design. The digital age ushered in the widespread use of the sans serif font. Yet, the history is still very present. The serifs and calligraphy fonts are specifically reminiscent of handtyped or handwritten manuscripts. Once, color was a thing only found in the illustrated manuscripts painstakingly designed by monks. Some of these manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells, are worthy of being called their own work of art. They took hundred of hours to create, no wonder fonts still try to mimic that artistic ability.

Type is sometimes chosen as a form of self-expression or to fulfill a need for an audience, but more often it is the thing people choose first and change the least. It is not something many people change or experiment with much. Yet, it has the potential to communicate the essence of color, shape, and feeling. Font can express an idea, a feeling. It has unexplored potential to capture an audience. It has become a common thing, but once it was not even an option. Books and words shaped ideas, and ideas created change. Impact.