Ashley Soltis - Chapter 3 & 4 Reading Response

Within Chapter 3, the theme of syntax and communication was highly emphasized. It is important to note that words have just as much significance as the letters and characters themselves. They too embody the principles of weight, contrast, spacing, and depth. Within typographic design, positive and negative space should be meticulously organized so that it interacts well with other elements surrounding it, and so that it is appealing to its audience. Within the chapter, I realized that using lines (vertical or horizontal) and tilting words on a certain axis, can have a very strong connotation, as do columns and margins. They provide movement and change the experience for the viewer. I especially enjoyed the examples on page 54, which paid homage to visual accentuation and the rhythmic display of different information on the music poster.

Within Chapter 4, typography and its misunderstanding and neglect in the design world was emphasized. Typeface legibility is dependent on contrast, simplicity, and proportion. It was interesting to me that the proportionality of letters in typefaces is so important. It was also interesting that letters can appear similar or are easily missed in reading - such as f, i, j, l and t if the font is too illegible. The form/counterform relationship of a letter designates our perception of it and how readable it is. The dancer/danger example and the image of the dancer helped as a visual aid to demonstrate distortion and manipulation of space to correctly form a letter, or how simple it is to misinterpret the letter. The chapter also discussed spacing and the two types include: interletter and interword. They are both rather self-explanatory, as one connotes the spacing between individual letters, and the other, separation between words. After reading the chapter, I understood why this is a commonly overlooked facet of design - I never really thought about how important spatial relationships are, and how they can potentially not convey information properly or as intended.