lupton ellen - how to do things with typography

8/9/2019 Lupton Ellen - How to Do Things With Typography

1/86


2/86


3/86


4/86

typea critical guide

for designers,

writers, editors,

& students

theory

how

why

practice

thinkingwith

entertaining economical essential

ellen lupton

2NDEDITIONREVISED & EXPANDED

principles

examples

exercises

type crimes

fonts

factoids

fun

{MORE

INDIEPUBLISHING


5/86

typea critical guide

for designers,

writers, editors ,

& students

how

why

practice

thinkingwith

entertaining economical essential

ellen lupton

ONDE D

iples

ples

ises

rimes

ids

INDIEPUBLISHI


6/86


7/86

The book has becomea site of frenzied activity.

Red76,BoothJ15, TheNewYorkArtBookFair,2010


8/86

Published 1962


9/86


10/86


11/86

to vow

to name

to promise

to swear

to bet


12/86

It is commonly necessary that either the speakeror other persons should also perform certain otheractions, whether physical or mental or even acts of

uttering further words.

The circumstancesin which the words are utteredshould be in some way appropriate.


13/86

(How to Do Things with Typography)


14/86


15/86

Writing informs and feeds, supports anddescribes, backs up and interprets, comments and

reflects upon contemporary artistic production.


16/86

[Typography] informs and feeds, supports anddescribes, backs up and interprets, comments and

reflects upon contemporary [writing].


17/86

Typography:the arrangement of textin space and time.


18/86

Typographyis what language looks like.


19/86

Letter from Muriel Cooperto PLAN Magazine, 1980.Reproduced by DavidReinfurt inDot Dot Dot15,2007.


20/86


21/86

Working Library website, written, edited, and designed by Mandy Brown (2010).


22/86

Liner Notes: Conversations About Making Books. Edited by Markus Dressen, Lina Grumm, Anne Knig,and Jan Wenzel. Spector Books, 2010. Distributed by Motto.

(front cover) (back cover)


23/86

What does it mean to design a book? As designproduces an independent text, the designers

role could be compared to that of an author.As design marks a position regarding the

content, the designers frame of action could be

compared to that of a critic.


24/86


25/86


26/86


27/86


28/86


29/86


30/86


31/86

Three developments in the life of the book:


32/86


33/86

The resurgence of writing

Book as social media



34/86

The resurgence of writing

The book as social media

The diffusion of the author



35/86

A text is made of multiple writings...The reader is the space on which all the

quotations that make up a writing areinscribed; a texts unity lies not in itsorigins but in its destination.Roland Barthes

The death of the author

The birth of the reader


36/86


37/86

An author is a routine which makes


38/86

An author is a routine, which makesfor good conversation wheneverthat routine climbs down from the

windswept seclusion that walks andbreathes centuries of the word.


39/86


40/86


41/86

A Wikipedia Reader

1 Paul Branca

2 Dexter Sinister

3 Barbara Ess

4 Fillip

5 Rob Giampietro

6 Marc Handelman

7 Zach Houston

8 Adam Katz and Julia Sherman

9 Brian Kennon/

2nd Cannons Publications

10Chosil Kil11Alex Klein

12Marisa Olson

13Paul Pieroni

14Laurel Ptak

15Eileen Quinlan

16Michael Smoler

17Jamie Stewart

18Oraib Toukan

19Lia Trinka-Browner

20Jen Delos Reyes

21Rafael Rozendaal

22Ryan Waller

23Amy Yao

What follows is the documentation of23 travels within Wikipedia (navi-

gating from article to article viaa connecting hyper-link, producinga string of connecting articles).The string of articles produced byeach travel can be understood asa kind of mental-map: a wanderingin thought, or a deeper continuousinvestigation. The decisions that

each contributor made will hope-fully produce not only an arrayof interesting subjects, but alsoserve as a kind of supplemen-tal reader to their own creativepractice. Presenting these linkssequentially as they were trav-eled is also a kind of ordering

method. To an extent, digital sys-tems make hierarchical categorizingand analog ordering irrelevant (seeintroduction to A Wikipedia Reader,2008). Information online is notnecessarily categorized and orderedin the traditional sense, it isinterconnected with everything, andaccessed through these connections.

Here the contributors themselvesbecome the categories through theirown choices of what connection tofollow. The articles are abridgedbecause of printing limitations. Itmust also be understood that eachprinted article is also a documenta-tion in the articles continuously

growing life. That is the nature ofuser-generated content. Things arerevised and updated. Some of theconnections presented here may now

be broken. Like old trolley lines,they belong to a different time.

Yet unlike these old lines, theycan be reconnected. Obviously, thenature of Web 2.0 opens up room forfactual error. It also opens uproom for tinkering and play, whichwas not present in the rst reader.

Oraib Toukans travel includes actitious article in between fac-

tual ones (this article lasted nolonger than a day). It is a cultureof participation. Even trickstersand trouble-makers can participate.But this tinkering is not alwaysrooted in misinformation. Whenlooking at the Hannah Arendt arti-cle (which came up twice through

Marc Handelman and Eileen Quinlan),I had the uncanny realization thatI was looking at my own hand inthe photograph of her gravestone.I uploaded the photograph over ayear before and had forgotten aboutit. I had thought, with it becom-ing more difcult to play with the

text, why not play with the images?

Anyone can assert their presencein the backgrounds and margins ofphotographs, becoming part of theinformation.

David Horvitz, September 2009

This was commissioned by the Art Libraries Society

of New York for the Contemporary Artists Books

Conference at Printed Matters 2009 NY Art Book

Fair. It was organized through David Senior at the

Museum of Modern Art Library.

1985Acadian Driftwood

AdaptationAdrenal MedullaAfterimagesAhimsaAl-HurriyaAldous HuxleyAlzheimers diseaseAnalog Hole

Andrew HuxleyAnimismAsparagusAssholeAttention

Attention-Defcit

Hyperactivity DisorderAugmented RealityAugmented Virtuality

Autobiography of MalcolmXAxon

AyurvedicBBCBabiesBanality of EvilBard College

Bellevue Hospital CenterThe Birth of Tragedy fromthe Spirit of MusicBlack and White DualismBob DylanBottom of the PyramidBoulderBoy SopranoBrewers Dictionary of

Phrase and FableBroadmoor HospitalBrothelsCentral IntelligenceAgencyCharles Sanders PeirceChoirCobble

Cocktail Party EffectThe Colbert Report

Commodore 64Constructed LanguageCopy ProtectionCrossbowCyberpunkData-miningDaydreamDealer

DepersonalizationDharmacakraDiane VreelandDistributionDreamDualismDylan ThomasEgo DeathEnclave and Exclave

European MicrostatesEvangelineEwald Hering

ExtraterritorialityEye MovementFaces of DeathFergieFlowers

Ford Model TFordlandiaFormal LanguageFriedrich NietzscheGdels IncompletenessTheoremsGeopoliticsGhassan KanafaniGhost in the Machine

GoguryeoThe GoodiesGrapeGravelGreat UpheavalGreg DykeHallucinogen-Persisting-Perception Disorder

Hannah ArendtHarpers Bazaar

Health CareHenry WadsworthLongfellowHillHizbelHurHorizontal Gene TransferHuman AnimalCommunication

Human SpeechomeProjectHunter vs. Farmer TheoryHyperfocusIm Sorry, Ill Read ThatAgainIm Sorry I Havent aClueIllegal Drug Trade

Illness

Infnite Set

Infnity

InterspeciesCommunicationIslamic calligraphyJabberwockyJames Joyce

JapanJune and Jennifer GibbonsKara WalkerKiberaKilroy Was HereKoreaLSDLibya National FootballTeam

LiechtensteinLightList of deitiesThe Magical NumberSeven, Plus or Minus TwoMantraMarcel DuchampMarys Room

MaterialismMeditation

Menachem BeginMichel FoucaultMixed RealityMnemonicMobile PhoneMountainMushroomMushroom Cloud

MyceliumMythologyNaive Set TheoryNaji al-AliNames of GodNauseaNeologismNeuralgiaNeuroscience

Nonce WordNonviolentNuclear Weapons

Objects of the MindOmnidirectional TreadmillOptical IllusionOrganumOrigin of language

Our Band Could Be YourLifeOxford English DictionaryPainPeanutsPebblePeppermintPolice Enforced ANPR inthe UK

PolyphonyPopulation BottleneckPortmanteauxPostmaterialismPragmatismPrecisionismPrincipia MathematicaProhibition in the United

StatesQalam

QualiaQuarkRapid Eye MovementRasul v. BushRecord LabelReproductionRhizomeRock

Roland RatRoman NumeralsRussian RouletteSR-71 BlackbirdSan FranciscoSanskritSantiago Ramon Y CajalSarah McLachlanSatire

SetShamanismSheila E.

Shock ArtSilent LetterSimulated RealitySing-alongSleep Deprivation

SnowcloneSoaplandSongs of MassDestructionSoulStanford PrisonExperimentStill LifeStimulation

Stokely CarmichaelStressSubitizing and CountingSummitSuperior ColliculusSystemic BiasTalking AnimalTally Sticks

TandemTandem Bicycle

Taxus BaccataTelevisionTetragrammatonThomas NagelTitaniumTranshumanismTurkish BathUnderground Economy

UnisonVaccinationVegetarianismVideotapeVile BodiesVirtual RealityVoluntary HumanExtinction MovementWaxwing

We Are the WorldWestern EuropeWikipedia

William James

A Wikipedia Reader. Commissioned by the Art Libraries Society of New York for the ContemporaryArtists Books Conference at Printed Matters 2009 NY Art Book Fair.

2Dexter Sinister Pragmatism William James Charles Sanders Peirce Principia Mathematica


42/86

2Pragmatism

Pragmatism is the philosophy

where practical consequences

and real effects are vital

components of meaning and

truth. Pragmatism began in the

late nineteenth century with

Charles Sanders Peirce and

his pragmatic maxim. Through

the early twentieth-century

it was developed further inthe works of William James,

John Dewey andin a more

unorthodox mannerby George

Santayana. Other impor-

tant aspects of pragmatism

include anti-Cartesianism,

radical empiricism, instru-

mentalism, anti-realism,

vericationism, conceptualrelativity, a denial of the

fact-value distinction, a

high regard for science, and

fallibilism.

Pragmatism enjoyed re-newed attention from the

1960s on when a new ana-

lytic school of philosophy

(W. V. O. Quine and Wilfrid

Sellars) put forth a revised

pragmatism criticizing the

logical positivism dominant

in the United States and

Britain since the 1930s.

Richard Rorty further devel-

oped and widely publicized

the concept of naturalized

epistemology; his later work

grew closer to continental

philosophy and is consid-ered relativistic by its

critics.

Contemporary pragmatism

is divided into a strict

analytic tradition, a more

relativistic strand (in the

wake of Rorty), and neo-

classical pragmatism (such

as Susan Haack) that adheres

to the work of Peirce, James,

and Dewey.

Origins

Pragmatism as a philosophi-cal movement began in the

United States in the late

1800s. Its overall direc-

tion was determined by the

thought and works of Charles

idealism by providing an

ecological account of

knowledge: inquiry is how

organisms can get a grip on

their environment. Real and

true are functional labels

in inquiry and cannot be

understood outside of this

context. It is not realist

in a traditionally robust

sense of realism (whatHilary Putnam would later

call metaphysical realism),

but it is realist in how

it acknowledges an external

world which must be dealt

with.

With the tendency of

philosophers to group all

views as either idealistic

or realistic, (along with

William James occasional

penchant for eloquence at

the expense of public under-

standing), pragmatism wasseen as a form of subjec-

tivism or idealism. Many of

James best-turned phrases

truths cash value and the

true is only the expedient

in our way of thinking were

taken out of context and

caricatured in contemporary

literature as representing

the view where any idea with

practical utility is true.

In reality, James as-

serts, the theory is a great

deal more subtle.

The role of belief in rep-resenting reality is widely

debated in pragmatism. Is a

belief valid when it repre-

sents reality? Copying is

one (and only one) genuine

mode of knowing. Are beliefs

dispositions which qualify

as true or false depending

on how helpful they prove

in inquiry and in action? Is

it only in the struggle of

intelligent organisms with

the surrounding environment

that beliefs acquire meaning?Does a belief only become

true when it succeeds in

this struggle? In Pragmatism

nothing practical or useful

is held to be necessarily

to historians, biographers,

and critics.

James interacted with a

wide array of writers and

scholars throughout his

life, including his godfa-

ther Ralph Waldo Emerson,

his godson William James

Sidis, as well as Bertrand

Russell, Horace Greeley,

William Cullen Bryant, OliverWendell Holmes, Jr., Charles

Peirce, Josiah Royce, George

Santayana, Ernst Mach, John

Dewey, Walter Lippmann, W.

E. B. Du Bois, Helen Keller,

Mark Twain, Horatio Alger,

Jr., James George Frazer,

Henri Bergson, H. G. Wells,

G. K. Chesterton, Sigmund

Freud, Gertrude Stein, and

Carl Jung.

Epistemology

James dened true beliefsas those that prove usefulto the believer. His prag-

matic theory of truth was a

synthesis of correspondence

theory of truth and coher-

ence theory of truth, with

an added dimension. Truth is

veriable to the extent thatthoughts and statements cor-

respond with actual things,

as well as the extent to

which they hang together,

or cohere, as pieces of a

puzzle might t together;

these are in turn veried bythe observed results of the

application of an idea to

actual practice.

The most ancient parts

of truth . . . also once

were plastic. They also were

called true for human rea-

sons. They also mediated

between still earlier truths

and what in those days were

novel observations. Purely

objective truth, truth in

whose establishment the

function of giving humansatisfaction in marrying

previous parts of experience

with newer parts played no

role whatsoever, is nowhere

to be found. The reasons why

facts again and add to them;

which facts again create or

reveal new truth (the word

is indifferent) and so on

indenitely. The factsthemselves meanwhile are

not true. They simply are.

Truth is the function of the

beliefs that start and ter-

minate among them. Richard

Rorty claims that James didnot mean to give a theory

of truth with this statement

and that we should not regard

it as such. However, other

pragmatism scholars such

as Susan Haack and Howard

Mounce do not share Rortys

instrumentalist interpreta-

tion of James.

In The Meaning of Truth,

James seems to speaks of

truth in relativistic terms:

The critics [sc., the critic of

pragmatism] trouble...seems to

come from his taking the word

true irrelatively, whereas the

pragmatist always means true

for him who experiences the

workings.

However, James responded to

critics accusing him of re-

lativism, scepticism or

agnosticism, and of believ-

ing only in relative truths.

To the contrary, he sup-

ported an epistemological

realism position.

Peirce, but Peirces work

was not widely known untilafter this was written.) A.

N. Whitehead, while reading

some of Peirces unpub-

lished manuscripts soon

after arriving at Harvard

in 1924, was struck by how

Peirce had anticipated his

own process thinking.

Karl Popper viewed Peirce as

one of the greatest phi-

losophers of all times.

Nevertheless, Peirces

accomplishments were not

immediately recognized. His

imposing contemporaries

William James and Josiah

Royce admired him, and

Cassius Jackson Keyser at

Columbia and C. K. Ogden

wrote about Peirce with

respect, but to no immediate

effect.

The rst scholar to givePeirce his considered pro-

fessional attention was

Royces student Morris

Raphael Cohen, the edi-

tor of a 1923 anthology of

Peirces writings titledChance, Love, and Logic

and the author of the rstbibliography of Peirces

scattered writings. John

impact of Peirces thought

through 1983.Peirce has come to enjoy

a signicant internationalfollowing. There are univer-

sity research centers devoted

to Peirce studies and prag-

matism in Brazil, Finland,

Germany, France, Spain, and

Italy. His writings have

been translated into several

languages, including German,

French, Finnish, Spanish,

and Swedish. Since 1950,

there have been French,

Italian, Spanish and British

Peirceans of note. For many

years, the North American

philosophy department most

devoted to Peirce was the

University of Torontos,

thanks in good part to the

leadership of Thomas Goudge

and David Savan. In recent

years, American Peirce

scholars have clustered at

Indiana University - Purdue

University Indianapolis, the

home of the Peirce Edition

Project, and the Pennsylvania

State University.

Principia Mathematica

The Principia Mathematica

is a 3-volume work on the

-


43/86


44/86


45/86


46/86


47/86


48/86


49/86


50/86


51/86


52/86


53/86

Metahaven. Uncorporate Identity. Lars Muller Publishers, 2010.


54/86


55/86

Normative Typography:

How to polish the veneer

of respectability


56/86

David Barringer.American Home Life. So New Publishing, 2007.


57/86


58/86


59/86

Meta Typography:

How to play with your

apparatus


60/86

On the Self-Reflexive Page. Edited, written, and designed by Louis Lthi. Roma, 2010. Cover: from

Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, first published 1759; OxfordUniversity Press edition, 1983.


61/86

Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, first published 1759;Oxford University Press edition, 1983. Reproduced in Lthi,On the Self-Reflexive Page.

When it comes to visual elements


62/86

contemporary critics have onthe whole been guarded, if not

disdainful.


63/86

Jonathan Safran Foer,Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Penguin, 2006.Reproduced in Lthi,On the Self-Reflexive Page.


64/86


65/86


66/86


67/86


68/86

Leanne Shapton.Important Artifacts and Personal Property... 2009


69/86


70/86


71/86

It is a truth universally

acknowledged, that a single man

in possession of a good fortune

must be in want of a wife.

jane austen

,Pride and Prejudice


72/86


73/86

Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith,Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.Published by Quirk Books, 2009. Cover design: Doogie Horner.


74/86


75/86

Will Holder. The Middle of Nowhere. Dot Dot Dot Fifteen, 2007.Based on William MorrissNews from Nowhere.


76/86

From William MorrissNews from Nowhere.


77/86

Found Typography:How to wear second-hand prose


78/86


79/86

Founding artifact ofFound Magazine, founded by Davy Rothbart.


80/86

Graham Rawle. Womans World, 2007.


81/86


82/86

Material Typography:How to do things


83/86

Ruud Linssen.Book of War, Mortification, and Love. Underware, 2010. Set in Fakir.


84/86


85/86


86/86

lupton ellen - how to do things with typography

Documents