1.Do you think designers coming out of colleges have a good understanding of typography?
I think designers coming out of colleges still have a lot to learn about everything, not just typography. They have a basic understanding, but once in the industry applications and uses become more apparent. It’s something that cannot be taught as much as understood through personal repeated experience.
2.What should young designers be taught in you opinion?
I think colleges need to teach a better, comprehensive understanding of software and the client/designer relationship.
3. What is your most important ‘rule’ of typography?
All rules can be bent, so I think it is important to have more than one “rule” and always be open to amend it to suit a design. So, I guess the rule would be to never be set in any rule. How can you be innovative in a box?
4. How important do you think the rules of typography are to creating a good design?
As stated, rules can be bent. It depends on the whole design – if the typography works and something else doesn’t it is still not a “good design”.
5. How would you distinguish between Readability & Legibility?
Legibility is being able to distinguish characters. Readability is to be able to read the characters in consecutive order to make a word/phrase.
6. What would you consider an unconventional typeface?
Is there such a thing? Unconventional is a point of view… Any typeface can be used “conventionally” in the right design…?
7. How do you experiment with type and different layouts?
I usually consider the message of the design and then I choose a direction/style I would like to follow. Then I go through fonts and decide which fonts are suitable, then I play around with font size, case, colour and placement.
8. How do you think the typographic meaning is affected when an unconventional type or an unusual typographic application is used?
It’s not the typographic meaning that is affected, but the message. Just like anything you can dress it up to change the meaning, the impact, the voice.
9. How influenced is your design work by typography?
Being interested in corporate design more than advertising etc, I think my work is more influenced by typography than imagery. I take my time to pick fonts, and then the rest seems to fall into place. I am driven by the message.
10. How aware to you think the general public is of typography and it’s various applications?
The general public isn’t even aware of design and it’s various applications. To expect them to be aware of one aspect/element of it is highly hopeful. Everyone with a PC these days think they are a designer of sorts, and the worst is that they “design” with Windows fonts… in WORD or PAINT!!!!!
11. Any last words on unconventional typography and unconventional typographic applications?
Again this word “unconventional”. If something works it works. My (un)conventional won’t be the same as yours, so I really think it is just a point of view, an opinion… And yes, I am aware that academics have argued this way and that, I just don’t think everyone can always agree on the same point.
