Typography

What is the role of type in design? Specifically, what role does type play on the internet? Most of the time when I am scouring webpages for information, the style of the typography used is not the primary thing on my mind. Unless, however, the creator has used some garish and illegible typeface, perhaps pink text on a black background, or even some tiny sized decorative font. Then the design has thrown me out of any content the creator wished to share.

Since content is so important on the web, regardless of design, there are ways around poor design. Browser setting and scripts allow viewers to quickly change an illegible typeface design into one they are personally comfortable with reading. If this is true, then what is the purpose of typography? Does it matter how someone uses type in a document if it can be so easily changed?

The web, and web 2.0 (the dynamic web and social networking) in particular is more than just text on a page. There is more to the web than static html text on a screen. The typeface chosen in an embedded video, for example, cannot be changed by a simple script. Thus, the choices made by the creator have a very real impact on the viewer.

To explore the importance of typeface, how type can impact how a viewer reads the content, how the personality of a typeface can influence content, I'm going to look at two pieces of animation. Both use type innovatively and both accomplish very different things.

They Might be Giants "New York City"

The first is an animation of the They Might be Giants song "New York City" by jhester25. The song is very upbeat and sweet. (It happens to be one of the songs my husband and I listened to a lot while dating, which is why I chose it.) The video uses text in an innovative and ingenious way to illustrate the song.

The video is completely in black and white; the absence of color makes the viewer really notice the variety of typefaces. And the animator made careful typeface choices appropriate to each specific lyric. For example, every time the Giants sang "New York City" the creator uses a typeface from a famous New York City publication. I recognized The New York Times, New York Post and the New Yorker headings. For the text "it's snowing, it's snowing" the creator uses a cursive, flowing typeface to match the words.

Even though the typeface is constantly changing, each "New York City" is in a different font, the creator consistently uses the same typeface for important concepts. For example the lyric "you and me" is always the same typeface. Unlike most creations where only one or two separate typefaces are used, jhester uses a variety of typefaces to match the lyrics of the song.

Not only does the author of this piece make careful choices about what typeface to use, he also does things with text to match the frivolity of the song. Words scroll across the screen, sometimes backwards in order to fit the lyrics. For example "I'm three days from New York City and I'm three days from you..." repeats the words from the first half of the lyric, they then zoom backwards across the screen.

This video makes a good case for the claim that type has a personality. With the ever-changing typeface to match the lyrics, viewers are caught up in the song. The text guides the viewer through the video.

This video is very effective. However, it would be even better if the creator could have solved his syncing problems after uploading. Some visuals clearly do not match. It's ironic that the timing of the text being off works better than the clipart he uses. If a lyric shows up before the words are sung, the effect is similar to a karaoke machine. When the Giants sing about the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island ferry is shown, the effect is jarring and disappointing.

Would the use of multiple decorate typefaces be as effective in print? Part of the fun of this video is matching lyrics to the song as they are sung. However, if I saw these lyrics printed this way, I could still appreciate the effect.

"The Lover's Tale"

The second video I'm going to review is called "The Lover's Tale" and was created by mamamasonic. I chose to analyze it because it's very different from the They Might be Giants video and yet does expressive things with text. Unlike the first video, this has no music; it is only text. It uses full color, not merely black and white. And instead of a variety of typefaces to illustrate lyrics, it's just one simple san serif typeface to illustrate a poem.

The poem is weaving a tale of "fireworks night" and the text rises and explodes to mimic the effect of fireworks. Letters separate from the words and drop down against the black background. The most effective bit is there for only a split second, a jumble of letters together that functions almost as a textured page, the words aren't important, only the effect of an explosion of color like that of a fireworks show.

The creator of this piece also uses color effectively to create a sense of mood. The text describing the fireworks are bright and colorful, bold pinks, reds and blue. The line "I am warm in bed" is depicted in golden hues, giving the mood of being safe and warm in bed.

Because the words are important and the movement of letters so integral to this video, the typeface is clear and legible. Unlike the first video, there are no decorative or hard to read typefaces. However, the movement is necessary. This poem would not be the same if it were just the text on a page.

This video is effective in it's simplicity. It uses a few elements (color and the falling letters) extremely well in order to tell a story.