Typography has become increasingly popular in design trends since the mid 90’s. Paula Scher, Partner at Pentagram NYC, rekindled a style made popular by the Futurists in the early 1900’s. The Futurists aimed at testing the realities of their society—war, industrialism, civic upheaval— and they did so largely with the use of type and color. They believed, similarly to Scher, that type could be just as expressive as any image. They took visual influence from the Cubists and experimented with angular text, varying type weights and type styles. The idea was to be intensely expressive with the type so that it would jump off the page and speak to the viewer. Paula Scher’s work with the Public Theater in New York, specifically in 1995, shows a revival of Futurist aesthetics. She had to some how communicate a tap rap style of music and dance in a 2D medium…she used expressive typography to simulate sound. Genius. Other designers realized that this style communicated to our society in a way that actually caused a reaction. In other words, it stood out from the formulated “image + text + logo= ad” that consumes most advertising today. The “Noise Funk” campaign was hugely successful in NYC and the style began popping up citywide. This typographic treatment proliferated into billboards, printed ads, subway, etc.
So how do we get from Scher’s “Noise Funk” style to a nation-wide typographical movement? Once something works, everyone wants a piece of it. In the last 10 years, this style has slowly made its way into classrooms across America and design agencies hungry for influence and direction. Let’s face it; mainstream clients have a hard time accepting only the use of type in an advertising campaign; “image + text + logo= ad” remember. They want to use glossy images and fancy catch phrases and logos…together! Cut the glossy images, and what you’re left with is frightening. You are basically relying on the consumer to engage with text on a page without a visual aid…at least that’s how they (clients) see it.
What this new trend is teaching us is that the typography IS the visual aid. Today, we see this style predominately in television advertising. Take the Starbucks television “Vote” and “Super Bowl” campaigns. Both ads used about 90% typography only coupled with catchy music and flat graphics. Why? To stand out against the other TV clutter! Turn your tube to Food Network any time of the day and catch a glimpse of motion graphic text floating across your screen advertising the network’s programming. TV isn’t the only medium getting a strong dose of motion graphics 101. If they are smart, print advertisers will catch up to what TV creatives have realized; if you do it well, it can be cheap and effective.
So next time you have a design project that needs something fresh and following design trends, consider the use of type as a means visual communication. Let text speak for itself.
