-history
Serif typeface, designed 1989 by Carol Twombly for Adobe
Adobe was the app that people started using to make posters, first film poster it was on was At Play in the Fields of the Lord (Hector Babenco)
But now, not so major as it was
Shift from hand painted posters to digital typography, people can switch fonts more easyly
What is difference between serif and san serif?
Serif have the extra stroke that makes it look sophisticated, whereas sans serif don’t and give the impression that it looks modern
Font was inspired by Roman square capitals→all capitals, romans didn’t use lowercase
-anatomy
Font was inspired by Roman square capitals→all capitals, romans didn’t use lowercase
-commercial considerations
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-related artistic movements
Typography shifting from hand-painted to digital
Hand painted typography was an art of its own in the poster, whereas digital makes the swapping of fonts very easy. Strong cliches are made to fonts now.
-designer
Carol Twombly
Who is she? RISD. Sculpture to Graphic Design. Typography when there wasn’t digital. Went to digital typography program at Stanford University. Worked at Bigelow and Holmes Studio and designed type design and entered them to an international competition.
Roman emperor Tranjan’s column
-use
Well known for appearing on many film posters (used for epic movies, movies about people that overcome difficulties), but has since changed into the typeface of horror movies, b-movies, straight to video movies (used in movies that want to pretend they are better than they actually are)
Televisions shows
Book covers
“used for man years for signs in British public buildings, including government offices” Edward Johnston, Writing & Illuminating & Lettering (1906)
-appropriation
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-controversy
Overuse in movie posters (e.g. Interview with the Vampire, Geisha, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, a LOT)
By Yves Peters, typography writer
The usage of Trajan in posters increased in the last couple of decades,
-associated print/digital technologies It’s influence
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References
-‘Trajan (Typeface)’. In Wikipedia, 6 November 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trajan_(typeface)&oldid=924900399.
-‘Carol Twombly | Font Type Designer on Adobe’. Accessed 17 November 2019. https://www.adobe.com/products/type/font-designers/carol-twombly.html.
-How One Typeface Took over Movie Posters. Accessed 17 November 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI4shGV1EsM&feature=emb_logo.
REFLECTION
Q. What do I think about Trajan now that I researched about it?A. I think how it was replaced by the digitalisation of typography was interesting. I think that being able to manipulate text within a poster or a page or a line is very efficient. And by using limited varieties of fonts, the idea of it being a strong way of communicating mental images is very true. But I think that being able to 'not manipulate' and have the genuine feeling of a brush or a chisel would be able to further explore the possibilities of making a beautiful font. Perhaps we should celebrate more of the freedom of what our hands gives us.
WHAT TO DO FOR EXHIBITION
Make something that celebrates 'hand-craft'
Make something that gives acknowledgement towards the texture, shape, stroke of the font
Communicate whilst using the font with impact of the beauty of the font
