Virtual Typography

A)

8

Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)

1st Proof Page:16 9

001-184 01212.indd 169001-184 01212.indd 169 12/19/08 3:17:59 PM12/19/08 3:17:59 PM

168—169

predict the continuation of transitions based on

changes perceived in the immediate past. The rapid

fl uctuation of people’s temporal awareness leads to

the suspension of people’s time consciousness and

induces a sense of patience. The viewer or reader is

then immersed in the perceptual experience so that

temporal measures can no longer operate in a

restrictive manner.

This journey through virtual type has drawn on some

basics of information and communication theory, on

cognitive studies as well as on various aspects of the

history of typography and multimedia. However, the

main argument has been built around philosophical

concepts that have been established in the fi eld

of phenomenology. The gist of this book, which is

admittedly hypothetical to some extent, leads away from

the pragmatism that has been cultivated by designers

and industries over the past decades. The principles of

legibility and usability should by no means be considered

obsolete. But communication must not be reduced to

functional aspects alone: aesthetic perception is another

essential aspect. This book may help to provide grounds

for a critical assessment of functionalist principles

on the basis of aesthetic concepts, and to establish

phenomenology as a paradigm, not in the place of, but

in addition to semiotics, semantics and pragmatism.

Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)

1st Proof Page:16 9

001-184 01212.indd 169001-184 01212.indd 169 12/19/08 3:18:15 PM12/19/08 3:18:15 PM