Typography is … – Sophie Golle

Dealing with the question of the use of philosophy in design during my master’s degree, one point became significant. Can philosophical considerations help to define the concept of design? Do things (like design) have a constant inner core, a certain unchangeable nature at all? Can I understand the nature of something through its defintion?
Today, the position that everything is a question of perspective, context and zeitgeist has prevailed, rather than an constant inner core.

Using the example of typography most definitions relating to the technique and the creative process of arranging type. But does that reveal the whole nature of typography?
Typography is… is a collection of 40 poetic quotes, that throw light on variouse aspects of typography.

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LED-marquee Installation

Letter by letter the Typography-is-quotes showing up and disappear right away on the LED display. It symbolizes that every insight is subject to zeitgeist and constant change.
The installation was part of my final project Thoughts take shape.

Typography is speaking to the eyes. Typography is the frontier between language and objects, language and images. Typography has moved writing away from speech. Typography is all about relationships. Typography has the power to make the whole world of thought legible. Typography is language that has been shaped. Typography is a material construction in which the activities of building, dwelling and thinking have become inseparable. Typography turns language into a visible, tangible artifact, and in process transforms it irrevocably. Typography is visual writing. Typography is an interface to the alphabet. Typography navigates the flow of content. Typography shapes thoughts. Typography is what language looks like. Typography is more than a tool for visualisation of thought. Typography is a social statement. Typography is an indicator for social change. Typography is the voice of words. Typography is how we hear what we read.