Typography - that is, typography the reader can comprehend and understand - is based on certain fundamental principles. As long as letters, words, and sentences are used to transmit information, these same principles will remain valid - even in electronic media. Part one of this publication discusses the typographic elements; the microaesthetic qualities of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, lines, and geometric elements and their diverse applications. Part two analyses the design aspects of space, structure, sequence, contrast, form and counterform, and illustrates their function with examples from teaching and praxis. Part three demonstrates how typographic elements contribute to design on the microaesthetic level. Part four, based on a series of architectural posters, analyzes the interrelationship between purpose, macrostructure, and microaesthetics. This publication provides artistic and technical instruction for typographic designers, architects, and professionals in allied creative fields. It facilitates a more critical appreciation not only of the mediated foreground, but also of the unscripted background and of the various relationships between them.

Typography: Macro and Microaesthetics

Arts & Photography

Kunz, Willi

Graphic Design

Arthur Niggli

Typographic design begins with a set of information and a concept. The designer, facing a blank sheet of paper or a computer screen, is anxious about the first step to take in developing a design. The elements of typography are an obvious starting point, but often do not get the attention they deserve. A thorough understanding of how letters, words, lines, paragraphs and columns are formed, what makes them unique as design elements, and how they express character and emotion are the most essential tools in the designer’s repertoire. The basic principles of typographic design transform the utilitarian quality of words, lines, paragraphs and columns into an aesthetic form that conveys both the intellectual meaning and emotional feeling of the message. Through the relationship between the elements and space, and their rhythm and composition, design not only objectively conveys information but also gives subjective cues for the interpretation of its contents. As a visual form of language, typography is perceived as a whole before its individual parts are read. The surface characteristics of the design – the topology – create the first impression and derive from the form, size, position, and color of the typographic elements. Captured in a series of transparent diagrams, they reveal a new design dimension and animate the designer to further develop the original conceptual idea. This process provides the designer with a tool for refining, altering, adjusting, deconstructing and reassembling the individual levels to create a finely detailed, cohesive typographic composition.

Typography: Formation and TransFormation

Niggli Verlag

Every human being has creative abilities that often remain undiscovered. Inspired by alphanumeric characters, symbols and geometric elements Willi Kunz has, over several years and in regular short sessions, documented his creative thoughts in his sketchbooks. The symmetrical dimensions of a square are always the defining frame in which he produces three aesthetically connected line drawings. With its manifold black and white illustrations this book is a source of inspiration – not only for designers.

Phantasmagorias: Daydreaming with Lines

Individual Artists

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Books by Kunz, Willi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kunz, Willi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Typography: Macro and Microaesthetics

Typography: Formation and TransFormation

Phantasmagorias: Daydreaming with Lines