Lettering and Society

Abstract

Lettering is omnipresent in our daily lives and takes a great variety of forms; it involves two different types of reading behavior: private and voluntary, public and involuntary. There is little physical similarity between the two. Thought of as a medium, the physical qualities of lettering—color, form and dimension—regain importance. Lettering can transmit not only the meaning of the words but also an attitude towards those words. Criteria for which public lettering should be judged are presented. Socially, public lettering should enrich our environment through creative variety of all appropriate letter styles. In lettering education both the application of geometric principles and the study of the past are important. The past can provide models, ideas, and inspiration toward the many directions lettering can be extended; no legible letter is obsolete.