Why Is Typography Important?
The Importance of Typography
Communication has always played an important role in human culture all over the globe. At the heart of communication is the use of typography. Typography gives people a way to communicate through various forms of type and can connect students, family, friends, businesses and governments all while supporting local and global commerce.
Without the use of typography our global society would be nowhere near the advancement that it is at today.
Type Used in Learning
The advantages to the use of typography are largely limitless. Through type, people learn information where they can utilize that information and communicate what they learn through shared type.
Schools the world over rely on type every day to educated and enable their students to have a voice. From young students just learning to read and write through to teachers who use type to inform and expand the minds of their classes at a college level, type use allows that to happen at all.
Type Among Friends and Family
Beyond spoken language communication, the use of typography also plays an important role between family and friends. Creating letters, e-mails, family newsletters and homemade cards all fall under what is possible by use of type. Typography in personal communication gives people control of how their communication will look and can give an overall flair to any piece.
For example, in scrapbooking several forms of type are used to enhance memories that are built into the books. For baby scrapbooks, block lettering can be used to give a feeling of young learning to the pages, while in a teen scrapbook letters that swirl or have an edge to them can give a sense of style and personality to the pages being created.
Type in the Workplace
In business, the use of typography for communications is what makes the business able to operate. Interoffice communications can range from monthly company newsletters, e-mail correspondence, letterheads, meeting minuets, invoices and business cards. Using a uniform type through business cards and letterheads can give a company a sense of alignment in company design and representation.
Interoffice communications can be set in a different type with specific documents and communication using different forms that will enable a company to keep track of the many forms of communication within the office. The same forms of typography usage can be the same in governmental settings where the type needs to have a more formal and official feel to it.
Type for Commerce
Local and worldwide commerce is also affected through typography. The importance of trade and the communications that are needed for trade to exist are all due to the use of the right type. Advertising and connecting to customers both rely of how the product information is showcased by type. The wrong kind of type can cause a product promotion to fail in the consumer market.
Using the right type with a specific typography design can create a trademark that is recognizable with consumers in a local market and consumers in a global market. An excellent example of the right kind of typography being used is that of the Coca Cola trademark that is now know the world over just by use of what is now known as the Coke font.
This post is part of the series: Understanding Typography
Learn more about the many aspects of typography. From keening to letter design, this series will help give a better understanding of what typography is and what role it plays in desktop publishing.
