Our highest aim is legibility

What is New Typography?

Walter Dexel, 1927

“The goal of the new typography is an objective and impersonal presentation, free of individuality…

Our highest aim is legibility, and our best typo is the one which everybody can decipher quickly…

Our abilities, our taste, or our artistry are of little interest to the public. Science and art are nowadays taken into account much too often. When our message is that coffee is beneficial or that Elizabeth Bergner will appear in the theater tomorrow, or that such-an-such cigarette costs fifty cent, art is not a question…

In my opinion the same holds true for graphic communication. The message has to be clear, objective, and very short.

…we should guard against all dogmas, even the factually, such as: “one reads from the left top to the right bottom and must design accordingly.” It is not at all essential that a printed communication be read from first word to last in consecutive order…

Communication through letter alone is a limited and specialized field.”

Desde cedo que se debate questões como a legibilidade ou individualidade dos trabalhos de design. Desde cedo, que surgem figuras prontas para recusar regras pré-estabelecidas. Desde cedo que começou a eterna relação entre beleza do objecto gráfico e o seu conteúdo. As pessoas contentam-se em ver coisas bonitas e em perceber o seu significado. Os designers passam a vida há procura da legibilidade, clareza e propósito nos seus objectos, para que os conteúdos apresentados estejam ao mesmo nível, da parte visual, e vice-versa.