natalie snodgrass facilitating diversitynataliesnodgrass.superhi.com/thesis_presentation.pdf ·...

NATALIE SNODGRASS

Facilitating Diversity The Designer’s Role in Supporting Cultural Representations Through Multi-Script Type Design and Research

MFA THESIS DEFENSE, KENT STATE UNIVERSITY 16 NOVEMBER 2018

CONTEXT

A global bias towards the Latin script has resulted in an uneven and

unequal output of Latin typeface designs over other world scripts.

1.3 billion Chinese readers Arabic is the official language of 22 countries and the liturgical script of over 1 billion Muslims. 600 million Devanagari readersa

QUESTION 1

How does one become prepared to design an effective and well-researched

typeface in an unfamiliar script?

QUESTION 2

How does an understanding of the relationship between type and culture

affect this research process?

QUESTION 3

Does the use of anthropological research methods increase the success of this

design practice? If so, to what extent?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Literature Review

Critical Making

Interviews Surveys Framework

Secondary research

Topics include: Cultural dimensions of typography, anthropological research methods, type design research methods

Study investigating the methods of learning to design in a new script. Informed later research methods and provided knowledge into process.

In-depth interviews with 8 multi-script type design experts

Surveys with practicing multi-script type designers, type design students, and type design lecturers

Framework outlining the research process necessary to design in a new script, providing insight into the steps, the resources, and the questions one should be asking.

Primary research Synthesis of research

Literature Review

“Typography is always a responsive

environment.”

GERRY LEONIDAS type designer and lecturer

LITERATURE REVIEW Type and Its Relationship with Cultural Structures

Both typography and culture feed one another: typography responds to cultural conditions and culture feeds typographic form and output

Typographic meaning shifts with different cultural identities

Facilitating Diversity: The Designer’s Role in Supporting Cultural Representations Through Multi-Script Type Design and Research

LITERATURE REVIEW Typography and Cultural Identity

Cultural identity: an individual’s sense of belonging in a certain culture which can be fulfilled by the shared set of companionship, principles, and visual traditions

Post-modern subject: modern individuals have no permanent identity; it shifts as we age, with whom we associate, our interests, settings, and all cultural interactions

How does this affect typography?


Reference: Livesey, C. (n.d.). The Web of Identity [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.sociology.org.uk/ppmenu.htm

http://www.sociology.org.uk/ppmenu.htm

LITERATURE REVIEW Typographic Production and Consumption

Culture encompasses the artifacts, texts, or practices that carry and construct meaning

As an artifact that passes through this system, typography carries with it the constructed meanings of culture

A culture’s system of production and consumption directly affect cultural identities, and as production and economic demand change, so does typography


Reference: Du Gay, P., Hall, S., Janes, L., MacKay, H., & Negus, K. (1997). Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. London: The Open University.

LITERATURE REVIEW Anthropology and Design

Cultural Anthropology: the study of culture and a people’s beliefs, practices, and the cognitive and social organization of human groups

These connections are discovered mainly through long-term ethnographic fieldwork: a scientific description of the culture by someone who has lived in it


Participant field observation

Interviews with key figures or

experts from the community

Examination of artistic creations

Visits and spontaneous conversations

with locals

Conducting games for the exploration of

local knowledge

Use diagrams to expose the locals’ social,

environmental, and cultural conceptions

HIGHLIGHTS

Imperative to study the culture surrounding typography and

how it affects form

Ethnography is an important tool in typeface design research

Critical Making

CRITICAL MAKING Devanagari

Some of the different resources used include typographic research, visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art, and open-source font files

Practice writing the script

Consultation with Indic type designer was the most fruitful resource, providing dependable suggestions to research and trusted critique of the design work

CRITICAL MAKING Devanagari

ी ु ू

क व प फम न ा ि

फीका कन वाकिफ पिकप मनकामना क पीक कनीनका किनकी नफा पवन मिनमिनाना नाका कीक नवन कफ पिनपिनाना माफ कानाकानी विनवना वनि कव फपकना कम न कमीनापन नामा पूना नव विपाक मिनमिनाना कीकान कानन मिनमिनाना विमािननी मा मकान मन पावना कीमा कफनाना पनि नन पिनकनना मानवी कानाकानी नफा नापन निमाना ककना कनमुनाना फन मीन कानाकानी मापी वाकिफ नामि वफा कफनाना मुका नापना कानाकानी कनकना मान नपा कनकना पूना नुमा विमािननी कामुक मनकामना नुमा वम

CRITICAL MAKING Inuktitut

Limited amounts of type samples were collected from Inuit culture archives, Google Images, and Flickr

Practice writing the script

Heavy reliance on handwriting samples in order to establish shape progression, ductus, and construction of syllable forms

No feedback from someone familiar with the script creates uncertainty

! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + ,

!" #$ $%& '()* *(*%& &'(# )*$&%* %'*!!* !" #$$%& '()* *(*%& &'( #&" )*$&% *%'*!!* !" '(* *(*%& &'(#& !*$& %*%'*!!* !" #& '()* *(*%& &'(#&!")* $&%*%'!* !" #$ $%& '()* *(*%& &'(#& !" )*$&%*!* !" #$$%& '()* *(*%& &'(#&" '()* *(*%& &'(#&!*$&%*%'*!!* !" #& '()* *(*%& &'(#&! ")*$ &%*%'!*& '()* *(*%& &'(#& ! ")*$&%*!* !"

! "CRITICAL MAKING Inuktitut

HIGHLIGHTS

This process suggests the importance of some methodologies over others, sheds light on the order of research that should be followed, and illustrates

some of the typographic references that can be utilized in the process of research.

Interviews

Interviews with 8 expert type designers from across the world and with expertise in over 22 world scripts


LIMITATIONS TO THE PROCESS OF MULTI-SCRIPT TYPE DESIGN

Treating the type design process as a graphic design process

Pragmatic Linguistic Psychological Methodical

Lack of access to or difficulty in acquiring reference materials

Background knowledge of the language for which the script is used

Preconceptions and unconscious biases

research design

90% : 10%

INTERVIEWS Cultural Structures Surrounding Typography

Majority of respondents use forms of printed matter as their main source of research

Convenience and availability seem to be important factors when gathering research materials

This may denote the usefulness, reliability, or trustworthiness of different resources over others

INTERVIEWS Type Design Research Methods and Processes


All participants have conducted audience research, where they

maintain correspondence, test their work, or work collaboratively with native speakers, representatives,

clients, or designers.

INTERVIEWS Type Design Research Methods and Processes


Open discovery using secondary

and primary research

Critical analysis of form, use, and context

Designing+

The underlying commonality of all participants’ responses

is the notion of respect.

Surveys


57 type designers from over 13 countries with expertise in 24 scripts

SURVEYS The Practice of Multi-Script Type Design


How important do you think it is for a type designer to design in a script that is not native to them?

IMPORTANT OR IMPERATIVE

1. Pushes one’s comfort zone and the limits of typographic understanding

2. Help a designer to understand challenges facing different cultures and users in some of the simplest computing and design tasks

3. May allow one to move away from the inherent technological and informative limitations that come with knowing only one script

4. This practice can also present an opportunity to help an underserved group.

SURVEYS The Practice of Multi-Script Type Design


How important do you think it is for a type designer to design in a script that is not native to them?

NOT IMPORTANT

1. Emphasize the large amount of time and energy that must be devoted to learning it properly

2. Hesitation to impose an incomplete understanding of other communities on their respective members, which could have unforeseen effects

3. The argument that only designers who have grown up in a script should design for it, is, in itself, a nationalistic vision of design practice

SURVEYS Research Practices of Multi-Script Type Design

Participants stated that they look at resource materials significantly more when designing in a script that is not native to them

Contextual anthropological, social, historical and visual culture research is much more important to investigate when designing for a non-native script


2

Every time I begin a new project

1723

198

1

28

Occasionally (dependent on

project or brief)

Rarely

Never

I have never designed in this

context

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 260

when designing in a non-native script

when designing in a native script

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

Observation of type-in-use

Fieldwork or visits to locality

Interviews with local speakers and readers

Sharing of process with local readers

or experts

Teaching I have never used any of

these methods

23

33

22

29

13

2

The most frequently used ethnographic research methods in multi-script type design is observation of type-in-use


Parallels to anthropological research can be found in the type design process. Please select methods that you have used in your process.


30

25

20

15

10

5

The ability to define shape

group behaviors

The ability to recognize

meaningful details in shapes

Familiarity with local

idiosyncrasies

Familiarity with script’s

structure

Familiarity with language

Other I have never designed in an

unfamiliar script

24 24

19

27

10

57

Respondents feel most comfortable designing in a new script when they are familiar with the script’s structure

I feel comfortable designing in a previously unfamiliar script when I have... (Select all that apply)

HIGHLIGHTS

The goal is to become familiar with how a script is adapted across different

purposes and artifacts, and how these artifacts and their typographic

representations are connected to that culture’s identity and history.

Framework

This framework presents a groundwork structure for designers looking to navigate the process of learning to design in a new script.

Type Design Research Framework Structure

Decentralized structure with emphasis on research process

Stages 1. Script Research 2. Context Research 3. Client Research 4. Design

Research Methods 1. Observation 2. Interaction & Practicing 3. Critical Analysis


Step 1: Script Research

FRAMEWORK Script Research

Outlines the resources that a designer may pull on when researching the construction and forms of a script

Printed Matter Environmental Online Historical

Step 2: Context Research

FRAMEWORK Context Research

Outlines the areas of the context and culture a designer should consider when researching typography

Step 3: Client Research

FRAMEWORK Client Research

Outlines the questions and considerations that need to be addressed with each client and their readership

These prompts are in addition to the questions normally defined by a project brief

Language coverage

Circumstances of readers

Exploit new technologies

Define character set

Implications

FINDING 1

Studying a new script extends a designer’s perception of language,

culture, and human interactions and connections with design.

FINDING 2

When designing in two scripts, there may emerge an informative back and

forth between the two practices, with each set of knowledge pushing the

other into new boundaries

“Typeface design is a knowledge profession. Increasingly, being able to make a typeface

doesn’t distinguish anyone…The understanding of how to make a typeface that represents the

needs of a community and captures a trend, that is what you build a career on.”

GERRY LEONIDAS type designer and lecturer

Thank you

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