Type is the Word
In many ways a Typography course is an extension of a Basic Design course. Letters and characters are, after all shapes and their position on a page and their interrelations closely follow that of what is taught in a Basic Design class such as VA201 here at Sabancı University. However there is one additional factor which comes into play when designing with type: The shapes of the letters are not only abstract shapes, but when stringed into words and sentences carry meaning and it is the conveyance of meaning that is the name of the game in typography.

Type is the visual manifestation of the spoken word. And words are what we use to communicate with. Thus it is no overstatement when we say that Type is the essence of visual communication and by extension of visual communication design. Type, where it is present, is simply the single most important element that you put on a page, since it inherently carries the essence of communication and communication is what our subject of study as graphic/multimedia designers is all about.

Typography is the arrangement of words into meaningful clusters and hierarchies, sometimes in conjunction with other visual elements such as clipart, photographs, illustrations and vectors, that enable readers to navigate complex arrangements of written content. Wherever type is accompanied by visual material of a non-typographic nature, type takes the precedent. In other words type is the star of the layout and all other visual material has to be arranged in such a way that type is given first consideration. Thus when a graphic designer, who knows his stuff, designs a page he first puts down the written content, arranges it into hierarchies, works out the focal and navigational axes of the design based on the meaning of the words as well as the sounds that the type conveys and only after he has designed the type to his satisfaction does he go on to insert the non-typographic visual material.

Having said all this, I hasten to add that not all type that is put on a page needs to convey information. Type can be used as a purely visual element, as we shall see in later links. When used as such the same rules that apply to abstract shapes also applies to "abstract" type. However, this usage is only a secondary manifestation: The primary usage of type is the conveyance of information, as detailed above.

The sound of type
The day you can hear the sound of your type is the day you have become a fully fledged visual communication designer: Type is sound!

Words have sounds and a rythm: We shout, we whisper, we talk slowly or fast, loud or low, we accentuate certain words and syllables in words. And most importantly, there are silences as we speak: We insert pauses to accentuate and emphasise what we have said. Without those silences our speech would be nothing but meaningless blabber. We start or stop speaking abruptly, but then again our sentences can also fade in or out. Well designed type conveys both the sounds as well as the silences as much as the spoken word does.

Design without Type?
This characteristic of type being as much audial as it is visual makes it into the archetypical multimedia design element, one that designers have been utilising for centuries. However with the increase of bandwidths on the internet we are in an era where more and more actual sound will accompany visuality rather than type. The fundamental premise of the "word" taking precedence over all other design elements will still be valid in the future as much as is the case with type based design today. So learning the fundamentals of typography can also constitute a good basis for learning the fundamentals of narration and audial communication. Type, on the other hand, will most likely never fade completely from the arsenal of elements of multimedia design: In todays television commercials as well newscasts, type is used for emphasis and this will probably continue being the case even in the sound predominant media of the near future.

Finally, computers and the internet have provided us with yet another phenomenon: Currently rare, but probably very common in the near future, is a type of communication design; geared especially for audiences with special needs such as lack of reading skills, where type is omitted altogether and replaced completely by sound, animation and virtual effects as Flash sites, video or virtual environments. But even there the predominance will always belong to the spoken word, i.e. sound, strengthened by the usage of visual material.