lN t923 JAN iscHlcHoLD. A TtvENTy-oNE-yEAR-oLb GERMAN TypoGRApHER, ATTENDED rxe aaDHlus ExHlBlrloN lN wElMAR. HE WAS MESMERIZED.

The exhibition was bursting with

works of art and design influenced by De Stijl and constructivism. These vivid examples of the then emerging New Typograptry changed hilrl. For tlre next decade Tschichold put aside his classical training. including his

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afleciion for symmetrical design, and became a powerful advoc.lte of the new modern typographic movement. ln 1928 he wrote his seminal book lhe New Typography, which opened these ideas to the printitrg industry in a
clear, accessible mallner. Theories became rules, while conrplex experiments became simple, reproducible sys-

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his possior)ate arq(rnrt'nI f or the New Typography trut olso f or hi5 equally fervent turn against it. Af ter beiilg itnprisoned by the Nazis and later escapinr; to Basel durirrtl World War ll, Tschichold reconsidered. ln the

pttrityirrr; otrlr:r of tht'Now lylxrqraphy lte sensr:rl an elernerrl 0f fascism.,During the latter part of his life he turned back to the classical typoqraphy ol his early training. \

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THE NEW TYPOGRAPHY

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JAN TSCHTCHOLD I re28

clarity did not attain the high level we recluire today. This utmost clarity ,,.."rr".y is today because ofthe manifold claims for our attention *"d. by th. extraordinary ar.nount ofprint, which demands the greatesr..orro*y of.rpE6rr.
Thc gcntle swing ofthc pcndulum bcrwccn ornamcntal typc, cially understood) "beautiful" appearance, and "adornm.oi"

The essence ofthe New Typography is clarity. This puts it into deriberate opposition to the old typography whose aim was $eauty" and whose

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by

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evis.."rrlt" axis results in 1L- -,s---:-Jl---:L:l:-in the extrem.

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In the o]d typography, the arrangement ofindivrtuat.r*t, i, ,,rUorair,"ted to the principle ofarranging everything on a central axis. In my historical introduction I have shown that this princi.ple started in the Renaissance
and
has not yet bccn abaadoncd. Its superficiality bccomcs obvi,ous when wc lool at Renaissance or barogue title pages. Main units are arbitrarily cut up: for

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example, logical order, which should bc expresscd by th. or" sizcs, is rut}lcssly sacrificcd to cxtcrnal forro- Thus thc

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principar line

contains only three-quarters ofthe title, and the rest ofthe tiile, sizes smalleq appears in thc next line. Such things admittedly

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do not often

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| 35