Typography-What it Means to Me

      When I think of typography, I think of the way that someone on the phone sounds when you're talkign to them and the kind of mood they are in. For example, if someone spoke in Times New Roman, they would speak with no emphasis in their voice, almost as if it could put you to sleep if you are not interested in what is being said. However, if someone spoke in broadway, they would be shouting what they are saying as if it were in big lights so that everyone could see it. Typography has changed a lot with the use of computers as there are no longer unique handwritings for everyone, and there are only a limited amount of ways to type letters based on the number of styles a program has. Typography sets the modd the person is typing or trying to speak to their reader in. It sets the way they want the word to be interpreted even before they are fully read and understood. It is a first impression that says what you are trying to accomplish. Typography will never go away as long as there are words to communicare through writing, and the internet and computers have given it a whole new meaning. Companies use different texts because they want to make a certain impression on the people seeing the logo everyday. Their typography is something that they spend mass amounts of money on, and while it seems like an easy decision it is a very important one that can be anything but easy.

Not So Different: Web vs. Print Writing

In the article,"Are They Really So Different," the author, Judy Gregory, sets out to do something that many people have hesitated to do. She gives the ways in which many authors and researchers have compared writing for the web from writing for print and attempts to show how the ways in which they beleive web differs from print writing are really not differences at all. She believes that it is not a substantial argument to say that the difference between mediums changes the styles and guidelines of writing. Rather, she believes that it is genre that really creates the difference because the expectations of the audience changes much more through genres, rather than through mediums.  I completely agree with Gregory because I also beleive that there are not specific guidelines or differdnces based just on the medium. There are many audience factors and many of the differences that have been given between print and web are not differences at all because in some version they are true for both. For example, there is a difference that says for web writing the writer needs to be aware of structure and design. However, there is structure and design in all print writing and it is just as important. The only difference is they may seperate it into three different jobs for print writing, while in web writing it may be an all-in-one job. Another rule, splitting information into coherent chucks also seems like a good rule for the web and Gregory agrees, however, she also argues that it isn't a new rule at all, and actually has been a rule for good print writing in certain genres. She ends her agument by explainging how talking about different genres with medium in mind is a batter way to specify writing techniques. I agree and thing the best point she makes is that the audience that is aimed at when writing is the most important aspect to deciding how to write and what guidelines to follow. As simply a medium, I do not think that web and print are substantailly different in writing criteria.