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MoholyNagy
Typography is a tool of communication. It must be communication
in its most intense form. The emphasis must be on absolute clarity
since this distinguishes the character of our own writing from that
of ancient pictographic forms. Our intellectual relationship to the
world is individualexact (e.g. this individualexact relationship is
in a state of transition toward a collectiveexact orientation). This
is in contrast to the ancient individualamorphous and later collec
tiveamorphous mode of communication. Therefore priority.. un
equivocal clarity in all typographical
communication must never be impaired by an a Z
Letters may never be forced into a preconce.ved framework, for
Moh°,y"Nagy'
75
Design
demands too intricate and costly an apparatus. Soon the making of
a film will be as simple and available as now printing books.
An equally decisive change in the typographical image will occur in
the making of posters, as soon as photography has replaced poster
painting. The effective poster must act with immediate impact on
all psychological receptacles. Through an expert use of the camera,
and of all photographic techniques, such as retouching, blocking,
superimposition, distortion, enlargement, etc. in combination with
the liberated typographical line, the effectiveness of posters can be
immensely enlarged.
The new poster relies on photography, which is the new story
telling device of civilization, combined with the shockeffect of new
typefaces and brilliant color effects, depending on the desired in
tensity of the message.
The new typography is a simultaneous experience of vision and
communication.
—Translation from the German by Sibyl MoholyNagy
Bauhaus and Typography L. MoholyNagy
The utilization of machines is characteristic of the technology of
today s production and it is significant in its historical development.
As in other areas of production, we must unequivocally design our
machines for clarity, conciseness, and precision. Today everybody's
time is valuable, just as valuable as materials and labor. Among the
many problems with which today's typographical artist is con
cerned . . . the problem of uniform lettering is one of the most
important. This type of lettering can be traced as far back as Jakob
Grimm, who wrote all nouns with small initials ... the well
known architect Loos in his collected essays writes: "for the Ger
man there is a wide gap between the written and the spoken word.
One cannot speak a capital letter. Everyone speaks without think
ing of capital letters. But when a German takes a pen to write
something, he no longer is able to write as he thinks or speaks."
The poet Stefan George and his group have also chosen uniform
lettering as a basis for their publications. If anyone objects to this,
saying that it was poetic license, then it must be pointed out that it
was the levelheaded "association of German engineers" ("Verein
Deutscher Ingenieure") who in 1920 . . . came out in favor of
uniform lettering in a book, "Speech and Lettering" written by Dr.
FrTi?.^T!n8le!'; The Bauhaus (Cambridge. Mass.: MIT Press, 1969)
l
1925) °ngma,Iy Puhhshed in Anhaliische Rundshau (September 14,
16 MoholyNagy
Porstmann, with the reasoning that our lettering would lose nothing
if written with lowercase initials, but on the other hand would
become easily legible, more easily learnable, and would become
significantly more economical. They added that it should be un
necessary ... to double the number of signs for a sound when
half are sufficient. .
This simplification has consequences in the construction of type
writers and typesetting machines, it saves type and shift keys. . . .
The Bauhaus has investigated at great length all problems concern
ing typography and has found the reasons given in favor ot uni
form lettering V
fe Gernan by Wo,fgang Tabs
and Basil Gilbert
C o n t e m p o r a r y T y p o g r a p h y L. MoholyNagy
3»?sS3SSSS
,wn laws The utilization of the poss.bil.Oes offered by the
Design