A journey to the typographic north

Since the earliest writing systems emerged thousands of years ago we have communicated through symbols and signs in a more or less orderly form. We have agreed to fill certain symbols with commonly held meanings, and we have strived to transmit messages to others across time and space using these symbols. We have built systems. One modern system that we use every day – indeed, a system I use right now to transmit this message to you – is called typography.

The world of typography is vast. Here are type designers, writers, editors, programmers, visual communicators of all sorts, and here I am, putting together my thoughts and opinions. I'm musing about fonts, design systems, history, aesthetics, values and reason behind type.

Typography is a continuous interest in my life. Since I was a mere child the letterforms have transfixed me. Not only the content of a text has called out to me, but the form of the text per se. I've discovered that all the small parts that make up a page of text have certain functions that vary and imbue the text with meaning. This can result in a book page that is simply beautiful, or it can completely scramble a document. I'm fascinated by the power of these minutiae and I think a lot about how this all works.

I work as a typographic designer. That is, I'm a graphic designer who doesn't do a lot of drawing but bases my work on texts. I design books, academic publications, packaging, and websites.

Essentially, I spend a lot of time browsing through font menus.

Now, I'm setting aside some time to explore the world of typography further. I will write articles about type and typography, speak with people who have something to say on the matter, and establish some principles for myself and other practitioners. I go into this project with a certain naïveté. I work with type every day, but, to go with Socrates: I believe that I know nothing. So, I'm on a journey to find out more. This blog is a document of that voyage. It's a tool to help me sort through my knowledge, gather new ideas and form new ones.

This document is an evolving outline of my mission, written in December 2021. As with all things in life, the project is inevitably evolving, and what it will look like in five years I can hardly imagine. I will come back to this text to expand, refine and revise. To plot anew. But the first leg is hereby planned.

I set out from a port in Stockholm, Sweden. I'm Norwegian. I'm certain that my view of the typographic world has some Scandinavian baggage, and I'm interested to see what characterises my northern position.

Now that I've set a course to find the typographic north, I invite you to join me on this voyage. If this at all sounds interesting, please sign up for my newsletter and I will keep you informed about new content on this site.

Welcome aboard!

Best,
Kris