http://www.typotheque.com/articles/beauty_and_ugliness_in_type_design
Typotheque.com has some great reference articles . Some of the different types of articles include: essays, reviews, interviews, tutorials and typeface stories. You can also sort the articles by: date, language, title, author and word count.
One of the articles that caught my eye was: "Beauty and Ugliness in Type Design," by
Peter Bil'ak.
The article analyzes some examples of beautiful type throughout history, then examines some ugly, then compares the two.
Some of the more classic and beautiful faces discussed are: Bodoni (Didone), Didot (Didone). Some of the "ugly" typefaces discussed were the 4- and 5-Line Pica Italian (Italian).
The article then compares the Bodoni/Didone with the Italians. It finds that one of the main differences that can be attached with either a beautiful, or a hideous type is the use of thick and thin lines. The article also found, that when combining these two contrasting extremes, a very neutral typeface was created.
The article targets and audience of designers, and opens their eyes to the different contrasts between the beautiful and the ugly.
What I have taken from the article, is the fact that although the beautiful typography has its place for certain objectives, I found the uglier type to be a bit more interesting to look at. I feel as if it's uniqueness could create a design that is more charismatic (obviously not suitable for all applications). I also found it very interesting that when you combine the types that drastically contrast in thick and thin, you get a very neutral typeface.
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