Experimental Type vs Modernism

実験的タイポグラフィ / モダニズム

Experimental Type comes from Avant-garde and Modernism from Functionalism. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with different intent, which is the fastest way to tell them apart.

Experimental Type

Experimental Type — Barry Deck《Template Gothic》の見本 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0Experimental Type — Zuzana Licko《Mrs Eaves》の見本 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0Experimental Type — Zuzana Licko《Matrix II》の見本 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0

Pushes letters from something read toward something seen and felt.

Modernism

Modernism — Le Corbusier《サヴォア邸》1931 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0Modernism — Mies van der Rohe《バルセロナ・チェア》とバルセロナ・パヴィリオン — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Modernism — Mies van der Rohe《シーグラム・ビル》1958 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Replaces ornament with reasoned form and aims at universality.

Experimental TypeModernism
Era1980s–1920s–1970s
FamilyAvant-gardeFunctionalism
KindStyleStyle
CuesDistorted letterforms / Overlaps / Extreme letterspacing / Tension with legibilitySimplification / Clear hierarchy / Function first / Universal forms
Best used forMaking the title itself the visual · Breaking déjà vu in music and cultureBuilding a brand foundation that lasts · A vessel that never gets in the content's way
TypeVariable, stretched, dismantled — support with a plain text faceA sans-serif with few quirks
CompositionRun type to the edges and partially conceal itLogical hierarchy and generous white space
MaterialMonochrome plus one color; warps and scanlinesBlack and white with a single accent color
CautionBreak everything and the way in disappears. Always keep one readable layer.Blandness is not universality. Hold clear intent in every ratio and interval.

Put these two together

Avant-garde ／ Functionalism

IndexStyle