The New Typography

ニュー・タイポグラフィ / 1920s–1930s / Layout / Experimental Typography

Turned printed matter into rational information structure through asymmetry, sans-serifs, photography and functional hierarchy.

The New Typography — Typographic collage by Moholy-Nagy, 1922 (CC BY 3.0) · © Sailko
Typographic collage by Moholy-Nagy, 1922 (CC BY 3.0) · CC BY 3.0 · © Sailko
The New Typography — Moholy-Nagy, Painting Photography Film (Bauhausbücher 8) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Moholy-Nagy, Painting Photography Film (Bauhausbücher 8) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
The New Typography — Advertisement for the Bauhausbücher, 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Advertisement for the Bauhausbücher, 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Asymmetry
  • Sans-serif type
  • Photography
  • Functional white space

Best used for

  • Rebuilding letterheads and forms so they read in order without ornament
  • Fixing the hierarchy of headline, text and picture in a single decision

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Dictionary entry

Type
One sans in two weights, with hierarchy carried by size alone
Composition
Drop centering, set a left axis, divide areas with rules and space
Material
Black and red, halftone photography, plain rules, no ornament
Caution
When asymmetry becomes the aim in itself the reading order is never settled, and the page ends up harder to read than the ornamented one it replaced.
Further study
Jan Tschichold / elementare typographie / modernist printing

Related entries

Often confused with

More from Experimental Typography

Continue through styles in the same Experimental Typography family, prioritised by shared effects.

Browse all Experimental Typography entries

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link
https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-typography
Markdown
[The New Typography — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-typography)
HTML
<a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-typography">The New Typography — IndexStyle</a>

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