Narcissus Koman
CONCERNING TYPE
NOREQLR STT1DI0
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE DOM1NUS
by G. H. Saxon Mills
COMMERC1AL ART
April, 1925.
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IT is not an easy matter to define in so many
words that quality in an object, which we cali
beauty. But we all know that even apart from
works of art, there are certain things from the shape
and design of which we receive definite pleasure.
Now, it would not be completely true to say that if
a thing looks right it is right, but we find that it is very
often the case that the more completely it fulfils the
purpose for which it was intended, the more pleasing
it becomes to the eye, although the mere look of the
thing was a question that had probably never entered
the designer's head.
In other words, beauty of form does not necessarily
come fron any conscious striving after this effect on
the part of the designer. He is concerned solely with
fitness for purpose, with getting the very utmost out
of the material at his disposalin short, with effi-
ciency. And in the process, this elusive quality,
which we cannot exactly define, but which we all
re.cognise and valué, is miraculously born.
The cut of the sails, for instance, on the famous tea
clippers, was a sheer joy to behold. But it was not
adopted merely because it pleased the eye. It was
rather the result of many centuries of trial and error
in finding the most efficient shape possible. How
graceful, too, were the long lines of the hull, which
had been designed solely that the ship might pass
through the water with a minimum of resistance.
Take as another example, the evolution of the
railway engine. For a whole century designers of
locomotives have been entirely concerned with
producing engines which will pul! a greater weight at
a greater speed at less cost And they have made
tremendous progress in this regard. But in com-
paring a modern locomotive such as the L.N.E.R.
"Flying Scotsman" with Stevenson's "Rocket," we
notice more than mechanical improvement. For
here again gracefulness of form has crept in, un-
bidden, perhaps, even unnoticed, by the designer, and
behold, from the awkward ugliness of the "Rocket" a
thing of beauty has been evolved, richly satisfying
to the eye, and the very embodiment of power and
speed.
And what, you may ask, has all this to do with the
subject on which I am writing Simply thisthat
while I admit that my theory may not be generally
applicable and, therefore, not completely satisfactory,
it certainly holds good in the sphere of type design.
The first and last requirement of a type is that it
should be legible. The greater its legibility the more
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