Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 1990

Typographical Design, Modernist Aesthetics, and Professional Communication

Charles Kostelnick Iowa State University

Abstract

The technology of in-house publishing is radically shifting the responsibility for document design from the graphic specialist to the individual writer. To apply the new technology, professional communicators need to understand the principles underpinning typographical design and their origin in the functionalist aesthetics of modernism, particularly as articulated by the Bauhaus. While some of the key concepts of modernism—strict economy, uni versal objectivity, intuitive perception, and the unity ofform and purpose—are well-suited to business and technical documents, these concepts are bound to an historical and intellectual milieu. By understanding the influence ofmod ernism on typographical design, professional communicators equipped with the new technology can adapt design principles to the rhetorical context ofspe cific documents.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
1990-01-01
DOI
10.1177/105065199000400101
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality professional writing multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Tham (2026)
    Evolving Information Design: Insights from Senior Experts in Technical and Prof…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Passera (2018)
    Flowcharts, Swimlanes, and Timelines
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Welhausen (2018)
    Toward a <i>Topos</i> of Visual Rhetoric: Teaching Aesthetics Through Color and…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Benson (1997)
    Problems in Picturing Text: A Study of Visua/Verbal Problem Solving
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Price (1997)
    Electronic outlining as a tool for making writing visible
    Computers and Composition

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 5 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1177/002194368902600105
     ↗
  2. 10.2307/1511524
     ↗
  3. 10.1075/idj.4.2.04kin
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/1511415
     ↗
  5. 10.2307/1511484
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 11 View in citation network →

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