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
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 7 →
  1. Computers and Composition
  2. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

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