Manifesto Grotesk: Articles of Type
This publication is dedicated to type and it’s design framework. It is a manifesto which proposes several different articles, each presented through a original display typeface.
The work is a direct response to authorities and powers which attempt to dictate what type/design ought to be. It parodies the words of Dieter Rams and David Carson, poking fun at the hegemony. The manifesto seeks to dissect the established bias of a industry saturated with white men and unravel the natural aporia of type.
Manifesto Grotesk is a dogmatic approach to type design, it’s fundamentally goal is to unveil the concealed. As a result the typefaces are unorthodox, abrasive and avant garde, the type endeavors to up heave assumptions about what is, and what is not good type.
Type fundamentally needs a framework to be legible. It needs limitations to communicate its objective. Therefore, typographic canon is constructed in order to appreciate, critique and master type. Portions of this type framework manifested itself through technological limitations of printing; other fundamentals were developed through aesthetic enlightenment.
This typographic context is concealed however. The framework has become unspoken, veiled through time, advancement and inequality. The design community has regressed to giving fellatio to old white patriarchs who made pretty fonts-with a blatant euro-centric lens.
Due to a lack of understanding of these foundational pillars, the loudest voices hold on to all the power. They constantly seek glorification and accolade. These vocal individuals, wish to keep the veil concealed because type defines communication, desperately grasping the acclaim they still have.
We ought to unveil the framework which lays dormant, the hidden treasures which holds a wealth of information; the articles of type. These articles must describe the previously veiled outline of type, discussing its origins within religion/history, conceptual ideas around text and type’s practical function within contemporary design.
We must also recognize the natural aporia of design as a practice. Type is constantly subject to opinions, educated and uneducated, young and old, all genders. Therefore, the articles of type are also subject to change, this publication can be rewritten, redesigned and recycled. Type and design must contradict themselves, there must be natural debate within the community.
