THE WORD
50 Theory of Relativity II
WORDS EXIST IN RELATION TO OTHER WORDS. Therefore, every decision that is made, whether style, size, weight, width, color, or contrast, must take into consideration all of the other words (and all of the other elements) on the page or screen. Every design decision, no matter how small, has an effect on every other aspect of the design. Changing the scale of one word may necessitate adjusting the scale of another, and not necessarily by the same percentage. The more elements there are, the more complex the equation becomes (but unlike mathematics, where there is only one answer to an equation, designers may find many successful answers to the same problem).
Project
Riefenstahl/Astaire
Company
SFMOMA
Design Director
Jennifer Sonderby
Designers
Amadeo DeSouza, Steven Knodel, and Jeremy Mende
Client
SFMOMA
Theoretically, this design violates many rules, especially type overlapping complex images and the ninety-degree type rotation, but because of the delicate balance of elements, it is an elegant piece of design.
Designers
Friederike Kuehne, Jana Steffen, Martin Jahnecke, and Bastian Renner (students), Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle
Professor
Anna Berkenbusch
Client
Thalia Theater
The raw energy of this design uses effects that might not work elsewhere to its advantage: the lack of margin and gutter spaces, overlong lines of dense text overlaid on a strong field of color cutting though the lines, and text covering the eyes of the image. It is clear that these choices have been made intentionally, and that they support one another.
