Abstract/Summary

This chapter sets out and attempts to evidence the hypothesis that a series of developments in the technology of type-making, the environments of typesetting and distribution of texts, and the communities of readers in the last two decades have resulted in identifiable global trends in typeface design that apply across scripts. A secondary hypothesis is made that these trends can be used as a framework to identify the directions of design development of living scripts that are still at the beginning of their typographic adaptation. The author identifies these developments across the trajectory of typeforms from inception to consumption: reference forms, design vocabulary, type-making tools, typeface market models and distribution channels, developments in document genres, pressures from industrial standards and implied limitations due to technical factors, and changing readership profiles (in terms of literacy levels and document genres). A synthesis of these observations concludes that there are clear and identifiable trends in the line-level and paragraph-level representation of texts across scripts. The implication is that significant developments overarch and frame typeface design, regardless of the script to which they apply. In the discussion of these observations the author will attempt to connect these trends to education practices and resources, the emergence of regional and global authoritative sources and opinion leaders, and groups that are only marginally aware of typeface design as a discipline with a substantial cultural dimension. The discussion will posit that these resources and the actions of these groups reinforce a script-agnostic approach to typographic development, which prioritises the uniformity of document genres across markets. The chapter closes with a discussion of the paradox that while typeface design is arguably moving into the mainstream of awareness of communities involved in textual communication, it is doing so at the expense of regional identity, and the formulation of globally identifiable typeface design genres.