Multicultural
Bringing together the world’s varied visual languages, multicultural
design depends largely on context. In one sense, it may be approached
as universal—and therefore neutral—in presentation, but it may
also be more consciously considered a grab bag of styles and color
that references disparate cultural qualities to create an eclectic
visual hybrid of form.
Identity Applications
top, and details, bottom
Lure Design, Inc.
Jeff Matz
Orlando [FL] USA
Concepts
152
(Provision) Type Style Finder
CL905.042 / 4237
The idea of multiculturalism in type can be conveyed in two diametrically
opposed ways: as absolutely neutral and therefore universal, or as a mixture
of formal qualities that evoke varied writing systems. In the first camp,
sans serifs with little or no variation in body width among characters, large
x-heights, regularized curves in shoulders and bowls, and perpendicular
terminals—essentially those without any character whatsoever—have been
conventionally thought of as international, eschewing any trace of regional
or historical origin. However, the alternative—type styles that clearly reference
culturally distinct writing systems—may more readily convey the sense of
disparate cultures and people coming together. Roman forms, for example,
with linear junctures along the cap- or baseline, may carry structural associ-
ations with Hindi or Arabic, while some geometrically simplified, angular
characters may refer to ideographic or glyphic forms, such as in Asian or
Hebr
aic writing, respectively. Typefaces with swash or curlicue details,
or abstract inclusions, may similarly feel as though they are “foreign” as
compared to more neutral faces, whether serif or sans serif.
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