I just thought I would respond generally to these two essays on typography and the importance of design in text use. To be honest, after I got the end of Helfand’s essay where she quoted a post response, I really thought to myself, ‘yeah, I’m not all that concerned either.’ Reading these articles, and perhaps I am missing the point, I really just keep thinking that all of these visual elements are not that important, not needed rather, but instead just one more option people have for making things more visually appealing, but no more meaningful. I especially thought this when Helfand discussed the need for change when it comes to e-mail. She said that in e-mail we all speak in Monaco (which I am assuming is a commonly used font for e-mail). In my mind, e-mail is a practical tool. It is meant for quick and easy communication, and it is extremely capable of this despite whether the type is varied or the words are animated in some way. I mean we do have hyperlinks in e-mail, which is convenient and useful, but beyond that why is anything more at all necessary? Don’t get me wrong. I see how manipulating type can have impact and alter meaning; I just don’t see it as a pressing issue. It seems funny to me that designers would not want to be associated with certain typefaces or have a specific opinion about them.
I, too, share in your “does it really matter, really?” kind of take on these visual elements. It is truly amazing how much font can become an issue (people at my place of work will talk about font for fifteen minutes: should we use Arial? Times New Roman? Tahoma? What pt should we use? They’ll make a decision and then change it twenty times. My question: will people be able to read it? Does it “function”?
Function and meaning seem to be taking sides in the visual/verbal debate. Ultimately, it seems it matters most to those who make it matter, which is similar to grammar. To some, grammar rule adherence really is no big deal – the ideas are way more important. There certainly are others who would disagree. Those that disagree care enough to do so and believe enough in grammar to argue for its importance.
I think it’s valuable to explore the issue of the commonly perceived “small stuff” – but I’m with you when it comes to some of these things. For me, email is a tool, too, (and with my limited time, I care more about its function than its meaning).