Hare Krishna & Calligraphy (e)

For a few years now, the general public—especially the under-21 crowd—has taken a serious interest in something as unassuming as typography. This surprises and delights us typographers, but there’s a simple reason for it. To find something positive in all that mindless smartphone swiping: it’s actually smartphones that are training our eyes to appreciate good typographic design. Thanks to Apple, a really good standard has been established. Structuring content well in the smallest of spaces, creating not just readability but a desire to read—that can only be achieved with professional typography. Ironically, just how discerning the snotty-nosed user has become is evident in Apple’s iOS 7, which has been heavily criticized for its anemic typography.

Young people, through their affinity for media, engage very intensively with design and typography. At the same time, they are actively working on their self-expression. It is therefore only natural that their curiosity about specialized knowledge and their creative ambition should be satisfied here as well. New technical possibilities that present themselves do not automatically raise the bar. They also raise new questions. It’s great that there are plenty of time-tested answers to these questions, because the fundamentals of typography are already two thousand years old. Anyone who has discovered this subject for themselves will never stop being interested in the aesthetics of this art and is, by definition, immune to the plague of ugliness that is poor typography. Those who seek will find, perhaps even without having anything specific in mind.

Just like the late Steve Jobs, who, as a listless student drifting aimlessly across campus, spontaneously signed up for a calligraphy class out of boredom and a desire to escape the Hare Krishnas. Without the slightest idea of how this might ever be of practical use to him, he simply took his enthusiasm for beautiful typefaces with him, only to, an eternity later, equip his computers with typographic quality—a first in the world.

He recounts this anecdote in detail in his famous speech to the students at Stanford University (00:03:15).