I received an email from today from this guy called Larry. He asked me if I thought typography is a dying art form. I’m sure he won’t mind, but I thought it would be quite nice to get the opinions of other people as well to form a more general consensus. So, I’ll kick it off.

I don’t think typography is a dying art form, I think it’s an evolving art form. In fact I’m not sure typography is an art form at all. It can be I guess, but in it’s purest sense it’s just part of the solution, part of graphic design.

As a member of the ISTD I still see a lot of enthusiasm and passion for typography. In some sectors of the industry, good typography is on the incline rather than the decline. One of these sectors is web design. If you compare where we were just a few years ago and where we are now, generally things have improved. That’s not to say there’s bad typography - there always will be - you have to have the ying with the yang right?

Anyway, in a nutshell. No I don’t think it’s dying, it’s just changing and as we all know, some people don’t like change. Some important things are being lost with the evolution, but that’s just part of evolving - getting rid of dead wood. I don’t think it’s an artform generally, although it can be in some circumstances.

What are your thoughts?