Le trait: une théorie de l'écriture

by Gerrit Noordzij

The stroke is the most concise and powerful statement of Gerrit Noordzij's theory of writing. First published in Dutch in 1985, it appears here for the first time in English. The book puts forward a genuine theory of all writing, done with any kind of generating tool. Noordzij starts with fundamentals - the space within and between letters - and proceeds in stages towards a full account of how the strokes of writing can be formed, and an analysis of the qualities of letters. Along the way, there are reflections on history and culture, and remarks on method. Noordzij's theory serves to repair the split that grew up, with the invention of printing, between written and typographic letters. He shows us the underlying 'written' quality of all letters, with whatever technology they have been formed. Just by virtue of its strong theory, The stroke has practical consequences that transcend any simple 'how to do it' approach.

Genres: Design, Art Design, Writing, History, Nonfiction, Theory

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Gerrit Noordzij (Rotterdam, 1931) begon zijn loopbaan als grafisch ontwerper en als boekbindersleerling. In zijn vrije tijd maakt hij letters. Hij ontwerpt boeken voor tientallen uitgeverijen, sinds 1978 voornamelijk voor uitgeverij Van Oorschot. Verder heeft hij de acte van troonsafstand door Koningin Juliana en de trouwacte voor prinses Beatrix ontworpen, talloze affiches, postzegels en munten en maakt hij tekeningen, houtgravures, kopergravures, inscripties in steen en glas. Hij schreef computerprogramma's (voor Canon) en boekjes: The stroke of the pen, Das Kind und die Schrift, De streek, Theorie van het schrift en schreef en redigeerde het Engelstalige tijdschrift Letterletter van de Association Typographique Internationale. Van 1960 tot 1990 was hij docent letterontwerpen aan de Koninklijke Academie te 's Gravenhage.

Zie ook www.letteror.com.

Reviews

[H James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Occasionally Mr Noordzij’s world‐is‐going‐to‐hell ravings subside for just long enough for his obviously deep knowledge of writing to reveal itself. His sixth chapter’s examination of the textura and bastarda writing styles raises many worthy questions, and his illustration of the forms produced by a triangular stylus (diagram 2.3) feels highly relevant to present‐day type design. Sadly, these valuable nuggets are embedded in a directionless diatribe in which Mr Noordzij lashes out at theorists and educators—providing insufficient context when complaining about the former and providing no supporting data when damning the latter.

[Jesus · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few witty reflections about letters construction and cursive evolution. Nothing spectacular though.

[Chris Beiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noordzij comes off as an insane ideologue at times, and a genius at others. When he presents a parametric model for type and writing in three dimensions, he comes off quite well. I certainly have a greater appreciation for calligraphic forms, and the work has explained to me in exactly which dimensions the typeface I'm working on now is an anachronism, which is very powerful stuff. Other times, well... let's read a block quote:

"When even contrast is renounced as superfluous ornament, writing is altogether without orientation. Now the barbarians can have their say with their plans to improve the alphabet so it will be easier for children, computers, and other illiterates. Whatever they say is completely true in advance because the criterion is annihilated: a line can be drawn in any direction through a point, just as an echo chamber confirms any piece of nonsense."

If you think this makes more sense in context, I will tell you this: the phrase "a line can be drawn in any direction through a point" makes sense. But, yes, at times he seems to belong to the cranky-white-men club. He even goes so far as to argue that the middle ages are the birthplace of western civilization, and to argue a view of cultural progress that seems almost... proto-neoreactionary? (yikes.)

[Dobiasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raczej hermetyczne, dla typofreaków. W dodatku pisane manierą wykładu starego profesora besserwissera zakręconego kompletnie na temat swojej wąskiej działki, co absolutnie nie przeszkadza mu sypać raz po raz dygresji o tym jak to od zmian w kaligrafii w XVI wieku zaczął się upadek sztuki, kultury i w ogóle cywilizacji ludzkiej, czego koronnym dowodem są ci debile w internetach… Na szczęście książeczka jest krótka, w kwestiach meritum ciekawa, a na końcu nie czeka egzamin zaliczeniowy.

[Olga_Kotki]

najbardziej nerdowska książka jaką przeczytałam

[Crystian Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good approach about the theory of writing, showing the classic techniques of drawing with a pen.

[Silvia Ercolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerrit Noordzij es tan sensible y preciso a la hora de mirar a las letras...
Los dibujos/caligrafías/trazos que acompañan al texto son preciosísimos...
Propone nuevas y refrescantes lecturas de sucesos históricos como el de la creación del «Romain de Roi».
Describe varias caligrafías bastardas/góticas y llega hasta las manieristas.
Realiza un análisis del trazado de la letra «D» para demostrar que la «D» medieval estaba más cerca de la «D» clásica que la «D» clasicista.
Y para mí lo más excitante: define la Edad Media como el momento en el que se inventan «las palabras» (esta teoría de la invención de las palabras es deliciosa).
En el último capítulo Noordzij explica qué materiales ha utilizado para escribir los textos (tipo de pluma, tinta, papel,...) ¡incluso calcula la velocidad de su propio trazo! (¿no es tierno?).

Como único apunte negativo diría que su queja sobre pedagogos/profesores no suma nada al libro y lo empeora.

Resumiendo: He disfrutado muchísimo este libro, quizá porque últimamente estoy interesada en las humanidades digitales y la mística medieval.
He tejido puentes entre este libro, Victoria Circlot y Ángela Segovia.
En fin...muchos <3 para este librito.

[Ivan Zhao · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay it's like.... just fine.

i kind of think that this leans into the notion that some type designers are extremely into themselves and want to point to something rigorous and theory and heavy as something to point to. there are some interesting takeaways, for example, thinking of the weight of the stroke and the balance in the creation, the idea that the words have a rhythmic quality to them as a result of spacing.

read it and forget about it tbh

[Vladislav · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was told this is going to be an instructional book, but it is pretty much not one. I would say that this book is more of a thought about how font should work and how we should view typefaces, but that has little practical meaning for a beginner in anything related to fonts or calligraphy.

Still it is an interesting point and remembering what is written here could come in handy.

[EmelineB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great entry point or resource to return to for all typographic designer out there. It focuses on the structure of writing letters and the interplay between writing tool and writing shapes. These are the sort of primary principles i wished I had learned as a student

[Bert Huisman]

70

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noordzij's theory of writing and the stroke not only explains how to analyze writing but also puts it all in a historical context. Correction: Noordzij explains history in the context of written language.

[Tam Kien Duong · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent short text bringing back typography and calligraphy under the same theory. The author provides very scientific and precise insights about what does it pratically mean to write.

[Azamat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Неплохая книга, но если вы не занимаетесь каллиграфией или типографикой, можно смело пропускать.