Ideas that would be mostly research-oriented (but could grow)

Ideas that move beyond research (analysis, problem solving, etc):

The topic which I would like to pursue as a basis for my senior degree project (as of now) is typographic classification, more specifically the development of a more efficient, intuitive, effective tool to search, manage, browse (and sell?) a library of type.

I hope to explore the variety of ways in which type can, and has been, sorted and navigated; from there I would like to implement my findings in a new tool that takes advantage of the rich amounts of information that are hiding within a library of type.

For my senior degree project, I would like to base my research and work on the topic of typeface organization and classification. My plan, as of now, includes the development of a new tool to assist in the process of organizing a library of type. This tool may also be developed as an educational tool for typography, or as a selling tool.

When I was initially coming up with a topic on which to base my senior degree project, it was a bit overwhelming; I had so many interests that I would have been excited to research. I figured that to narrow my choices I would limit the directions to ones that could possibly lead to a solution for a problem that already existed (as opposed to searching for problems in whichever topic I was most drawn to).

This got me thinking about my dissatisfaction with current typographic organization and classification systems. Most of the existing methods are very one dimensional; they group each typeface or even type family according to only one factor, and often do so using very amateur reasoning.

It is my belief that the history and information related to typography is just as rich and complex as that of music or fine art. Sadly, most of this information vanishes from sight and is disregarded when organizing a library of type. I believe that all this complex information can, and should be, harnessed to assist in the construction of a type library. This information can help designers to make informed decisions in their typeface selections and combinations.

And beyond that, the information about typeface inter-relations and historical significance is a piece of art history. This information, if released from old books, can become a new interactive learning experience to help people see the craft and history of typography in a new, brighter light.

Before I figure out the details of exactly how to solve my problem, I would first like to research other typographic classification systems, past and present, and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. It might even be helpful to research classification and organization systems and software in general, maybe to pick up on aspects that may not have been applied to typography before but might have value in one way or another.

After I have done this research, I would ideally like to implement my findings in the development of a new organizing / browsing / classification / educational / selling / management system, probably in the form of digital software (maybe it doesn’t do it all, but it would be nice). Again, though I don’t know exactly how I will do this, I am imagining a tool that is for typography what iPhoto is for photography—probably even more powerful. It would be wonderful to create “Smart” collections of typefaces and sort and re-sort typefaces using meta data tags; to have similarities between typefaces highlighted or have the ability for to rate them. The main idea is that the information related to each typeface is not static and stuck to a one dimensional line, but instead is dynamic—able to be shuffled and automatically sorted using the information already related to the typeface; information that might be invisible in another classification system.