Bilingual Typography

Abstract

Drawn from the results of recent investigations into both the history or typography of printed Welsh and bilingual typography in English and Welsh, this article discusses both the history and the current state of typography. It argues, on the basis of the questions raised by the typography of Welsh — a minority language with no typographic history — that if we are to regard typography as a subject and a discipline, as distinct from a form of applied decoration or self-expression, we need to begin to consider typography as essentially language-based. The solution to the problem of designing for multilingual texts rests in the need to produce individual language-based typographic systems.