Winds of change in changing times: this opportunity was brought about by information technology and digitalization. Copying and using copied objects is nothing new and has been around for a long time in other(!) contexts. Our ancestors used it for one reason or another. The name of this activity has been changing: screening, forgery, mimicking, copying, cloning… Most of them not too flattering, some of them are merely masking acts of stealing! Let’s not phrase this too strictly though, since those of us working with computers know that without the possibility of copy/paste, we could only create a lot of things with unnecessary troubles. This command makes our work easier and faster, unifies typography and results in consistency. Since it’s not only possible to copy others’ work, but also our own. In fact, I think that’s most common.
The question is what kind of visual or textual context will the copied items, motives, sentences etc. will be placed using “paste”? We know that the newly formed quality can become original even if the copied part originates from others or even ourselves! Let’s make (up and the most of) this obvious opportunity with courage, but let us not forget about its dangers.
The typography training at the Graphic Design Department of the University of Sopron’s Institute of Applied Arts is of great significance. We often emphasize to our students, that graphic manifestations appear in the framework provided by typography. Therefore it is necessary for our students to gain experience in thinking within this genre. They should aspire for typographic results, which are valid not only as supporters of graphic (imagery) results, but also as individual pieces of creation, as typographic posters.