Originally Posted by
Soap
I respect your opinion. However.
I don't need to spice it up a bit. The point is not how many effects I can use. It's the message. In the professional design and typography I do day in and day as a general rule, less is more.
Adding a gradient to a text is not typography, that is just adding a gradient to text. In these scenario's it's simply not necessary to add text effects for the sake of doing so. I didn't say it was digital art. It's graphic design. And my art is design. They aren't meant as adverts they're just simple designs with prominent messages. I never try to detract from that message. Design, to me, is supposed to say 'Hey look at this!' not 'Hey! Look at me!' The first 2 years of my uni days doing art, design and typography - we never even used a computer. not once. We weren't allowed. We only started to illustrator, indesign, quark, photoshop (etc.) in the final 2 years and even then for only very few projects. So to me, a bunch of filters applied to text does not represent good typography, but more layout, the letterforms themselves and how they communicate, the positioning, how they fit into the design element as a whole and how the typography attracts people's attention without needing lots of shiny 'ooooh' to turn people's heads - that's why typography is a discipline. Anyone can put in a line of Arial or Futura, add some filters and say HEY! AMAZING. It doesn't make one a typographer or a designer, it just makes you proficient with photoshop.
Look up Jonathan Barnbrook, Eric Gill, David Carson, Saul Bass, Si Scott, Jeff Keedy, Edward Fella - all famous typographer and type artists and type designers. Their works are the most influential in the design world. In fact, David Carson could almost be considered as being solely responsible for the invention of graphic design. Before him - everything was really just called 'Commercial Art'. He made the commercial world see the value in graphic design. He didn't own photoshop (hadn't been invented then). Saul bass, responsible for some of the most famous movie posters ever as well as the title sequence to doctor who - didn't own photoshop, didn't use filters.
I generally abhor the use of filters and text effects just for the sake of doing so. Saying I'm not brilliant at Typography just because I fail to use filters and text effects is not quite relevant to what typography is. For some light reading, I suggest you go out and actually by the book [i]The Ten Commandments of Typography[i]. It will lay down the rules as well as show you how to break them (and has no text effects in it).
When you're doing design on a professional level for clients, or doing Geurrilla Graphics with social conscience you have to ask yourself a question: What do you want the viewer to see? What you're trying to communicate? Or your how good you at at photoshop?