A new perspective on the history and (experimental research) practices of index-typography

Abstract

This presentation explores significant index developments and usage over time. We look back into the ancients and the first steps of typographic cueing under knowledge –and technology– expansion during the Medieval. From there, we travel to modern times, where indexes arose in the first magazines during the 18th century. We finish looking ahead with innovative contemporary examples from a research perspective.

Indexes created the backbone of the first magazines and formed a significant function in their emergence in 1731. Magazines play a prominent role in our archived history and culture. Due to searchability and accessibility herein, we can develop our collective memory. The dense vertical syntaxes that shape indexes are particularly subject to typographic conventions. Although there are standardized manuals for indexing, limited empirical research is conducted. Even more, nowadays indexes fulfil a vital position in digital reading, where sources scatter over more than one document. Scanned and skimmed reading is more applicable than pre-digital reading methods. The synergy of different sources of reading material to obtain knowledge, and an immersive reading experience, is of growing importance. Particularly in this digital era with ever-growing information flows and changes in our reading habits. Therefore, the necessity arises to study this complex reading and find designerly manners to facilitate reading by means of interaction between hierarchical clustered (typo)graphic levels. Indexes provide a variety of typographic navigational anchor points in how narratives are built up and understood by readers. Consequently, these indexical anchor points are an important input for exploring how to improve the reading experience. To conclude, the visual timeline of index developments reveals new links into the future of typographic navigation by means of search reading that are important in the ever-growing streams of information in the reading landscape.