Od sztuki pięknego składu do narzędzia komunikacji wizualnej. Przemiany pojęcia typografii na przestrzeni XX i początków XXI w.

The concept of typography over the centuries changed its meaning. Special transformation of the meaning of the term occurred in the late nineteenth/twentieth century, when typography ceased to be the exclusive domain of printers and the art of beautiful type. The transformation of the modern world, new ways of communication, as well as changes of social and technological character meant that its functional and productive nature started to be clearly accentuated. Today, when typography entered the digital space, gaining a wide range of new means of expression, its value as a tool of visual communication, of the mediator between the author and the reader is obviously emphasized. Its aesthetic function, so important in the past, becomes of less significance. The paper summarizes various definitions of typography, both those of foreign, as well as of Polish authors, showing the evolution of the concept. Particular attention was paid to the development of the concept of typography in Poland in the difficult period of the communist regime, the chaos of the 90s, and today.