VietNamNet Bridge – “The art of typography in designing book covers in 2005-2015”, the theme of a doctoral dissertation, has stirred controversy among the public, but academics have defended it.
The news about the dissertation defending ceremony is posted on VNICAS website
The Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VNICAS) on September 25 held a doctoral dissertation defending ceremony on this topic. The student who wrote the thesis was Bui Quang Tien, majoring in Theory and History of Fine Arts.
The purpose of the research was to identify the typography art in book cover design in the 2005 – 2015 period in Vietnam, and analyze and compare the changes influenced by technology compared to previous periods.
The theme caused curiosity among the general public and academics. ‘Quite strange’ and ‘unable to be applied in reality’ were the words used to describe the dissertation.
Quyen Dao, a reader, commented that the topic ‘is too simple for a doctoral thesis’. Some others said it was ‘not up to academic standards’, comparing the thesis with ones defended at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS).
Several months ago, VASS was criticized by the public. A doctoral thesis named ‘the commune chair’s characteristics in communication with people’ was also described as ‘nonsensical’. However, VASS argued that each topic has its own meaning.
Meanwhile, VNICAS head Bui Hoai Son said that a doctoral thesis must be assessed by the academic council, i.e. experts in the field.
“One should not comment about the thesis just after reading the title. You need to read through the thesis to understand it,” he said.
“It would be better to let the council answer the question about the application of the thesis in reality. An academic matter must be assessed by experts,” he added.
Tien decided to work on the topic because of the strong development of IT, printing technology and the dominance of international languages and writing in the Vietnamese publication market.
He thought the research would be useful to help Vietnamese enterprises become more competitive in the domestic market and export books to popularize Vietnamese culture, literature and aesthetic values.
Meanwhile, many people have supported Tien. Anh Hai Vu commented that typography is not ‘nonsensical’ at all.
“There are many things in letter and book cover design that need to be clarified. It is an art and is creative,” he said, adding that only laypersons make such negative comments.
Ha Hong Viet said this is valuable research which gives predictions about the typography style for the next period.
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