experimental typography: whatever that means.

according to thefreedictionary.com, experimentation is defined a handful of ways.
experiment: (noun) 
1. A test under controlled conditions that is made to demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy of something previously untried.
2. An innovative act or procedure.
3. A test or investigation, esp one planned to provide evidence for or against a hypothesis.
4. An attempt at something new or different; an effort to be original.
experiment: (verb)
To try something new, especially in order to gain experience.


i thought it would be helpful to get a dictionary definition of experimentation before getting into peter bil'ak's article, particularly since he begins by defining experimentation as it is used in the design world. when design-industry people use the word experimental, they can really mean any number of things, such as new, unconventional, unexpected, or hard to label. it can also be an awful euphemism for an unsuccessful attempt at a solution, to remove accountability from the designer, who can say, "oh, it was just an experiment," and then, there's no harm done if it doesn't turn out well.


in the scientific world, experiments are done in controlled circumstances to empirically determine the results of carefully orchestrated tests, in order to add to knowledge or work towards proving a hypothesis. by the very nature of art and design, that perfect objectivity is much less attainable, making design experimentation rather harder to define. peter bilak asked lots of designers to help him define it, and got what was presumably a pretty smooth gradient from "everything is experimentation!" to "there's no such thing of experimentation." 


a reasonable definition, then, might be that doing something new or unfamiliar is experimental. unfortunately, by this point in history, it's getting harder to do something totally new, so we have to be willing to call something experimental that simply goes against the generally accepted standards of the current scene. another might be the idea of working without having any inclination towards the end results, in which case, by the time something goes all the way to production, it is no longer experimental. how confusing! 


bil'ak draws attention, too, to the fact that no matter how experimental something is in its inception, if it is the least bit successful, it will become assimilated into what is okay, and widen those boundaries of acceptability. 


for this reason, we will always be straining towards the asymptote of having-tried-everything, and of course never reaching it, but the experimentation may become very subtle, or very game-changing, and all the while, we will become more open to the possibilities. so at each step of the way, something that  was once completely unheard of, will become the challenged canon against which the experimenters are struggling.