Walter Tracy on Typography as Profession

Tracy, The Typographic Scene, (p.11):

Typography is a professional activity directed towards a practical, and usually commercial, result.

Tracy defends Tschichold (p.56):

But it was unreasonable to criticise Tschichold as though the new typography had the status of religious doctrine and he had defected from it. He had turned away from the style, not against it.

Tracy on the role of typographer (p.60):

Since most typographic work is done in the hope that it will be read (though there is never any guarantee of that) it is not very sensible of the designer to adopt practices that may repel a potential reader.

The competent typographer serves the one by securing the attention of the other. The really good typographer does something more: he invests his work with such visual quality as to persuade us that (whether or not it is true) the words he is presenting to us are going to be a pleasure to read.