There are plenty of books on typography, but few come as highly recommended as Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students. I have a growing interest in the subject, so I thought that that this would give me an grounding in typography and tie all of the bits of information that I’d picked up from elsewhere together.
The page you see when you first open the book is a perfect example of the clarity with which Lupton presents the subject. I simply reads, “Typography is what language looks like.” Crisp, concise and succinct.
Thinking with Type is divided into three sections: Letter, Text and Grid. The first introduces the context in which the rest of the book can be explained, looking at the history of typefaces and their evolution since the presses of the Middle Ages. It explores different letterforms and their anatomy, so you’ll never wonder what people mean by a ‘humanist sans serif’ ever again.
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Published in Book reviews, tagged typography on 14th June 2008. No comments.
Here’s an awesome little piece of design; the Word Clock screensaver. All it does is tells the time in beautiful, simple type. It’s a neat idea implemented really well and if you have a Mac, I recommend that you check it out.
Published in Design, Software, tagged typography on 23rd April 2008. One comment.
Here’s something you don’t see every day; a film about a font. Helvetica is a feature-length documentary by Gary Hustwit about typography, graphic design and more specifically, the font of the same name.
As odd as it might sound, the film is extremely interesting and designers of all mediums will enjoy it. It charts the history of the font, asking why it’s become so popular. There are arguments for and against its use as the ‘default’ font of choice, from both young and old typographers.
I always knew that it was a popular font, but I never really notice quite how much Helvetica is used. Now I’m going to look for it everywhere I go! What was particularly interesting was that how people are taking the font and using it in new ways. It might be a default, but it’s also incredible flexible and certainly timeless.
So go and take a look; this is one film about design worth watching.
Published in Design, tagged Helvetica, typography on 6th March 2008. No comments.