Product Description: The organization of letters on a blank sheet -- or screen -- is the most basic challenge facing anyone who practices design. What type of font to use? How big? How should those letters, words, and paragraphs be aligned, spaced, ordered, shaped, and otherwise manipulated? In this groundbreaking new primer, leading design educator and historian Ellen Lupton provides clear and concise guidance for anyone learning or brushing up on their typographic skills. Thinking with Type is divided into three sections: letter, text, and grid. Each section begins with an easy-to-grasp essay that reviews historical, technological, and theoretical concepts, and is then followed by a set of practical exercises that bring the material covered to life. Sections conclude with examples of work by leading practitioners that demonstrate creative possibilities (along with some classic no-no's to avoid).
Fun and interesting A fun book to read to learn about how types we're created (author and history). Really like it. I guess only people in the graphic design world will like this book.
entertaining A nice book for bathroom reading, but hardly a desk reference or textbook caliber tome. Look for "Design form and Communication" by Rob Carter for a more thorough source on all things type related. Pick this one up for 10 min refresher reading while you're..killing time.
A solid book for type - with a twinge of humor I like this book a great deal. The next time I have a chance to use this in a class (to teach) I will. There are lots of good examples, the language is clear, and it's not too ethereal or esoteric. I think it's a great introduction to typography and laid out very well.
Strange, superficial overview of type-related topics I love type, but I lack an educated background on its use. I was so looking forward to learning about such details as when to prefer a sans-serif versus a serif in certain situations, how people react to various different families of faces, prescriptions for when to apply different types of layouts, and so forth.
When I got was a partially complete history lesson on how different types of faces and families evolved, an introduction to grid layouts with very little prescriptive advice, and weirdly, a brief editorial primer teaching how to mark up the printed page with pen.
To its credit, the book is full of examples of layouts. As I read, I expected any minute I'd penetrate the entry level "Here we see an example of a layout" to the real meat, but it never ever happened.
To the author's credit, the book was meticulously assembled and was clearly the product of a great deal of effort. And, this is not the first design-related book I've discovered that lacked meaningful depth.
But to any practicing designer looking for some guidance for taking their use of type to the next level, or understanding beyond his own innate instincts when to apply certain techniques, this is not the book for you. In fact, I'm not sure who this book is for.
Won't turn you into a master It's informative, it's inspirational, it's philosophically engaging, it's warm and welcoming. But it might not turn you into a master typographer.
A beautiful read, this book presents history and theory into well-thought, easy to swallow bite-sized chunks. Along with exercises, this kinda gives it away as a student's textbook, which might be less than what you're after, if you're a working designer wanting to advance your typographic skills. It might still worth getting the book. Did you knew Gutenberg used alternate glyphs and ligatures? I know now. Smart guy, this Gutenberg.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
