28 December 2006

[design] A New Typographic Text

700 Over at Designorati:Typography I've reviewed a newly released book (it's been out about a month) which is another addition to the range of various typographic instructional textbooks that are available for students of type these days.

Amongst them are A Typographic Workbook, which was my text back in my PCC days and has gone into a new edition. These books are cool books to have on one's shelf. Each one seems to hit the same "stations of the cross": history, development, how type works, what it's made of, the era of hot metal type, Gutenberg, and modern digital type development (I'm convinced that the name Zuzana Licko will rank up there with Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, but that's a personal thing, and yet another digression), but each one treats the subject with a little different tone and insight.

Since you always remember your first, ATW will always hold a sweet spot in my heart. But the review I did on D:Typo was for a recent drop by Wiley and Company called Typographic Design: Form and Communication, 4th Edition. It touts itself on the cover as one of the standard texts and references for students and professionals over the last 20 years; in as much as I haven't been in design for 20 years, I'll have to concede the point. However, IMHO, if you have the name of the late Philip Meggs on your cover, your bar is automatically set higher.

If you don't know The Book, you don't know the history of Design. Anyway!

It's my pleasure to report that, as per my review, the book does indeed live up to its billing. It's got a color-splashy, grid-honoring approach that is accessible and comfortable; even though it's a college-level text any typophile will love this book.

I think people should buy one.

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