Typology: Type Design from the Victorian Era to the Digital Age - Softcover

Heller, Steven; Fili, Louise

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811823083 ISBN 13: 9780811823081

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 1999

Synopsis

A must-have for designers, not to mention that quirky group in love with type for type’s sake (you know who you are), Typology is the most visually dynamic compendium of typefaces on the market. Steven Heller and Louise Fili, two of the most admired and respected designers working today, cover everything from the classic elegance of the late 19th century to the fractured hypermedia of today. Organized by historical era and country of origin, each section introduces the culture and aesthetic of the period, discusses how individual styles developed, and offers insights into the artistry of key typographers and foundries. Expertly assembled and thoughtfully written, no other book encompasses this wealth of type styles in historical context. Its pages are profusely illustrated with hundreds of complete alphabets, and such original artifacts as typesheets, catalogs, broadsides, posters, and many other primary source examples. In all, Typology is the long-awaited type encyclopedia destined to be a standard reference work for years to come.

About this title

About the Author

Steven Heller is the art director of the New York Times Book Review. He is the author of over ninety books on graphic design, popular art, and satiric art. He lives in New York City.

Louise Fili is principal of Louise Fili Ltd., and the recipient of numerous design awards. She lives in New York City.

From Library Journal

Heller, the New York Times's senior art director, and Fili, an independent designer, have authored an attractive but hard-to-categorize guide to type. One finds brief (approximately 300-word) overview essays of seven time periods of typography: pre-modern, early modern, avant-garde modern, commercial modern, late modern, electric modern, and postmodern. Following these essays are shorter sidebar essays that discuss the various international influences within each time period (e.g., "Art Nouveau in Germany, France, The Netherlands, and Austria"). The essays are well written but require some knowledge of artistic and architectural trends. Hundreds of black-and-white and color illustrations from primary sources enrich the text, but, unfortunately, references to their sources are incomplete. The volume concludes with a bibliography of 55 books from the mid-1950s through the early 1990s. All in all, it is difficult to establish the audience for this book: The text is beyond the level of high school and lower-division undergraduates, but there is not enough scholarly apparatus to interest advanced scholars. Recommended for libraries that regularly receive requests for illustrations of historical typefaces or examples of display type.AP. Steven Thomas, Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mt. Pleasant
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0811823083
• ISBN 13: 9780811823081
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 196