Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 686.22
EAN: 9781568984483
ISBN: 1568984480
Label: Princeton Architectural Press
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: 2004-09-09
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Studio: Princeton Architectural Press

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).

Customer Rating:
Summary: Solid concepts
Comment: This is one of only a few type books that I have read and was one of the most enjoyable. The concepts of typography are presented in an easy to follow flow and language that anyone can understand while not 'dumbing down' typography to a point that designers won't enjoy the book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun and interesting
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: entertaining
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A solid book for type - with a twinge of humor
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Strange, superficial overview of type-related topics
Comment: 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.

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