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After two decades as one of the world�s best-selling books on designing with type � including editions in Korean, German, Russian, Portuguese, and Polish � Stop Stealing Sheep�& find out how type works continues to educate, entertain, and enlighten design students and type lovers around the globe. In this third edition, acclaimed type designer�Erik Spiekermann brings his type classic fully�up to date on mobile and web typography. He also includes scores of new visual examples on how�to effectively communicate with type and a full selection of new typefaces that are used and referenced throughout the book. If you use type � and these days, almost everyone does � Spiekermann�s engaging, common-sense style will help you understand how to look at type, work with type, choose�the best typeface for your message, and express yourself more effectively through design. Compact, yet rich with anecdotes and visual examples, the handbook�s multilayered design not only makes for a fun, fast read; it also�invites exploration, ensuring you learn something new each and every time you open it up.… (more)
User reviews
The Book Description: A classic guide to typography -- now updated for the Web -- More than 200 full-color illustrations and photographs bring the discussion of typography to life.
-- Updated to include new material on Web typography and other forms of online text display.
This
My Review: Books about type are a guilty little pleasure for me, one I do my best to hide underneath a front of ignorance and indifference. People, by which I mean boring, unimaginative consumers of Stuff, are seriously snotty and cuttingly dismissive of typeheads when their difference comes to light. “My gawd, don't you have anything better to obsess about?!” is the most printable of the snarls I've had directed at me when I venture to observe a sign's efforts to communicate are vitiated to the point of incomprehensibility by the typeface used.
But this book is so much fun, I will go on and review it, and inform the uninterested that their uninterestingness is showing. Don't bother commenting. I'll only be rude to you. Loudly and at length.
Now...for the initiates, the Cool Kids...here's a hit from the hookah of type maven Spiekermann that will keep you snickering at the spirited writing and musing on history's chanciness at the stories he's telling. How a typeface survived in the days before the web is really a function of chance. The examples that the book gives are a hoot, the sample word he chose is “Handgloves,” which for no reason I can explain caused me to burst forth in gales of mirth, the defense of Comic Sans alone...!
I learned a lot about the story of type. I learned a lot more about the role of type in problem-solving, social (Interstate signage, form design) and commercial (brand identity, book design) than I ever knew I didn't know. I had a rare experience all the while: I had fun.
Not for everyone, for sure and certain! But a gas and a half for the amenable.
This book is often touted as an introduction into type because it is basic and easy to access. The problem is that it is too basic. If you know what a serif is, this book is too basic for you. If you know that it is possible to adjust the spacing between letters, words, or lines of type, then this book is way too basic for you--even if you aren't familiar with terms like letterspacing and leading. Get a book that will be a real introduction--if you're going to learn about type, learn enough that it will make a difference. If you want easy access, pick up something by Robin Williams (doesn't matter what--they're all about the same). If you really want to learn something, get Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style. Whatever you do, pass this book up. You could learn more, cheaper, from a high-school yearbook instructor.
Spiekermann looks at typography with a look of love and
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!