Abz [Paperback]

Julian Rothenstein (Author, Editor), Mel Gooding (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003

Delightfully unpredictable, ABZ is a wonderbook of typography, graphics, and symbols. Julian Rothenstein (creator of our Gift divisions popular Redstone line of cards and calendars) turns his idiosyncratic eye towards eccentric alphabets, emblems, and logos discovered in avant-garde modernist publications and other curious sources. Hundreds of examples of graphic ephemera sit side-by-side in inimitable Redstone fashion, mixing peculiar charm with useful reference in one stunning package. Special features include an amazing alphabet, circa 1926, created from photographs of a dancing woman; original test-types for opticians charts; pages from sign artists manuals; and coolly elegant designs from fin de sicle French, German, Italian, and Czech journals. Nearly all of this rare and beautiful material is reproduced here for the first time since its original publication. An art book like no other, ABZ is a collection of typographic oddities taken to the next level of appreciation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Typeface demo sheets, eye charts and logos come together to create a lush, idiosyncratic catalogue of visual ephemera as chosen by Rothenstein, a designer, and Gooding, an art critic and curator. They present forgotten modernist lettering, from Italian Futurist and Russian Constructivist graphics to Czech Karel Teige's 1926 "living poem" (of typeface combined with illustrative photography of a dancer); "The Antifascist Schoolbook," a rebellious, late 1930s graphic text against Spain's General Franco; and advertisements for everything from tea to caviar. Each large page is striking in its muted, silkscreened colors, and the book itself is beautiful, with rounded corners, yellow edges and green splotchy endpapers. Very little text intervenes, with only small introductions to the five chapters. Gooding suggests in his introduction, "There is indeed something quite magical about the look of the alphabet: it has to do with its infinite capacity to change shape and style, to express purpose and suggest mood, to be formal and informal, elegant and ugly, classical and romantic, delicate and robust." Rescued from among thousands, the alphabets here provide us with the subtitle's "More," and bear out that infinitude beautifully.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Julian Rothenstein is a great gatherer and arranger of aged, amusing, bizarre, and beatiful art and artifacts. Proprietor of Redstone Press of London, he has unleashed many wonderfully weird books, calendars, and notecards on the world at large.

Mel Gooding is an art critic, writer, and curator who has contributed extensively to magazines and newspapers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811839818
• ISBN-13: 978-0811839815
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #954,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent look at history of typography, August 20, 2003

By 

Sacha (Madrid Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abz (Paperback)

This is not a book on modern typography, or on modern ad campaigns; it is a wonderful review on the use of typography through the first 50 years of the 20th century.
Best of all is that the book itself has a beautiful design and concept, as if it were a book from that era: rounded corners, washed away colours... Therefore, in brief, it is more a book to look at, admire, and enjoy, than a book to work with and get ideas from on a usual basis, as it would happen with other kinds of publications. Me, as a lover of typography, strongly recommend it.