Customer Reviews

American Type Design and Designers

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The design of the book is like a handful of other contemporary "Encyclopedias" -- it approaches the subject matter from different perspectives in different formats which relate to one another. As such, it does not present material in a linear historical fashion as a whole.

To explain, let me provide a summary TOC. Note that the standard format for text is 3 columns of densely packed text. If printed in a standard format with 1 column and a larger font, the book size would likely double in size:
1. Preface -- which explains the motivation and difficulties in the project.
2. Introduction -- 6 pages. A history of American typography.
3. Chronology of Type related events -- 33 pages of calendarized information from 1600 to 2000 -- designers, foundries, etc.
4. Comparative American/European Type Chronology -- 4 pages detailing the creation/usage of fonts on both continents by year.
5. Type Designs in Alphabetical Order -- 2 pages listing all fonts in the book in alpha order (located under their designer).
6. 218 pages of designer biographies with significant typefaces, comment, and examples of use.
7. 8 pages of American type foundry history by company.
8. Glossary of Typographical Terms, 30 pages.
9. Bibliography
10. Index -- 17 pages -- 4 column.

When one considers history of typography, the American impact doesn't immediately come to mind. The history of sources for typography extend millenia earlier than the Western presence in the Americas. And, in the 20th century, the Jugendstihl and Bauhaus creation of a simpler typeface of sans serif and use of type in design stand as monumental events more recently.

Americans, more pragmatic, didn't have the overhang of reading German blackletter at every opportunity. We had a simpler style -- actually styles which changed by technology. As Consuegra identifies, the end of the 19th century saw a regularization of fonts into font families and standard sizes which also made printing more cost effective.

The mid 30's saw many emigrees land here in the states, top designers who continued to innovate on this soil.

The desktop printing industry further beginning in the 1980s at Adobe and Apple further transformed the creation and distribution of type.

So, many of the fonts and designers in the book will be familiar, from their revivals of older fonts as well as new creations. Bernhard Fashion, Bodoni, Broadway, Brush, Cartoon, Adobe Caslon, Century Schoolbook, Cheltenham, Apple Chicago, Cooper, Davida, Franklin Gothic, Adobe Garamond, Apple Geneva, Goudy Old Style, FB Grotesque, Hobo, Janson, ITC Korinna, Lithos, Lucida, Lydian, New GOthic, Park Avenue, Souvenir, Stencil, ITC Tiffany, Trajan, and HTF Ziggurat are just a handful of the types appearing in the book.

You won't find Times New Roman, or Arial here...

What intrigues is the biography and larger historical setting of individual designers. These illuminate the personal design interests as well as the technical challenges posed with their state of the art.

Of particular interest is the use of specific fonts in documents of the time -- advertisements, posters and the like. Some notable type designers were designers in a larger sense -- material presented echoes and sometimes symbolizes its time.

A few quibbles. There may be some factual errors -- I noted one regarding the Apple II being the platform for the first desktop publishing -- actually it was the Macintosh. The author's style can, on occasion, be a tad opaque.

I don't know that someone will find a "fix" for a specific project in reading the book. But, as I select type and design with it, I understand better how I can do that well.

This is an engaging, distinctive work born from the author's heart without anything comparable on the market that I'm aware of. It is a work to enjoy, admire and learn from.

David Consuegra was known as the patriarch of graphic design in Colombia, an one of the most praised in Latin America; this book is by no means the best example of his masterly as designer. A meticulous research of American graphic design with superb examples. A guide to good designers.