Customer Reviews

The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of Good Design (Classic Typography Series)

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This collection of 23 essays on book design and typography should be read at least once by all typographers and students of design. Written over a period spanning 42 years, these essays cover many aspects of typography from paper color to tight typesetting to page proportions. A few of the ideas presented in the essays may indeed be outdated now (due mainly to the economic freedoms in modern digital design), but they are few and are still important from an historical persective. Folloowing the rules of design presented here will help ensure a well designed book that does not detract from the contents in any way and best serves to allow that content to speak for itself. Even if you want to always break the rules of design, isn't it better to understand why and how those rules came to be? Of interesting note is that Jan himself was in his youth a radical rulebreaker in his designs, but he learned when it was best to work inside and outside the rules to present the best effect, his design legacy shows how effective he was, and how influencial he remains to this day.

High-handed, even pompous, Tschichold doesn't coddle the "I gotta be me" crowd. He lays down the laws of type and, by God, they work. You can bend, even break, his rules and still do great work. But you must do so consciously for a specific purpose, not willy-nilly because you feel like it. As Robert Burton put it "A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself." This giant has broad shoulders, indeed. Standing upon them will give one an excellent view

there is little to say other than the fact that this book is essential reading for all current and aspiring book designers. Tschichold's views seem limiting at first, but his knowledge is based on years of careful research into the basis of our written culture. many will choose to deviate from his instruction in small or great ways, but to practice the craft of book typography (or typography in general) without this information would be unwise.

For those who work in design, or those who just love books, Tschichold's work is a must-have. It'll cause you to re-evaluate your own work - and it will also let you look at the books your reads with a new appreciation. The book itself is well-designed, too... as one might expect!

I'll never look at a book or booklet again without judging it against the conventions set forth by Mr. Tschichold. Book size, type style, readability, binding, paper, text block placement, aesthetics and a dozen other minor details will not escape the scrutiny of my newfound expertise.

This series of essays by Tschichold tell us many of the secrets of good design. Like any true artist, he has been generous with his knowledge. It has certainly changed the way I design.

Neither my business nor interests is related to design in any way. I bought it quite simply because the book oozes quality.

Mr Tschichold discusses in this work what's "beautiful" for a book. When the demonstrated result made ME, who has no interest in design, pull it off the shelf and pay the hefty price to own a copy, the author has kept his word.

The views are a little old fashioned for me. Mr Tschichold is very much of the old school. He expounds many "rules" of book design, but most of these are his personal taste, and are presented in a high-handed, dictatorial, and condescending tone. There is no room whatsoever for creativity in book design in his view, instead all books must follow his design.

Useful for reminding us of some of the core principles of typography and book design, but if all publishers agreed with the author's views, the book world would be a very boring place. I would like to see a debate between Jan Tschichold and David Carson!!