How Typography Works: (And Why It Is Important [Paperback]

Fernand Baudin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Tab Books (August 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830650113
• ISBN-13: 978-0830650118
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,686,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and Instructive, December 19, 2005

By 

J. Kawakami "declutter69" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Typography Works: (And Why It Is Important (Paperback)

Baudin's classic is a concise introduction to typography. It's interesting partly because it was published at the start of the desktop publishing revolution, and thus, doesn't focus on DTP. Instead, you get an overview that touches on typsetting, page layout, design, and history. It's intended for novices, but, it's not a "how to" book. Rather, the book strives to educate and help the student develop a better critical eye for type and layout. The overall style is a concise and efficient, and the examples presented are very good. In particular, his comparison of Futura and Gill Sans is instructive.

I think his classification of type is superior to most systems. Specifically, he distinguishes between types with high contrast between thicks and thins (like Didot), and those with low contrast (like Platin). This is often ignored by font websites, but in practice, is more important than, say, classifications between different novelty display faces.