Made with FontFont: Type for independent minds [Hardcover]

Erik Spiekermann (Author), Jan Middendorp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

A survey of fifteen years of cutting edge typeface design by FontFont.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Prof. Dr. H.C. Erik Spiekermann studied History of Art and English in Berlin. He is an information architect, type designer (FF Meta, ITC Officina, FF Info, FF Unit, LoType, Berliner Grotesk et al.) and author of books and articles on type and typography. He runs SpiekermannPartners with offices in Berlin, London and San Francisco. Jan Middendorp is a freelance editor, writer and designer working in Berlin. He has written for magazines on design such as Eye, Typographic, Etapes and the Netherlands' leading magazine on design Items. He also works as consultant and editor for companies such as Linotype, MyFonts and LucasFonts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: BIS Publishers (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9063691297
• ISBN-13: 978-9063691295
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,174,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No more web browsing for fontfont typefaces, April 9, 2007

By 

Rodrigo Saiani (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Made With Fontfont:Type For Independent Minds (Hardcover)

Although the artwork shown is really nothing special (the book itself is not really a great looking one), this book is worth buying for sure. First and foremost for being an excellent type specimen book on one of the most influetial type houses today (no more browsing a 100 webscreens to find the perfect font). Then because of very good articles on stuff ranging from designers' intentions to history of many typeface. One of the most used fonts today, DIN, is presented with an excellent walkthrough of the design. Also featuring early sketches and studies of several typefaces which will prove an excellent resource for type designers all around.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Resource Book for Artists and Designers: A History Book for the Public!, April 12, 2007

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Made With Fontfont:Type For Independent Minds (Hardcover)

Continuing its encounter with the topic of font (typeface), Mark Blatty Publisher has released a hefty volume of images and the written word that is fascinating to browse - and almost is designed so that the very informative essays included seem to melt into the fonts being discussed. That may be a double edged sword: the written word by such fine authorities as Akira Kobayashi, Rian Hughes, Emily King, Ellen Lupton, Reza Abedini and of course Erik Spiekermann and Jan Middendorp is value added to the designers and contains bits of history and humor about the way words effect the eye and the mind of the viewer at times become almost secondary to the visual impact of the page!

FontFont was founded in 1990 'to produce innovative and influential fonts by designers, for designers' and this beautiful book is intended to demonstrate the impact of these creative adjuncts to the public. The book is divided into five chapters - Thinking FontFont, Talking FontFont, Making FontFont, Showing FontFont and Made with FontFont. For the casual reader it is the last chapter with its many pages of illustrations of the use of this important addition to the repertoire of designers that will prove the most interesting. This book is a 'must have' for designers and graphic artists, but it is also a fine addition to the library of those who are fascinated by the variations of typeface and their influence on how we absorb information. Grady Harp, April 07

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A showcase of fonts in an explosion of color, May 8, 2007

By 

Dennis Littrell (SoCal) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Made With Fontfont:Type For Independent Minds (Hardcover)

This is a gorgeous book with many full color photos and prints on thick glossy paper with a sturdy binding. It's about the changes that have taken place in font design over the years and especially about the explosion in number of fonts available since the personal computer became widely available in the 1980s. It is primarily the story of digital type from the point of view of those who created the FontFont library of type, the FSI FontShop International in Berlin. It is about how desktop publishing changed the world of design and page layout.

Part of the text covers the history of fonts from a European point of view, but with the text and examples mostly in English. Another part of the text, which is woven through a myriad of font examples taken mostly from advertisements and magazine layouts describes the esoterica of fonts and their designers. There are first person accounts by font designers about their work. There are essays and articles and even an interview by designers from the US to England, Germany, even Iran and Pakistan. The artwork itself is stunningly beautiful, in places almost breathtaking. The book is quite simply a work of art itself.

I had some personal experience with fonts and the purely design side of letters and words some years ago when I sponsored a high school literary magazine. I learned how horrible a clashing mixture of fonts can be. My students did not have the trained eye or the experience to appreciate the subtleties of font distinctions and font design. I also taught some concrete poetry, which is the pictorial and artistic representation of letters and words (this book can be seen as an example of concrete poetry), and of course I downloaded PostScript fonts and worked with PageMaker and similar software.

This then is a book for artists and graphic designers. Many typefaces are described as well as pictured, and their characteristics and appropriate uses are presented. Some parts of the book are quite technical, and to be honest, well beyond my modest typographic expertise. The amount of information in the book's 352 pages is impressive, but more than anything this book is a treat for the eyes.