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Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography
 
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Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography [Paperback]

Steven Heller (Editor), Philip B. Meggs (Editor)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Book Description

1581150822 978-1581150827 February 1, 2001
Students and teachers of graphic design will enrich their understanding of 20th century type design and typography with this unique anthology. Contained in this volume are more than 50 important, known and rare texts by critics, historians, and type designers about the history, aesthetics, and practice of type design and typography. An invaluable addition to any school course on type theory and practice, the book contains heretofore unreprinted essays by major type masters, including W.A. Dwiggins, Hermann Zapf, and Paul Rand, as well as critical analyses of vintage and contemporary type and type design. A supplement to the successful Looking Closer series, the book specifically pinpoints those texts that will increase the common knowledge of typographic history and criticism. Spanning the 20th century, with emphasis on the 1940s to the present, this collection will be necessary reading for all design students and faculty.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

No designer can ignore the principles of typography, and yet there is hardly any class that provides students with a solid groundwork for it. "Texts on Type" is a powerful springboard for everybody seriously involved in typography, whether from the motion picture, book publishing or fine arts arenas. From typographic conventions and aesthetic standards to the imperatives of legibility and readability, this ingenious reader provides students and professionals alike with the historical and technical framework for great typography.

About the Author

Steven Heller is the co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author program and co-founder of the MFA in Design Criticism and MFA in Interaction Design programs at the School of Visual Arts, New York. For thirty- three years he was an art director at the New York Times, and currently writes the “Visuals” column for the New York Times Book Review. He is editor of the AIGA VOICE: Online Journal of Design and contributing editor to Print, EYE, Baseline, and ID magazines. He contributes to Design Observer and writes the DAILY HELLER blog for Print magazine. He is the author or editor of over 130 books on design and popular culture, including Design Literacy, Design Disasters, Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig, and Vintage Type and Graphics. He is the recipient of the 1999 AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement. Heller lives in New York.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Allworth Press (February 1, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1581150822
  • ISBN-13: 978-1581150827
  • Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip B. Meggs is a designer, educator, and author. He is School of the Arts Research Professor, Communication Arts and Design Department, at Virginia Commonwealth University; visiting faculty at Syracuse University and the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland, and a Contributing Editor to Print magazine.

 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars don't judge a book by its cover, design, or content, March 26, 2005
By 
Forrest L. Norvell (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography (Paperback)
This hilarious mess manages to belie almost every principle of design espoused within its pages, with its frankly ugly, workmanlike design, errors in proofreading, and strange choices in content. The layout is slapdash and the printing quality is dodgy-anyone wanting typography to match the content of the book should be looking at Robert Bringhurst's essential Elements of Typographic Style, or any other Hartley&Marks book on typography, instead. If typography is the art of overweening attention to minute details, this book is certainly a betrayal of that art.

Keeping that in mind, several of the essays contained within are classic (anything Beatrice Warde or Stanley Morison has to say about type is essential reading), and Heller has done his usual job of hitting the high points, without going into any great depth. His own contribution to the volume is typical of the limited attention span he brings to a lot of his editing projects: a thinly-researched polemic on blackletter type and fascism that manages to omit some key details that would totally change the thrust of his argument were they to be acknowledged. I have, and like, other Heller books, and he's a charismatic public speaker, but this is not his finest effort.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Heller Is Prolific, August 13, 2001
This review is from: Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography (Paperback)
Steven Heller puts the "Good Graphics Seal of Approval" on any graphic design book, in my opinion. The essays in "Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography" is no exception. Together with Philip B. Meggs, Heller pulls together over fifty essays on the history, aesthetics and practice of type design and typography. You'll find essays in this anthology penned by the likes of Goudy, Zapf, Rand, Ogilvy, and other huge names in the arena of graphic design. This is just another Heller book to have to back up the rest of your everyday knowledge. After all, if you know more than the next guy, you'll get the job. My only complaint is that - for such an excellent book on typography - the typeface in the body copy is smaller than the norm. If you're over 40, pull out the reading glasses.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, June 28, 2008
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This review is from: Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography (Paperback)
I loaned out my first copy and never got it back. No surprise; this books is like a box of specialty chocolates. Each essay is a savory morsel leaves the reader anticipating the next confection. It's just packed with little gems; a delicious assortment of pieces from the legendary figures of Graphic Design and Typography. Despite its rather bland (pink?!?) package, the book is a pure delight.
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