Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer's Guide to Type [Paperback]

Timothy Samara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2006

Choosing the wrong typeface or type style can destroy the effectiveness of a design, and finding the perfect typeface is not as easy as it sounds. There are hundreds of options and after a day in front of the computer screen, it's hard to be convinced that any one of them is the right choice. Type Style Finder is the answer for many weary designers.

This rich volume is the easy to navigate, sourcebook for choosing type and color. Divided into four sections-aspect, mood, time frame era, and age group-this book aids readers in recognizing the best font and color combinations to complete their design projects with effective results. A virtual catalog of typefaces, Type Style Finder is destined to be on every designers desk.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Timothy Samara is a New York City-based graphic designer and educator. His fifteen-year career, focused primarily on visual identity development includes a diverse project history-from branding systems and user interfaces to books, animation, and architectural work. He is currently a member of the design faculty of the School of Visual Arts, Fashion Institute of Technology, and New York University and is the author of Making and Breaking the Grid and Typography Design Workbook, both by Rockport Publishers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592531903
• ISBN-13: 978-1592531905
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #687,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Timothy Samara is a graphic designer and educator based in New York City, where he teaches at the School of Visual Arts and Fashion Institute of Technology. He's also the author of Typography Workbook (Rockport 2004). He lives in New York's Chelsea district.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for those trying to optimize what they already have...., December 9, 2007

By 

E. King - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer's Guide to Type (Paperback)

For professionals with an unlimited budget for buying new fonts, here's just the book for you! Broken into age brackets, mood styles, and more, it will show you typefaces that you will fall in love with - but will have to buy. Good backgrounders on type particularly the comments in each section about the things to consider for that particular group. If, on the other hand, you're creating things on your desktop (even with advanced graphics/publishing programs) and are looking to maximize the impact of what you've got onboard already, find a different resource. Even with a wide variety of graphics and publishing programs on your computer (ID3, CGX3, etc.), you STILL won't have the fonts that are shown in this book - all of which come at a price from various print foundries. And, sadly, there's no cross reference guide so that you can use something you might already have that's 'pretty close'.... Nice book - but not for those seeking to use the type fonts they've received with various programs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a graphic designer's time, May 12, 2007

By 

S.B. designer (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer's Guide to Type (Paperback)

It's very easy to find a font for any given project with this guide. It is organized by theme and emotional content . . . looking for a fun font or a kids font or a fantasy font? There are several recommendations for each section. My only complaint about this book is that I would like to see each section expanded with further suggestions. If you find a theme that works for you then, most likely, you will only find 2-3 pages of suggested fonts. It's a great concept for a book. Hopefully, the author will release additional editions at some later date.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome starting point, August 7, 2009

By 

P. Horne (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer's Guide to Type (Paperback)

I can't tell you how many times I've found myself stuck trying to find that elusive "perfect font" and have gone back to this book and found what I was looking for nearly immediately. The author's method of breaking down the type styles by sections is genius and simple, and makes it easy for the reader to find exactly what they're looking for quickly. This little book has saved me countless hours! Would definitely recommend this book to all artists dealing with text!