Type in Use: Effective Typography for Electronic Publishing [Paperback]

Alexander W. White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1999

Organized by type application - text, headlines, subheadings, breakouts, captions and five more categories - this work provides information for designers and editors that can be applied to all print and non-print media. Alex White has dissected typography into its most logical components, basing his approach on more than 15 years of teaching designing and lecturing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[T]he most comprehensive and up to the moment presentations of all that is new in modern typography. No book on this subject contains such a wealth of ideas . . . a first rate pace-setter." -- New England Reviews of Books

About the Author

Alex White, professor of graphic design at the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, specializes in publication design. Author of the bestseller How to Spec Type, he lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 2 Sub edition (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393730344
• ISBN-13: 978-0393730340
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The most significant book of the digital publishing age", July 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Type in Use: Effective Typography for Electronic Publishing (Paperback)

TYPE IN USE by Alex White transcends the trendy DTP "how-to" bookshelf with the real story on how to craft truly fine pages of typography! The first edition was the top selection for publication designers in The Designers' Bookshelf of The Design Center, but has been out of print for more than two years. Now this important work is back, and the editors at graphic-design.com agree -- Type In Use is the essential book for anyone who wants to really understand how to make typography do what it's supposed to do! . . . Alex writes: "Our job [as designers] is to compose elements to make them maximally interesting and comprehensible. 'Maximally interesting' does NOT mean 'Hey, Wow! Pop! Zoom!' It means revealing the content of the story instantly and efficiently." . . . Type In Use will train you how to accomplish that goal. You'll know where to put type on the page, and how to put it there. But unlike any other book in the past 25 years... Type In Use will tell you WHY! If your goal is persuasive, successful publishing, don't wait for this one to go out of print too... just click up there and buy it NOW. You will be very glad you did.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for web designers who want to improve their type skill, September 24, 2001

By 

Tal Ater (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Type in Use: Effective Typography for Electronic Publishing (Paperback)

As a web designer, I always found adding typographical elements to my layout to be the hardest part. I would create a great looking page only to ruin it with a weak looking headline or inappropriately selected font settings.

I've looked for a good book to teach me typographical basics and decided to try Type In Use, even though it is geared toward print.

I have to say I've been extremely satisfied with my choice and have noticed a great improvement in my designs. The greatest proof of the change in me is how I began to look at the design of the book itself differently, analyzing it and seeing how Alex White practices what he preaches.

In each chapter, Alex begins by explaining a different part of the printed page and then showing and analyzing real world examples. There are chapters about text, headlines, subheads, breakouts, captions, department headings and more. This may sound a bit boring (devoting an entire chapter to captions?) but Alex manages to keep it all very readable with plenty of inspiring examples.

I've found this book to also be a great source of inspiration to my work after I finished reading it and I come back to it whenever working with any kind of type, online or offline.

The only weak point I found in this book is the chapter about Web Typography. I don't know if Alex aimed this chapter at people with no web experience at all or at web designers who want to learn typography on the web but he failed either way. The entire chapter in nothing more then a series of facts (some of them plain wrong) about writing HTML, designing sites, file formats, etc. Feel free to skip this chapter, the rest is gold.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource for Print & Electronic Designers, May 10, 2005

By 

Kelly Garbato "www.easyvegan.info" (Kearney, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Type in Use: Effective Typography for Electronic Publishing (Paperback)

As a newbie to typography, I found "Type in Use" to be an excellent introduction to the field. It's written in a clear and concise manner; though it's straightforward and easy to understand, I didn't feel as though the information was watered down, either.

At least half of the book consists of pictorial examples, which serve to illustrate the principles laid forth in the text. There's also a good deal of "white space," which demonstrates White's ability to practice what he preaches. As a result, the book isn't too heavy on actual text. Nonetheless, White has an envious ability to express himself succinctly, efficiently, and in as few words as possible - so the lack of actual reading doesn't pose a problem.

The book's divided into twelve chapters, with one each focusing on the following topics: text; headlines; subheads; breakouts; captions; department headings; covers; contents; bylines and bios; folios and font lines; web typography; and the history of type. White begins each chapter with a discussion of the fundamentals, and then turns to real-life examples to help illustrate his points. A short paragraph accompanies each picture, and all are arranged in an organized, pleasing manner.

I only have two issues with "Type in Use." The text which sits alongside the examples is printed in red as opposed to black (black is the color of the introductory text). I'm not sure if my copy of the book was flawed, or if this is a universal problem, but the red type on some pages appeared to be smudged and smeared, making it difficult to read. Even on those pages without blemishes, I found that the red type strained my eyes; there's just so much red that it becomes distracting.

Also, I was happy to see that White included a chapter on Web typography, but I would have been happier had the discussion been more in-depth. The final chapter, "The History of Type in Use," was wholly unnecessary and didn't contribute much to the overall discourse; White's readers would have been better served had be omitted chapter 12 and extended his discussion of the Internet. I realize that the book was written in 1992 and revised in 1999 - and six years may as well be six eons in "tech time" - but the Web chapter struck me as very out-of-date. For example, I had to smirk when he announced that Photoshop 5.0 had recently introduced "significant improvements" in the area of type; I don't think I even know anyone who's using a version earlier than 7.0! He also appeared to be agreeable to Flash animation, which today is so overused and abused that it has become the bane of web design.

Nonetheless, I would most definitely recommend "Type in Use" to both novices and experienced typographers alike.