Typographic Design: Form and Communication, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

Rob Carter (Author), Philip B. Meggs (Author), Ben Day (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0471284300 | ISBN-13: 978-0471284307 | Edition: 2

Typographic Design: Form and Communication Second Edition Rob Carter Ben Day Philip Meggs The best-selling Typographic Design: Form and Communication filled an important need by providing designers and students with a comprehensive overview of all aspects of designing with type. It was selected for the prestigious American Institute of Graphic Arts Book Show. Now, this newly expanded edition is revised and updated to address the latest developments in electronic page design, digital type, and the revolutionary creative possibilities unleashed by these important advances. This second edition covers all aspects of designing with type, including basic terms, classification, and an extensively revised section on visual organization and typographic space. Electronic page design, also called desktop publishing, has been added to the chapter on technology. The widely acclaimed chapter on legibility has new material about legibility and the computer. Nearly 550 photographs and line images provide readers with a keen understanding of typeface usage and clarify typographic fundamentals. Theoretical and structural problem-solving approaches by design educators across America reveal underlying concepts about typographic form and message. Case studies by leading professionals provide insight into the typographic design process. Type specimens representing major categories enable readers to study typographic classification and form subtlety. Four pictorial timelines show the evolution of typography and writing within the context of world events, architectural developments, and art history. These chronologies range from the origins of writing over 5,000 years ago to the latest typesetting technology. They take readers on a fascinating journey through the invention of movable type, explosion of new typographic forms during the industrial revolution, aesthetic concerns of modernism, and functional and expressive communications in the post-industrial world. Typographic Design: Form and Communication, Second Edition, remains the most comprehensive reference available on the use of type. It will continue to be the text of choice for typography courses, as well as an essential reference for professional designers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This new edition of the premier reference on typographic design provides a comprehensive overview of every aspect of designing with type, from the basic terms and classifications to contemporary digital typesetting technology.

Fully revised and updated to reflect new techno-logical developments and emerging design trends, Typographic Design: Form and Communication, Third Edition offers detailed coverage of such essential topics as the anatomy of letters and type families, visual communications and design esthetics, and designing for legibility. More than 600 full-color, halftone, and line images clarify typographic fundamentals and convey a keen understanding of designing with type.

Theoretical and structural problem-solving approaches by leading design educators from across the United States reveal underlying concepts about typographic form and message. There are four pictorial timelines showing the evolution of typography and writing within the context of world events-from the origins of writing more than 5,000 years ago to contemporary website and electronic page design.

Important new features in this new edition include:
* 80 full-color pages that address the use of color in typographic design
* New case studies on specific typographic design problems for website, CD-ROM, and environmental graphics
* New example projects assigned by prominent design educators
* An emphasis on innovations in digital type technology
* New typeface specimens that present outstanding digital fonts
* New information on legibility and the Internet --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Rob Carter is professor of typography and graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has received numerous awards for his work from organizations such as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York Type Directors Club, New York Art Directors Club, Society of Typographic Arts, Creativity, and Print regional annual. He is the author of American Typography Today, the five-volume Working with Type series, and Digital Color and Type. He is also the co-author, with Philip Meggs, of Typographic Specimens: The Great Typefaces.
Ben Day is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has also taught at Boston University and been a Visiting Designer at the University of Connecticut. His many exhibitions include the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the New York Type Directors Club, and the New York Sculpture Centre. The Boston Society of Printers awarded him a teaching fellowship. He has served as a consultant to Bostonia magazine, NASA, and the Fogg Museum, and art directed Handel and Haydn magazine. He has been selected for Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
Philip Meggs is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, a contributing editor of Print magazine, and a visiting faculty member at Syracuse University and the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. He is the author of Type and Image and A History of Graphic Design, co-author of Typographic Specimens, and co-editor of Texts on Type and Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces. Meggs holds an honorary doctorate from the Massachusetts College of Art and has been inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471284300
• ISBN-13: 978-0471284307
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,868,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best, July 4, 2004

By 

"artemis-raven" (Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Typographic Design: Form and Communication (Paperback)

I have been a graphic designer for over 20 years. I teach typography at the university level. I learned typography the old-fashioned way: by specifying, setting, and manipulating it by hand. From that background I can confidently state that THE best way to truly understand how type works is through understanding the forms of letters, words, and groups of words.

Students trying to understand typography today have a huge disincentive to slow down and truly study how type works and that is, the speed of the computer. It's easy to go right past the fundamentally subtle nature of letterforms and combinations thereof. You can't understand type at the pace that you can pull down a menu and select a typeface while rushing to get to the more exciting steps of design.

This book is one of the very best for SHOWING what type is really about. Comments about the layout of the book and the size of artwork in it should not dissuade students and instructors; this book will show you what type IS and how it works in design.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fair primer, July 4, 2007

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Typographic Design: Form and Communication, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I imagine this book working well as a text for an introductory course on typography. Part of that impression comes from the clear need for an instructor to tie the material together and bring it to life with practical exercises.

The format addresses an audience that reasons in visual terms. Each two page spread, sometimes each page presents a complete thought. Illustration demonstrates each of the points made. The first section presents a history in sound-bites, highlighting the history of print and placing it in historical context. Next, about fifteen pages establish the anatomy of a character and typeface, and the words that describe it. Successive chapters describe basic visual hierarchy and composition, page formatting and legibility, technology as of 1993, and samples from typographic curricula at colleges around the US. The last and larger half of the book presents case studies in a few pages each, then nearly 100 pages of type specimens. Each specimen appears in enlarged form, making important details easily visible. Next, the specimen appears in several examples of body text, giving the font's real reading experience at several point sizes and spacings.

This book does a fair job with the basics, and educators may find ideas that will help their own classrooms. Experienced typographers, even students taking their second course, will bottom out quickly. Your experience of this book will depend on how you use it. A good instructor could find it a helpful adjunct, but self-taught students won't get the direction they look for.

-- wiredweird

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent typographic resource, July 13, 2008

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Creative Sponge (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Typographic Design: Form and Communication (Paperback)

I had the privilege to have Phil Meggs for Type I in which we used this book. This book in conjunction with his instruction provided me with an invaluable foundation in the understanding of type and it's use as a communication tool. It's a must in any graphic designers library.