Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design [Hardcover]

Timothy Samara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2004

The Typography Workbook is the second in Rockport's popular Workbook series, practical and inspirational workbooks that cover all the fundamental areas of the graphic design business. This book presents an abundance of information on type - the cornerstone of graphic design - succinctly and to the point, so that designers can get the information they need quickly and easily. Whereas many other books on type are either very technical or showcase-oriented, this book offers the reader ideas and inspiration through hundreds of successful real-life projects with well-crafted type usage as well as complete and hardworking content including choosing fonts, sizes and colours, incorporating text and illustrations, avoiding common mistakes in text usage, teaching rules to live (and work) by and pointing out hints on when to break them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Timothy Samara is a graphic designer based in New York City, where he divides his time between teaching, writing, lecturing, and freelance consulting through STIM Visual Communication. His 18-year career in branding and information design has explored projects in print, packaging, environments, user interface design, and animation. He has been a senior art director at Ruder Finn, New York’s largest public relations firm, and senior art director at Pettistudio, a small multidisciplinary design firm. Before relocating to Manhattan, he was principal of Physiologic in Syracuse, located in upstate New York.

In 1990, he graduated a Trustee Scholar from the Graphic Design program at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Mr. Samara is a faculty member at New York’s School of Visual Arts, New York University, Purchase College/SUNY, and The New School, and has published six books on design and typography, all through Rockport Publishers: Making and Breaking the Grid; Typography Workbook; Publication Design Workbook; Type Style Finder; Design Elements; and, most recently, Design Evolution, released in January 2008. Mr. Samara and his partner live in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers (September 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592530818
• ISBN-13: 978-1592530816
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,039 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

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is this the second best book on type?, January 30, 2005

By 

Roger C. Parker "Roger shows authors how to d... (Dover, NH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design (Hardcover)

Few books share the cadre of enthusiastic readers that Robert Bringhurst created with his Elements of Typographic Style.

But, Timothy Samara's Typography Workbook comes close, and, in some ways, is equally useful. (The two books complement each other quite well).

Samara manages to combine the technical with the inspirational. His tutorials on typeface design and layout are compellingly written and informative, but where the Typography Workbook realkly shines is the glorious color reproductions of type in use. Nothing communicates like color illustrations, and the Typographic Workbook contains hundreds of samples.

The Typography Workbook is an ideal choice for student or faculty alike. Text has been concisely edited, permitting large visuals to illustrate the points being made, as well as alternative approaches. Use it as an introductory text, a practical guide next to your computer, or for inspiration when needed.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent author, March 29, 2007

By 

A. McCullough (Carnegie, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design (Paperback)

A very good overview of typography in everyday situations, as a how-to and as shown by example. Many of the examples are in a style I don't personally like (I'm a traditionalist by nature and modern typography often borders on the chaotic in my opinion) but as a designer seeing what's being done out there is a necessity. This book is more than just a typographic showcase of current thought and work - it presents sound principles that underscore what's presented.

35 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a workbook, January 17, 2009

By 

S. Moulton (Hoffman Estates, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design (Hardcover)

I made the mistake of assumption. In light of trying to be helpful to those who are assuming the same, I should point out that:

The definition of a "workbook" (freedictionary.com):
work·book (wűrkbk)
n.
1. A booklet containing problems and exercises that a student may work directly on the pages.
2. A manual containing operating instructions, as for an appliance or machine.
3. A book in which a record is kept of work proposed or accomplished.

This was my assumption. This is not a workbook, nor is it a guide about how to accomplish anything. The book is a comprehensive and concise reference book inappropriate as a class text. I will say it is very interesting; and the examples are wonderful and entertaining for those who are interested in typography but not instructors.

...an unfortunate title for this book was chosen.