ALPHABETS AND OTHER SIGNS (Paperback)

by Julian Rothenstein (Author) "The letter, as an abstract written sign, developed from the pictogram, the simple drawing that accompanied speech into the making of the first human culture..." (more)
Key Phrases: designer unknown

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Typeface demo sheets, eye charts and logos come together to create a lush, idiosyncratic catalogue of visual ephemera as chosen by Rothenstein, a designer, and Gooding, an art critic and curator. They present forgotten modernist lettering, from Italian Futurist and Russian Constructivist graphics to Czech Karel Teige's 1926 "living poem" (of typeface combined with illustrative photography of a dancer); "The Antifascist Schoolbook," a rebellious, late 1930s graphic text against Spain's General Franco; and advertisements for everything from tea to caviar. Each large page is striking in its muted, silkscreened colors, and the book itself is beautiful, with rounded corners, yellow edges and green splotchy endpapers. Very little text intervenes, with only small introductions to the five chapters. Gooding suggests in his introduction, "There is indeed something quite magical about the look of the alphabet: it has to do with its infinite capacity to change shape and style, to express purpose and suggest mood, to be formal and informal, elegant and ugly, classical and romantic, delicate and robust." Rescued from among thousands, the alphabets here provide us with the subtitle's "More," and bear out that infinitude beautifully.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Delightfully unpredictable, ABZ is a wonderbook of typography, graphics, and symbols. Julian Rothenstein (creator of our Gift division’s popular Redstone line of cards and calendars) turns his idiosyncratic eye towards eccentric alphabets, emblems, and logos discovered in avant-garde modernist publications and other curious sources. Hundreds of examples of graphic ephemera sit side-by-side in inimitable Redstone fashion, mixing peculiar charm with useful reference in one stunning package. Special features include an amazing alphabet, circa 1926, created from photographs of a dancing woman; original test-types for opticians’ charts; pages from sign artists’ manuals; and coolly elegant designs from fin de siècle French, German, Italian, and Czech journals. Nearly all of this rare and beautiful material is reproduced here for the first time since its original publication. An art book like no other, ABZ is a collection of typographic oddities taken to the next level of appreciation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 183 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (September 14, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087773870X
• ISBN-13: 978-0877738701
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,870,104 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent look at history of typography, August 21, 2003

By	Sacha (Madrid Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abz (Paperback)

This is not a book on modern typography, or on modern ad campaigns; it is a wonderful review on the use of typography through the first 50 years of the 20th century.
Best of all is that the book itself has a beautiful design and concept, as if it were a book from that era: rounded corners, washed away colours... Therefore, in brief, it is more a book to look at, admire, and enjoy, than a book to work with and get ideas from on a usual basis, as it would happen with other kinds of publications. Me, as a lover of typography, strongly recommend it.