Paul Renner : The Art of Typography (Paperback)

by Christopher Burke (Author)
Key Phrases: mechanisierte grafik, grotesk types, funktionell sein, Paul Renner, Die Kunst, Jan Tschichold (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
...a fascinating portrait of a man of taste, passion and commitment whose contribution to reading and printing made him an enemy of his state... -- The New York Times Book Review, Steven Heller

Product Description
German typographer Paul Renner is best known as the designer of the typeface Futura, which stands as a landmark of modern graphic design. This title is the first study in any language of Renner's typographic career; it details his life and work to reveal the breadth of his accomplishment and influence.

Renner was a central figure in the German artistic movements of the 1920s and 1930s, becoming an early and prominent member of the Deutscher Werkbund while creating his first book designs for various Munich-based publishers. As the author of numerous texts such as Typografie als Kunst (Typography as Art) and Die Kunst der Typographie (The Art of Typography) he created a new set of guidelines for balanced book design. Renner taught with Jan Tschichold in the 1930s and was a key participant in the heated ideological and artistic debates of that time. Arrested and dismissed from his post by the Nazis, he eventually emerged as a voice of experience and reason in the postwar years. Throughout this tumultuous period he produced a body of work of the highest distinction.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568981589
• ISBN-13: 978-1568981581
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,128,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Legendary Book!, June 5, 2008

By	Elena Monastyreva "TheNode" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of those most interesting books I have ever read about graphic design, you expect it to be filled with Paul Renner's work, but instead it goes much deeper than that, describing his philosophy and ideas, which is what essentially graphic design is.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating history of an era and a man's work, August 15, 2007

By	William K. Berkson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a rare achievement as it gives interesting insights into both the aesthetic achievement of a designer, and the culture milieu in which he lived and reacted to. As this same background--the German speaking world from about 1890 to WWII--was very fertile creatively in many fields, the book is of interest far beyond Renner himself.

2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good, June 15, 2000

By	Tom Gibson (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Interesting book -- Renner, along with Herbert Bayer and others of his era, created typography and design that still looks modern decades later.