What books are there on type design?

Jean Paul Beumer7 October 2007 · 07:02

I’m looking for some good books about how to design type. There are plenty of beautiful, inspirative and even boring books on typography in general, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I really want to know about the basic priciples, for instance which letters to design first, what is the best way to design them, et cetera.

The Dutch bookshop Nijhof & Lee (http://www.nijhoflee.nl/design/typography/), who has a great choice in books on typography, sells Designing Type by Karen Cheng. Have any of you read it and if so, has it helped you any further?

I’m relatively new to Typophile, so chances are this discussion has a history...

Kind regards,
Jean Paul

Claus Eggers Sø...7 October 2007 · 07:53

Yup, “Designing Type” is a fine introduction to designing type. That and Walter Tracey’s “Letters of Credit” and you will be well on your way.

Here is a list of books on typography and typedesign: http://typophile.com/node/12157?

And here is the short-list: http://typophile.com/node/15349?

William Berkson7 October 2007 · 08:43

And the best single guide: Briem’s notes on type design.

Cheng’s book is valuable, but quite limited.

Ricardo Cordoba7 October 2007 · 08:44

Previous discussions of Cheng’s book on Typophile:

http://www.typophile.com/node/20510

http://typophile.com/node/19954

http://typophile.com/node/18679

Ricardo Cordoba7 October 2007 · 08:57

Book suggestions:

Logo, Font & Lettering Bible

[EDIT] I was forgetting Counterpunch

Fontographer: Type by Design

Learn FontLab Fast!

Online, in addition to Briem’s site:

Underware’s Type Basics Workshop

William Berkson7 October 2007 · 09:33

Another nice online resource is Type Culture. See especially Mark Jamra’s essays.

19857 October 2007 · 10:31

I’m a type novice so I am regularly on the lookout for such books.

I think the most valuable resources I have encountered so far are Counterpunch and Briem’s notes (both mentioned by Ricardo).

In short, Counterpunch is great because it helped me fathom some type conventions. Briem’s notes offer an insight into optics and points out some pitfalls you may encounter.

I own Designing Type but, with all due respect I don’t find it so useful. It’s more an analysis of existing type than the process or evolution of type design. Of course this is interesting in itself but in isolation seems a bit lacking.

I think one of the best resources is actually this forum, so you are in the right place already!

Ricardo Cordoba7 October 2007 · 14:04

Counterpunch and Briem’s notes (both mentioned by Ricardo)...

Actually, William Berkson mentioned Briem’s site first. :-)

I think one of the best resources is actually this forum...

Good point — the TypoWiki has a lot of great tips, not just lists of resources.

paul d hunt7 October 2007 · 14:37

www.typophile.com/books
faq books
books

Jean Paul Beumer9 October 2007 · 06:02

Thank you all!

Stefan Seifert11 October 2007 · 02:57

>And the best single guide: Briem’s notes on type design.

Hi William!

Thanks for this link. Quite good. Although it doesn’t seem to be very new.
Is there anything comparable that treats good hinting done in FontLab?
For some unknown reasons I lost my programs handbook...;-)

Stefan

PS Your comments round here are very good and interesting

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