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Mostly type-related books here, although my reading does venture into other areas as well. I'm well-known on the net as a typographic authority, although my type-related reading is rather rusty these days.
| What I've been read in the past - Art & Design |
| Date | Author | Title |
|---|
[Finished 31 May 2010] A fascinating book, less because of its nominal content than for the glimpse it gives of vocational training and cultural attitudes near the beginning of the twentieth century.
[Finished 15 September 2009] A collection of essays on the illustrated book. It was a bit illuminating (so to speak), since I hadn’t really considered the technological advances that allowed the advent of the illustrated book in the beginning of the nineteenth century or the cultural changes that resulted in the banishment of illustration from serious literature. Some of the articles were a bit over-jargoned, a failing too common in humanities writing, and there were occasional factual errors (e.g., a misidentification of the Kelmscott Chaucer type as Golden), but overall it was an interesting read, something that I’m happy to have added to my reading experience.
Books from North River Press by Paul McPharlin
[Finished 27 April 2008] A curious volume. As near as I can tell from its contents, North River Press was a vanity publisher struggling for respectability. It’s not clear if the publishing company by the same name is connected, which would indicate that they managed to make the move from vanity publisher to actual publisher (although that is not clear from the current publisher’s information). The book, is reasonably well printed, albeit hurt by being set with linotype. The bulk of the book are sample pages from books published by the press, designs with little distinction in most cases. More interesting, I found, were the introductory sections which served as both advertisement and apologia for the press.
ABC of Leather Bookbinding by Edward R. Lhotka
[Finished 17 December 2007] A delightful little book. Not quite enough to learn leather bookbinding without an instructor, but a great reference in conjunction with actual instruction. Every other page is an illustration. Definitely worth finding a copy on the second-hand market.
[Finished 12 June 2007] A large number of design books tend to be large collections of pictures with little or no commentary. Since designers are often not particularly verbal people, this isn’t too surprising, but it also shouuldn’t be surprising when such a book ends up being used as a source of
This book, which treats the concept of “wit” in design manages to strike a decent balance between pictures and words. Yes, a large section of the book is a garden-variety picture collection, but the first part is an interesting essay on just what constitutes wit in the world of design (although it is perilously under-illustrated!). The last section, similarly, is a collection of interviews with designers on the topic of “how I got the idea.” Of course, designers being the non-verbal bunch that they are, this is often a bit hit or miss, with the misses outweighing the hits (although it was nice to see at least one designer open with a forthright, “beats me!”).
The examples, not surprisingly, given the nationalities of the co-authors, are overwhelmingly British, and one co-author’s design firm is perhaps a bit over-represented in its pages, but there’s also a good collection of historical examplars as well. In all, the end product is one of the better design book which I’ve encountered.
(And as an aside, it occurs to me that this is a review I could never have allowed myself to run on the pages of Serif, and it also strikes at the heart of the problem with that magazine, in that it tended to want to focus on words rather than pictures.)
[Finished 8 June 2007] So I’m writing a novel set in Prague in 1900 and I’m thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a book about Prague in 1900.
Then I find this book.
It’s not exactly what I was looking for, with its focus primarily on the arts of the period, but there were a few historical photos and paintings worth the price of admission (which was free since I found this book at the library), and I was able to get a bit more of the cultural zeitgeist than I had previously, which is always good. And I have the names of some artistic figures whose lives and work may reveal a bit more of what I’m attempting to learn.
[Finished 25 May 2006] An intriguing volume from 2002. The first part is a collection of essays lead off by Robert Bringhurst and consisting of a mix of history, philosophy, practical type design and occasional self-promotion. The second half is a collection of the winning selections from the bukva:raz! international type competition.
Of the essays, some are outstanding, some have at least some interest and a few are of nearly no merit.
The type specimens are full page showings of the character set with a sample setting on the facing page, the kind of generosity in exposition one wishes would be seen more often in type specimens. The bottom of these facing pages include a short biography of the designer and a blurb about the background of the typeface.
[Finished 5 May 2005] A collection of alphabet-based miniature paintings of animals. Some interesting choices along the way (Z is not for Zebra). A beautiful little book, with the illustrations reproduced here for the first time in color (an earlier edition of the book was black and white).
The lettering is also exquisite, demonstrating the wide-ranging talent of Angel
[Finished 9 August 2004] I picked up a couple volumes in the Looking Closer series a few years ago when I was contemplating seeing if I might synthesize something resembling a critical theory around graphic design. I started reading this book back then, but apparently it fell behind a desk half-read or somesuch as I found it, with a bookmark about halfway through while unpacking after my latest move. I don’t really remember too much of the earliest portion of the book, but the later essays were rather interesting. Perhaps I may return to that project at some point in the future.
[Finished 16 February 2004] A good enough overview of art history, I suppose. I was exposed to a fair amount which I was not familiar with. The work largely restricts itself to Western European and American artists and while Japanese paintings were mentioned as inspiration for the impressionists, none are shown, nor is that tradition discussed beyond brief mentions. It’s hard to fault the book for this, though because it still covers an awful lot of art history in just under 200 pages.
I found the frequent lack of illustration frustrating. There were artists mentioned without a single illustration of their work (often the artists who sounded most intriguing), or major works discussed without illustration. Other illustrations were marred by being presented in black and white rather than color.
The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of Good Design by Jan Tschichold
[Finished 27 July 2002] A collection of essays on book design by one of the twentieth century’s most masterful (and controversial) book designers. The time span of the essays is rather broad, and covers Tschichold’s young radical days along with his later traditionalism.
Optical Letter Spacing for New Printing Systems by David Kindersley and Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley
[Finished 7 July 2002] A slim paperback published hoping to get Kindersely’s ideas more “out there” into the world of typography.
A Millenium of the Book edited by Robin Myers and Michael Harris
[Finished 14 June 2002] A collection of essays on the history of the book.
[Finished 24 September 2001] The beginnings of my reading on contemporary design criticism as I started to contemplate a theory of design criticism.
[Finished 27 May 2001] A collection of essays by Dutch type designer Gerrit Noordzij. I’ll probably publish a full review in Serif.
[Finished 13 February 2000] Review pending for Serif.
[Finished 19 July 1999] A nicely illustrated examination of the development of impressionism in France.
[Finished 25 August 1998] An odd mix of philosophy and details of Gill’s life. I’d’ve liked more philosophy, less recollection.
[Finished 7 July 1998] Another in a long line of books minimally updated for the digital era. Either don’t bother with the update, or rewrite completely. The half-way version is really quite pointless.
[Finished 20 June 1998] Cresci’s second alphabet, now available as a digital typeface from LetterPerfect, is, I think inferior to his first model alphabet.
[Finished 20 June 1998] A selection of calligraphic works, meant for reproduction before the days of desktop publishing and EPS clipart. I really wish that it would have been more than just a simple display of calligraphic work, masterful as it is. I kept wondering as I looked through it, “how’d he do that?”
[Finished 20 June 1998] A pleasantly non-academic look at typographic history.
[Finished 5 June 1998] Focused largely on the religious side of Gill’s life, Speaight does not complete whitewash Gill’s sexuality, although it’s easier to catch the references if you know about Gill’s proclivities before you read the book.
Letterproeven van Nederlaandse gieterijen/Dutch typefounders' Specimens by John A. Lane and Mathieu Lommen
[Finished 27 May 1998] A pure catalog of specimens would be uncompromisingly
dull. Fortunately, this goes beyond and precedes each foundry’s
specimen list with a brief history. Some of it is a bit cursory, but
all of it is quite scholarly, especially compared with the American
counterpart I’m reading at the moment (a review of both will appear in
Serif.
[Finished 30 December 1997] A poorly categorized showing of trademarks and little else. They don’t even identify the designers of the marks.
[Finished 19 September 1997] A reprint of a Typophiles chapbook, it consists primarily of two essays by Stanley Morison, both intended to be prefatory material for larger works. Only the second esay stands on its own well. The first essay cries out for illustration but does not get the illos it so desparately needs. It’s also a work, that robbed of its original context (and perhaps even in its original context) could desperately use some editing. As a publisher friend once commented, “It’s nice working with dead authors--they never complain.”
[Finished 3 September 1997] Zachert is at her best when she is able to actually interact with the proprietors of the presses. In those accounts, we get a strong sense of the motivations and ideals that drive people into that archaism referred to as the private press. When she is unable to speak with the press’s proprietor, her accounting becomes much more sterile.
The book would have greatly benefited from more illustration, but the decision to print the volume letterpress and its short run length no doubt contributed to the failure in that department.
[Finished 26 August 1997] A generally good survey of the moderne tradition in typography. The commentary runs a bit thin at times, but the illustrations are excellent.
The Fleuron 4 edited by Oliver Simon
[Finished 11 July 1997] The last of the Simon Fleurons. I don’t really remember too much of
it, I’ve fallen so far behind on this record.
[Finished 2 July 1997] An updated and improved version of the already excellent first edition. Watch for the review in Serif.
[Finished 20 May 1997] The best book out of Robin Kinross’ Hyphen Press so far. The details on physical punchmaking were a bit thinner than I would have liked, but the discussion of the philosophy of type design is the best I’ve seen so far. I’ll do a full review for Serif.
[Finished 19 May 1997] A generally pretty good short book on book design. Well-illustrated with good backing commentary. Not the best thing out of Hyphen Press (see above), but quite good. I’ll do a full review for Serif.
[Finished 16 May 1997] A survey of the approaches to trademark design. Many of the books of this genre tend to be little more than picture books with a weak commentary, but I found this one to be a genuinely delightful discussion of the subject. (Note: The book was retitled in its latest edition)
Fleuron 5 edited by Stanley Morison
[Finished 2 May 1997] Perhaps one of the most important editions in the seven volume run of
The Fleuron, this number includes Morison’s article on an
ideal italic and Beatrice Warde’s Garamond article.
[Finished 23 April 1997] A delightful collection from a variety of perspectives on the questions relevant to the production of Greek typefaces. It’s interesting in that the Greek printing community is seemingly unconcerned about the production of quality Greek typefaces, leaving the task to be done largely by Western designers.
[Finished 16 April 1997] An excellent collection of articles on typography. Some of the essays are of only historical interest, but many are of practical use to the practicing typographer. Watch for the review in Serif.
[Finished 31 March 1997] A rather fascinating look at the work of designer Alan Fletcher. There were a few illustrations that I would have liked to have seen that were left out, but otherwise, it was quite an interesting read/look.
[Finished 24 January 1997] Three words: Awful, bloody awful. The premise of the book is a good one: That in this era of increasingly common interaction with type people need to develop “type sense” much as they have common sense. The problem: All the evidence is that the two Wheelers have no type sense. The book is filled with incorrect information and headings are set in attrociously poorly spaced capitals (and not just at say, Monotype Perpetua Titling out of the box bad, we’re talking really cheap clone type without even Fontographer auto-kern level spacing corrections. Unbelievable).
Stanley Morison by Nicolas Barker
[Finished 13 December 1996] I’ve begun working on a biography of the typographic writer Beatrice
Warde & decided to read Barker’s biography of Stanley Morison as an
introitus to the project. It’s a very entertaining read and there are
little bits of intriguing information hidden behind seemingly innocent
passages as well as a frequent infuriating vagueness in some of the
accounting.
[Finished 28 October 1996] A slim volume (I read it between meals on a transatlantic flight) covering the idea of three-dimensional typography from the earliest shaded types to the rather extravagant computer-generated three-dimensional forms of contemporary designers. The body of the examples are printed on a translucent paper which helps to add yet another dimension to the images, presented as they are in two dimensions on paper.
[Finished 26 May 1996] A classic on lettering and calligraphy. Not something that one can dip into and out of, though. It was written at a time when an author could expect his audience to patiently read the entire text before hoping to use it as a reference. Frequent identification of items by price is another odd feature of the book which makes its use a little more difficult.
[Finished 2 May 1996] For some reason Canada seems to produce spectacular typographic writers. I’d never read this book before, but encountering it for CDN5.00 last week, I figured I may as well pick it up. Good decision. It’s a very well-written book indeed.
Fontographer: Type by Design by Stephen Moye
[Finished 20 April 1996] I’ll print a proper review in Serif.
[Finished 14 April 1996] This is the sort of playful look at language and religion that I really enjoy, and one of the most wonderful things about the Jewish tradition since this sort of play is not a modern invention but can be found even in the early midrashim. The calligraphic content is a bit lower than one might have liked but it’s a very fun book nevertheless.
A Wood-cut Manual by J. J. Lankes
[Finished 25 January 1996] This is a great little book, with rather good information on wood
engraving interspersed with philosophical and sociological reflections
in the same sort of artisan-based socialism of which Gill and Morris
were both proponents.
[Finished 24 December 1995] In an era in which the computer reigns supreme in graphic design, a book about handlettering logo types may seem a bit anachronistic, but there is much to be learnt from the work of a designer such as Young, especially in comparing specimens of typefaces from which he drew inspiration and the final result which often only slightly resembles the original type.
Alphabet and Image 1 edited by Robert Harling
[Finished 15 November 1995] A collection of the first half of the run of this postwar periodical
of typography and graphic arts. The subject matter is wide-ranging,
and perhaps most surprising is the selection of books reviewed which
included in one instance a work on what would now be called literary
theory. It is difficult to imagine a review of something by Derrida in
Print.
One disappointment is that after the type review appearing in the first number, no additional type reviews appeared. The volume which I have only represents the first year of publication. If memory serves, the publication ran to eight numbers and it would certainly be nice to locate numbers 5-8 for further reading.
[Finished 1 November 1995] Really a rather poor text. I don’t recommend it. A review appears in Serif 4.
[Finished 24 September 1995] A fascinating book, despite the rather dry title. My review appears in Serif 4.
[Finished July 1995] As the editor of Serif, I frequently receive review copies of books. These make up a big part of my libri legendi pile next to the bed. I’ve read the original and the review will likely compare the two volumes (the new edition, incidentally is much thicker). I’ll let you read the real review in the magazine.