Typology: Type Design from the Victorian Era to the ... (ISBN 0811823083)

A typographic abomination:
It's pretty clear that the other reviewers of this book share the authors' fascination with type as a design element rather than as a means of communication. If it were only a matter of taste, however, I'd be able to shrug it off. In fact, the authors display in the design of the text of this book their indifference -- or hostility -- to what most typographers regard as good type design for readability. The Introduction, and the intros to each section, are set in what appears to be about 14/28 on a 7-inch measure -- far too long for comfortable reading, even with that much leading. Worse, given such a generous measure, the text is still spaced abominably -- e.g., page 10, where a hyphen break leaves two letters from "typehouses" at the beginning of a line. Even the spacing in the narrow columns that accompany the illustrations in each section is atrocious; for people who are so concerned with the way type looks, they seem totally unconscious of the way that spacing affects color. In many places, it's clear that the text was padded (with circumlocutions) to fit the space allotted to it on a page, and in others it appears that the spacing was adjusted to fill out the page. I won't even mention the typos... Unfortunately for these authors, I had recently bought and read "The Complete Manual of Typography" by James Felici and "Thinking With Type" by Ellen Lupton, both of which are real books on typography that are eminently readable -- and practice what they preach. The Felici book, in particular, is a treasure. Jan Tschichold, one of the leaders of Die Neue Typografie, ultimeately recanted and became one of the masters of classical typography. The authors of "Typology" should follow his example, and you should not buy this book if you're anything but a graphic designer who's looking for ways to use type that have nothing to do with actually reading it. Because this is not a book to be read: it's a book to be looked at. If I'd had the opportunity to preview it in detail, I'd never have wasted the money; and the chances that I'll ever open it are slim to none, while the Felici book I mentioned earlier will be at my side whenever I set type.

Indispensable:
This book, which is a close cousin of Heller's and Fili's Deco/Modern series ("Deco Type", "French Modern", "Deco Espana", etc.), is not just a book of fonts. It has plenty of those, and in complete form, so you can use them, but the emphasis is on excellent graphic design and how distinctive, intelligently-used fonts feature in it. This is made vivid with lots of illustration (much of it in color) and lots of text, which is informative, insightful, and very analytical. This is an essential reference and educational tool: students should consider it a small investment, and I can't imagine a professional designer being without it around the office. The emphasis is rightly placed on early to mid-twentieth century design, but the book is fairly comprehensive, with enough of the Victorian Era and the Digital Age to justify its subtitle. The book itself is a nicely-bound softcover with thick pages and good, clear reproduction.

Not to be taken too seriously:
This book is unfortunately popular in many Typology and Type and Image courses. This was a required read in one of my early core classes. The book is mediocre all around. The beginning chapters give the reader a crash course in type through the ages, while the later chapters, commenting on the current age, are heavily opinionated and overwhelmingly biased. It is difficult to take in information while the authors allow their personal tastes and preferences to slip through so regularly. While I suppose this book is fine for a student who is just looking to pass a quiz, or an individual who wants to dapple in typographic history to impress their friends, it isn't a resource to be taken very seriously. The book does a fairly good job in explaining the history of type setting from hot metal to the digital age and the spread of styles through different European countries but anyone truly interested in expanding their knowledge on the subject should look towards another source. Design wise this book also lacks. While it offers a fair amount of full color large examples from each era the page set up is rather confusing and disjointed. The first page of every chapter has extremely leaded, open kerned type and an awkward image smack dab in the middle of the page. Since the text is not set in columns you must read through the image and across the page. Not too easy on the eyes since the type is so open. This shouldn't be hailed as an excellent type resource. It is a decent illustration of various type styles explained in layman's terms.

Excellent reference book for any designer:
I purchased this book as a text book for a Type and Image class, and I was pleased all around with the book. Not only is it well-produced with great, full-color images, thick pages and a flexible yet durable cover; it is well written giving the reader a good background in type and graphic design from the Victorian era right up to and including the digital age. After reading this book, I am much more knowledgeable of designer's names, type faces they created, aesthetics and theories of design. The book is divided into chapters based on design movements such as Victorian, Art Nouveau, Dada, Avant Garde and Commercial Modernism allowing the reader to find specifically what they want. Within each chapter, they talk about how these movements affected design in different regions of the world, and they touch on major products and designers of each era and region. This is a great book for any design student or professional to have in their library. Great content and the perfect reference book to have on hand. Highly recommended!

An Excellent Book with Great Insight:
I have read many type books in my career, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The examples and historic value are insightful, thoughtful, and well illustrated by examples of each movement. I bought this book and used it several times as references for my class. This is a wonderful book, easy to read, and I would recommend this book to anyone studying graphic design. This book stands out and I would bought this book twice because I lost the first one.