Press Release
Presented in the style of old type-specimen books, Retrofonts features over 360 of the most eye-catching and timeless fonts designed between the middle of the nineteenth and the end of the twentieth centuries. Organized into nine chronological sections with titles like “Fin de Siècle and Simplicissimus” and “Walkman, Rubik’s Cube and Gen X,” the fonts catalogued in this impressive volumeprovide a glimpse of the historical, political and cultural context out of which they sprang.
But Retrofonts gives readers more than fonts on the page – the book includes a CD with 222 copyright-free fonts, making it an invaluable tool for graphic designers, typographers and art directors. The professional-quality fonts given away in Retrofonts can be used in myriad ways, while also informing and inspiring readers.
Side by side with the type specimens, examples of the fonts in use demonstrate the aesthetic sensibilities of bygone eras. From 1950s brush scripts to the collage-inspired letterforms of the 1980s and beyond, the fonts author Gregor Stawinski examines exemplify decade-defining design trends, helping today’s readers refine their understanding of what was in style, when.
As Stawinski notes, “Typographical time travel succeeds when, as in this book, the most popular typographical trends of different periods in high, low and mass culture are brought together in a vivid presentation. Only then will a review of the exciting history of typography in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries provide thrilling discoveries, forge informative connections or simply entertain.”
This article was last modified on January 18, 2023
This article was first published on August 17, 2010
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