Letterforms: Typeface Design from Past to Future
If you love type and want to know more about letterforms and the history of typefaces, this book is for you. Within the covers of Letterforms: Typeface Design from Past to Future, designer, author, and educator Timothy Samara takes readers deep into this topic, from past to present – and even their future. He expertly guides his audience through the aesthetics as well as the technical considerations of his subject.
The book begins with an overview spanning the invention of movable type to today’s digital typography, and ends with a showcase of contemporary fonts. It is organized into six thoughtful, beautifully designed and written categories:
Heritage: Introduction to the history of letterform design.
Legacies: Nomenclature and current aesthetic design conventions.
Foundations: Fundamentals of character structure and optics.
Evolution: Strategies and processes to help guide the budding type designer.
Reinvention: Envisioning structure and style in new ways for narrative and conceptual expression.
The state of the art: A showcase of contemporary directions in typeface design.
The author says, “From the time that I first showed interest in art, drawing letters was of great fascination to me.” This interest prevailed, and led him to his professional creative endeavors, eventually leading to this beautifully designed, informative volume. Samara’s true focus in the book is conveying the essentials of type design to practitioners, and thoughtfully and thoroughly explaining and illustrating the development of form and style. He walks you through letterform anatomy, stroke formation and rhythm, tool methodologies, structure and proportion, and lots more.”
This well-researched volume contains hundreds of illustrations accompanied by interesting and informative explanations. It can be read cover to cover, or a section at a time. It can be enjoyed equally by professional type- and graphic designers, as well as non-professional letterform enthusiasts. This all makes for one excellent, timely reference work that designers can return to again and again in designing logos, wordmarks, signage, titling accents, and all of their graphic design work. If you want to be inspired and informed, this book is for you!