Collection
Publication
New York, New York : Gotham Books, 2011.
Description
A romp through the history of fonts and the lives of the great typographers, revealing the extent to which fonts are not only shaped by but also define the world in which we live.
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
Rating: 4.5* of five
The Book Report: The book description says:
A hugely entertaining and revealing guide to the history of type that asks, What does your favorite font say about you?
Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every
Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.
My Review: I confess it: I am a type geek. I love a well-designed book. I love to immerse myself in a book and lose all sense of time and space, and then after I've returned to the dull confines of mortal reality, look closely at the object in front of me to winkle out its secrets. Often I find the design of a book can make it a better read (The Night Circus being a great example) or pop me so far out of the story there's no way for me to get back in (no names, I don't want to hear from all those shady gray twilit ladies with their dripping fangs).
So this book was meant for me. Simon Garfield, not a first-time writer apparently though one couldn't prove it by me, is the perfect cicerone into the mysteries of typefaces, fonts, and typography (three separate things); he's as nutsy about the subject as one can get (did you know there's a type museum? It's not open to the public, yes the author knows about it, knows the curator...that's deep), and able with his clear and pleasant prose voice to bring the reader right along on his trip.
It might not be instantly obvious, but every single thing you look at has some relationship to type. TV and movies have type in their credits, the box your microwave dinner comes in is loaded with type, the computer you're using? All type interfaces. The dashboard of your car: Type. The entire made world relates to us through type at some level. Yet many, if not most, of us are blind to its specifics, absorbing only its results and usually its subliminal messages. And they are many. Some typefaces convey authority (Futura, anyone? Helvetica! Trajan!) and others soothing calming pleasure (Optima). Some are bluntly informative (Times New Roman, Baskerville) and others whimsically amusing (Papyrus, the loathed Comic Sans).All of them, without fail, were created by crazy people called type designers to fulfill a function. For better or worse, some become standards, and some sink into the great morass of indifference. Such is, after all, the fate of most things...and most people, even type designers.
The stories of the type designers Garfield profiles were entertaining, and often illuminating: Eric Gill, designer of the famous typeface Gill Sans, was a lech of the first water. He was, in fact, criminally culpable in today's world for many of his sexual adventures. Funny thing...I've never liked Gill Sans. Now I have an excuse! John Baskerville, whose beautiful solid-yet-graceful serif typeface is one of my personal favorites, lived a tough life as a type-founder and, within months of his death, was so little valued by his widow that she offered a stranger who came from Europe to meet her recently deceased husband all his fonts and tools for a song. I suppose it's my subliminal response to underdogs that makes me love the typeface so.
Since type has been part of my existence from little on up, it's hard for me to gauge how good an introduction this book would make to a type-tyro, but my sense is that Garfield's obsessiveness about the topic makes him a good and reliable conductor on the train. Get on with a pleasant tingle of anticipation, alight at each small station dedicated to the history of one specific typeface, and arrive refreshed and amused at the destination, the place of expanded appreciation of the nature of your entire visible world.
The Book Report: The book description says:
A hugely entertaining and revealing guide to the history of type that asks, What does your favorite font say about you?
Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every
Show More
product we buy. But where do fonts come from, and why do we need so many? Who is responsible for the staid practicality of Times New Roman, the cool anonymity of Arial, or the irritating levity of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)?Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.
My Review: I confess it: I am a type geek. I love a well-designed book. I love to immerse myself in a book and lose all sense of time and space, and then after I've returned to the dull confines of mortal reality, look closely at the object in front of me to winkle out its secrets. Often I find the design of a book can make it a better read (The Night Circus being a great example) or pop me so far out of the story there's no way for me to get back in (no names, I don't want to hear from all those shady gray twilit ladies with their dripping fangs).
So this book was meant for me. Simon Garfield, not a first-time writer apparently though one couldn't prove it by me, is the perfect cicerone into the mysteries of typefaces, fonts, and typography (three separate things); he's as nutsy about the subject as one can get (did you know there's a type museum? It's not open to the public, yes the author knows about it, knows the curator...that's deep), and able with his clear and pleasant prose voice to bring the reader right along on his trip.
It might not be instantly obvious, but every single thing you look at has some relationship to type. TV and movies have type in their credits, the box your microwave dinner comes in is loaded with type, the computer you're using? All type interfaces. The dashboard of your car: Type. The entire made world relates to us through type at some level. Yet many, if not most, of us are blind to its specifics, absorbing only its results and usually its subliminal messages. And they are many. Some typefaces convey authority (Futura, anyone? Helvetica! Trajan!) and others soothing calming pleasure (Optima). Some are bluntly informative (Times New Roman, Baskerville) and others whimsically amusing (Papyrus, the loathed Comic Sans).All of them, without fail, were created by crazy people called type designers to fulfill a function. For better or worse, some become standards, and some sink into the great morass of indifference. Such is, after all, the fate of most things...and most people, even type designers.
The stories of the type designers Garfield profiles were entertaining, and often illuminating: Eric Gill, designer of the famous typeface Gill Sans, was a lech of the first water. He was, in fact, criminally culpable in today's world for many of his sexual adventures. Funny thing...I've never liked Gill Sans. Now I have an excuse! John Baskerville, whose beautiful solid-yet-graceful serif typeface is one of my personal favorites, lived a tough life as a type-founder and, within months of his death, was so little valued by his widow that she offered a stranger who came from Europe to meet her recently deceased husband all his fonts and tools for a song. I suppose it's my subliminal response to underdogs that makes me love the typeface so.
Since type has been part of my existence from little on up, it's hard for me to gauge how good an introduction this book would make to a type-tyro, but my sense is that Garfield's obsessiveness about the topic makes him a good and reliable conductor on the train. Get on with a pleasant tingle of anticipation, alight at each small station dedicated to the history of one specific typeface, and arrive refreshed and amused at the destination, the place of expanded appreciation of the nature of your entire visible world.
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LibraryThing member whitreidtan
Are you one of those people who reads the typeface information in the back of books? Do you look at the individual letters in the words on posters and signs? Do you frequently change out of the default font on your computer because it's not your favorite? If you said yes to any of the above, this
Garfield's very readable history of fonts and typography is fascinating and accessible even to the layman. Main chapters about the development of printing techniques, the evolution of fonts, and the aesthetics of both surround interstitial "fontbreaks" that focus on a story connected to one particular font. The chapters range from examinations of the difficulties with creating new fonts, the politics and meaning that some fonts carry, the issue of intellectual property and piracy, the most used fonts in the world, those that inspire scorn and loathing in the arts world, and the dramas that have occurred when well-known and corporately identifiable fonts have been abandoned in favor of something new.
Garfield explains what makes a font successful and only delves into the technical aspect of design very briefly. When he discusses the differences in letters between fonts, the astute reader will notice that more often than not, that particular letter is printed in the font under discussion (however, it is only that letter so the font change can be hard to notice for a speedy reader). Some differences are miniscule so the backstories on why certain fonts were adopted for specific uses and how they were tested out to ensure effectiveness are definitely interesting.
The anecdotes make this a fun and informative read. I can now say with confidence that I prefer serif to sans serif and am definitely a traditionalist with regards to my fonts. I don't think I have the aesthetics of a font designer though as each time Garfield asserts that anyone who likes a particular font has no taste, I found the font under discussion perfectly acceptable. Ah well, as long as my books are legible and readable, I suppose I can accept almost any font the designer wants to use. In the meantime, I will now be trying to recognize the more common fonts whenever I come across them thanks to Garfield and his quick and quirky book.
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is the book for you. If you didn't say yes to any of the above, this book will get you thinking about all of these things and more. Garfield's very readable history of fonts and typography is fascinating and accessible even to the layman. Main chapters about the development of printing techniques, the evolution of fonts, and the aesthetics of both surround interstitial "fontbreaks" that focus on a story connected to one particular font. The chapters range from examinations of the difficulties with creating new fonts, the politics and meaning that some fonts carry, the issue of intellectual property and piracy, the most used fonts in the world, those that inspire scorn and loathing in the arts world, and the dramas that have occurred when well-known and corporately identifiable fonts have been abandoned in favor of something new.
Garfield explains what makes a font successful and only delves into the technical aspect of design very briefly. When he discusses the differences in letters between fonts, the astute reader will notice that more often than not, that particular letter is printed in the font under discussion (however, it is only that letter so the font change can be hard to notice for a speedy reader). Some differences are miniscule so the backstories on why certain fonts were adopted for specific uses and how they were tested out to ensure effectiveness are definitely interesting.
The anecdotes make this a fun and informative read. I can now say with confidence that I prefer serif to sans serif and am definitely a traditionalist with regards to my fonts. I don't think I have the aesthetics of a font designer though as each time Garfield asserts that anyone who likes a particular font has no taste, I found the font under discussion perfectly acceptable. Ah well, as long as my books are legible and readable, I suppose I can accept almost any font the designer wants to use. In the meantime, I will now be trying to recognize the more common fonts whenever I come across them thanks to Garfield and his quick and quirky book.
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LibraryThing member eichin
One of the most accessible bits of font-geekery I've ever seen; bite-sized chapters dive into individual corners of our obsession with type, and helps put names to faces - names of designers, to typefaces, that is. One of the few modern books that is important to get on paper - someday Amazon will
Excellent book for anyone who already has even the slightest interest in typography, even if it's just "Saw Helvetica-the-movie and looking for more". Not, mind you, a *useful* book - though I made about a page of notes of things to look up online, they were things like "see if anyone's done a monospace version of the ClearView or Interstate traffic-sign fonts" and "find Font Fight and Font Conference on youtube" (cute, but entirely composed of font-name in-jokes, not so funny for beginners.) If you need a book about doing better design with typography... this isn't the book you're looking for; on the other hand, if you want to *love* type and how it got that way, you'll get a lot out of Just My Type.
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step up their game, and producing a Kindle edition of Just My Type that accurately captures the extensive use of obscure fonts as example and illustration would be a good indicator, but in the meantime, it's not a serious option.Excellent book for anyone who already has even the slightest interest in typography, even if it's just "Saw Helvetica-the-movie and looking for more". Not, mind you, a *useful* book - though I made about a page of notes of things to look up online, they were things like "see if anyone's done a monospace version of the ClearView or Interstate traffic-sign fonts" and "find Font Fight and Font Conference on youtube" (cute, but entirely composed of font-name in-jokes, not so funny for beginners.) If you need a book about doing better design with typography... this isn't the book you're looking for; on the other hand, if you want to *love* type and how it got that way, you'll get a lot out of Just My Type.
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LibraryThing member Lord_Boris
This book is an introduction to the world of typography that manages to be both entertaining and informative. The book is divided into 22 'proper' chapters interspersed frequently by little 'font breaks' where a specific type is discussed e.g. Gill Sans, Futura, Optima. In these font breaks the
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history of the type is given, designers are profiled etc. The rest of the book is mainly a kind of history lesson that takes in various changes in technology and how type design continues to progress despite there being many thousands of fonts readily available. Particularly interesting was the chapter on the font for British road signs designed by Kinneir and Calvert. Only when you see how clear and simple it is compared with an alternative design by Kindersley that you appreciate it. But this is what these people are generally trying to achieve. A font that is so good it can be read without being noticed. Show Less
LibraryThing member WalkerMedia
Fair notice up front: this reviewer received a free copy of this book in Adobe Digital Editions format. Since it is quite possible that others might consider purchasing this book in e-format, I must make a few notes on format before moving on to other details of the book's contents.
Adobe Digital
Reader be advised: this is not really a book about fonts. Really this is a book about people who care about fonts. This includes people who create fonts, and people who get annoyed by other people who misuse fonts. Talking about the fonts themselves generally takes on a supporting role to the fontsmiths, the gurus who have dominated the field. These names might be unfamiliar to the general reader, but the tone of the book seems to hint that targeted readers are expected to already have at least some reverence for these figures. As expected, there is a bit on Gutenberg and the historical development of today's font diversity, including the role of Steve Jobs. There's a brief stroll down memory lane for those who remember label makers and rubbing letters onto posterboard.
If perhaps you are not a font-aisseur, all is well as long as you admit your ignorance and swear to become better informed. But, if you fair reader dare admit that sometimes you find Papyrus charming and don't think Comic Sans is the spawn of Satan, perhaps the mild elitism of the book may rub you a little. If so, still carry on because there are some interesting stories to be had. Quirks abound in the book, like the tale of an ampersand collection (Font Aid) which raised money for Haitian relief, or the controversy over Ikea's changed font, or a not-so-tongue-in-cheek list of "bad fonts." There are discussions about fonts in politics, and about the fact that type cannot be intellectual property, unless one goes to the effort of patenting every letter individually.
I would have liked to have read more about the fonts themselves and how the designers approached their craft. I was not quite the reader targeted, I think. But the book was still worth the read to this general reader, and I certainly would recommend it to anyone with more than a minimal interest in typography.
Adobe Digital
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Editions did not render all the fonts or any of the pictures in this book. As a result, the book was seriously hampered, since the shape of the letters can be precisely the topic of discussion. This was, after all, a book about fonts and typesetting. The irony was inescapable, and truth told rather frustrating.Reader be advised: this is not really a book about fonts. Really this is a book about people who care about fonts. This includes people who create fonts, and people who get annoyed by other people who misuse fonts. Talking about the fonts themselves generally takes on a supporting role to the fontsmiths, the gurus who have dominated the field. These names might be unfamiliar to the general reader, but the tone of the book seems to hint that targeted readers are expected to already have at least some reverence for these figures. As expected, there is a bit on Gutenberg and the historical development of today's font diversity, including the role of Steve Jobs. There's a brief stroll down memory lane for those who remember label makers and rubbing letters onto posterboard.
If perhaps you are not a font-aisseur, all is well as long as you admit your ignorance and swear to become better informed. But, if you fair reader dare admit that sometimes you find Papyrus charming and don't think Comic Sans is the spawn of Satan, perhaps the mild elitism of the book may rub you a little. If so, still carry on because there are some interesting stories to be had. Quirks abound in the book, like the tale of an ampersand collection (Font Aid) which raised money for Haitian relief, or the controversy over Ikea's changed font, or a not-so-tongue-in-cheek list of "bad fonts." There are discussions about fonts in politics, and about the fact that type cannot be intellectual property, unless one goes to the effort of patenting every letter individually.
I would have liked to have read more about the fonts themselves and how the designers approached their craft. I was not quite the reader targeted, I think. But the book was still worth the read to this general reader, and I certainly would recommend it to anyone with more than a minimal interest in typography.
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LibraryThing member Edith1
The author can't write, but the material is very interesting.
The author must have had a pretty heavy-handed editor -- seeing how many concepts only get explained the fifth time they are mentioned it is likely that the book got a major overhaul shortly before publication -- but he could have used
That being said, he knows about type, and he has good stories about the history and the personalities. I just wish he were a better writer; or had a better editor.
The author must have had a pretty heavy-handed editor -- seeing how many concepts only get explained the fifth time they are mentioned it is likely that the book got a major overhaul shortly before publication -- but he could have used
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more. Clunky sentences, lapses in grammar, words that don't mean what he thinks they mean, failure to explain jargon are just some of the glaring annoyances.That being said, he knows about type, and he has good stories about the history and the personalities. I just wish he were a better writer; or had a better editor.
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LibraryThing member akblanchard
Designing a typeface is a tricky project, as Simon Garfield demonstrates in his informative, engaging book Just My Type. A typeface should, of course, be beautiful. It should be both readable and legible (Garfield shows readers the difference using the Cooper Black font on the cover of the classic
Garfield takes readers through the 560 history of movable type, beginning with Gutenberg's first Bible and ending with Calibri, the ubiquitous font that has served as Microsoft's default since 2007. Along the way, he highlights particular typefaces, interviews designers, and discusses typographic trends.. It's an entertaining journey, and one that's highly recommended for those who are fascinated by fonts.
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Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds as an example). And above all, it should be "banal". Huh? It's a paradox, but as Adrian Frutiger, creator of the "perfect" (in Garfield's estimation) typeface that bears his last name, has said, "If you remember the shape of your spoon at lunch, it has to be the wrong shape...When it is a good design, the reader has to feel comfortable because the letter is both banal and beautiful." (p. 140).Garfield takes readers through the 560 history of movable type, beginning with Gutenberg's first Bible and ending with Calibri, the ubiquitous font that has served as Microsoft's default since 2007. Along the way, he highlights particular typefaces, interviews designers, and discusses typographic trends.. It's an entertaining journey, and one that's highly recommended for those who are fascinated by fonts.
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LibraryThing member dmturner
A surefooted, lighthearted ramble through the history, utility, and personalities of type. It's not a book on how to design type, or a history of typesetting, or a review of the modern field, but it's a bit of all of those. I enjoyed it. If you're one of those people who likes words and letters not
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only as communications but for their innate properties, you'll enjoy it. Show Less
LibraryThing member e1da
I'm a big fan of book & printing history having taken three grad courses in that area while pursuing my library degree. My small history of the book collection is presumably why I was able to snag this Early Reviewers copy.
Overall, it's a fun quick read. It jumps around a bit much for my taste and
My last complaint is that it would have benefited immensely from more pictures. The author describes all of the aspects of various letters with copious adjectives, detailing the differences between this g and that one. There are many pictures of the typefaces being discussed, but often those didn't include the specific letters the author was describing. I have to imagine this was the result of not being able to afford the specific images needed rather than an intentional choice.
To end on a more positive note, I really enjoyed the discussion of the feelings that different typefaces evoke, and what aspects contribute to those feelings. I also loved the overall style. The author clearly loves typefaces and his language shows it. It could be too flowery for some, but I enjoyed it.
Overall, it's a fun quick read. It jumps around a bit much for my taste and
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I struggled with reading it as an ebook. They did a good job of including all the font changes, but the spacing/justification wasn't very good with many lines that were very cramped. Presumably this is because it can be resized, but it's an uncommon issue for books on typography/graphic design, so it stood out. It's also more difficult to flip easily between looking at the picture examples and back to the text than it would be in a print format. My last complaint is that it would have benefited immensely from more pictures. The author describes all of the aspects of various letters with copious adjectives, detailing the differences between this g and that one. There are many pictures of the typefaces being discussed, but often those didn't include the specific letters the author was describing. I have to imagine this was the result of not being able to afford the specific images needed rather than an intentional choice.
To end on a more positive note, I really enjoyed the discussion of the feelings that different typefaces evoke, and what aspects contribute to those feelings. I also loved the overall style. The author clearly loves typefaces and his language shows it. It could be too flowery for some, but I enjoyed it.
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LibraryThing member vguy
Enjoyable , informative, even good jokes. Told me a lot about corners of life one tends to ignore, while also reminding me that I do know a bit about fonts: back in the 60s I actually wrote a piece for the Observer about the arrival of Univers.
LibraryThing member jztemple
This is one of those rare books you come across, not expecting much, and find yourself immersed in it. Typography is rather a niche subject; many folks know nothing about it and many know just a little. Garfield takes what could be a rather dull history and turns into a whimsical, charming
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narrative. It's full of heroes and villains, successes and failures, and many somewhat technical but surprisingly fascinating tidbits. It is a book as much about people as it is about fonts. It is a survey of font history, pop culture and tiny nuances which, like serifs, have impacts greatly out of proportion to their size. It is highly recommended to anyone who loves books and just as highly recommended to anyone who likes a good story, well told. Show Less
LibraryThing member ilokhov
This is an excellent introduction to typography for the uninitiated. If you want to get an overview of the history of typography and grasp just what an impact choosing a font has on a message without delving too deep into subject, this is the book to read.
Humourous, concise and entertaining, "Just
As is expected of a book on typography, all the mentioned fonts are set in the corresponding type, giving the reader a "live" instant impression of the font.
Although "Just my type" offers no complete recipes for choosing the right font for a particular situation, it makes for a solid starting point for understanding what constitutes great typography.
Humourous, concise and entertaining, "Just
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my type" is consistently to the point. I have to admit that at certain points I found it hard to put the book down. Perhaps it's just the inner geek in me who is interested in relatively obscure things, but I found this history of typography utterly fascinating. Every other chapter focuses on a particular font which the author has deemed significant in some way - this gives an insight into how fonts are born, adopted and how they influence what is yet to come.As is expected of a book on typography, all the mentioned fonts are set in the corresponding type, giving the reader a "live" instant impression of the font.
Although "Just my type" offers no complete recipes for choosing the right font for a particular situation, it makes for a solid starting point for understanding what constitutes great typography.
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LibraryThing member SimonMSmith
An overview of the world of fonts without ever delving into serious analysis of what makes the good ones good, and the bad ones bad.... Was left slightly disappointed, although I do now look at the world a little bit differently, which is a lot to say for any book.
LibraryThing member akmargie
Thank heavens for British writers. Garfield slyly weaves some biting and witty zingers throughout what is a suprising fun and not dry entre into the world of type design.
LibraryThing member jontseng
Taxis without ever quite truly taking taking off.
LibraryThing member LyzzyBee
12 Jan 2011
An excellent gallimaufry of information about typefaces, their history, development, variations, etc., with interstitial chapters on particular fonts or families of fonts. I did like that it ended with Calibri, a font of which I've become fond. Only one (bizarre) proofing error spotted
An excellent gallimaufry of information about typefaces, their history, development, variations, etc., with interstitial chapters on particular fonts or families of fonts. I did like that it ended with Calibri, a font of which I've become fond. Only one (bizarre) proofing error spotted
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in the whole book. Entertaining and informative - I can't really find anything else to say about it, but it was a good read! Show Less
LibraryThing member cvanhasselt
Simon Garfield is passionate about fonts. His book is entertaining and informative without veering into pretension, or condescension toward novice font-o-philes. Once an obscure craft that flourished among the pools of ink in the publishing houses of Europe, typography developed an idiom of its
But, as Garfield might point out, with this great power comes great responsibility. As typography has become more accessible, bad typography, or good type badly used, has become ubiquitous. Garfield guides his readers through the history, language, and art of typography for a reason: to encourage people to think about design, and not simply accept Arial or Times New Roman just because it is the default. We have a wealth of choices when it comes to fonts now, and learning something about their aesthetic value makes us better communicators. And that is after all the purpose of typography.
As a matter of full disclosure, I read this as a Kindle ebook giveaway through LibraryThing's early reviewer program. My practical advice after that experience is that the typographic and layout capabilities of the Kindle are not suitable for such a lively book about type. I dreaded advancing through the book, as every few pages their would be some strange character signalling a missing font of some sort. NetGalley had provided the book as a PDF, e-mailed to my Kindle and the conversion process was not pretty. In any event, based on my experience I would advise you to just buy the print version, the Kindle just didn't cut it with this one.
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own, giving us words like kerning, leading, serif, ascender, and ligature. These terms, if not entirely ordinary today, are much more common, as everyone now has the work of myriad font foundries available at the click of a mouse. We are all publishers now, capable of setting our own words in our own type.But, as Garfield might point out, with this great power comes great responsibility. As typography has become more accessible, bad typography, or good type badly used, has become ubiquitous. Garfield guides his readers through the history, language, and art of typography for a reason: to encourage people to think about design, and not simply accept Arial or Times New Roman just because it is the default. We have a wealth of choices when it comes to fonts now, and learning something about their aesthetic value makes us better communicators. And that is after all the purpose of typography.
As a matter of full disclosure, I read this as a Kindle ebook giveaway through LibraryThing's early reviewer program. My practical advice after that experience is that the typographic and layout capabilities of the Kindle are not suitable for such a lively book about type. I dreaded advancing through the book, as every few pages their would be some strange character signalling a missing font of some sort. NetGalley had provided the book as a PDF, e-mailed to my Kindle and the conversion process was not pretty. In any event, based on my experience I would advise you to just buy the print version, the Kindle just didn't cut it with this one.
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LibraryThing member sweeks1980
Type and fonts surround us, but many people give them little thought. Luckily, there are others like Simon Garfield who are not just fascinated by font and typeface but are willing to share their passion with the rest of us. Garfield’s interest and enthusiasm for his subject are evident
“Just My Type” provides a history of typeface and printing starting from Guttenberg up until present day. It also dissects different fonts, such as the much maligned Comic Sans, and provides stories about the fonts and their designers. Garfield also includes lots of graphics and examples from history and popular culture to help illustrate his points, which contributed a great deal to my understanding and enjoyment of the text. In addition to his lively account of the IKEA controversy that arose after the company changed its typeface from Futura to Verdana, I also appreciated his explanations of such issues like the use of period inappropriate fonts (often found in film) as well as the differences between legibility and readability (using the record cover of The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds”).
That said, given the myriad of topics included under the general umbrella of font and type, the book can be very uneven, and some chapters undoubtedly will have more appeal to the general public than others. I would have preferred to see more discussion on the use of type in branding and advertising rather than the chapters dedicated to minutiae like the ampersand. However, after the first few chapters, it is easy to go skip around in the book and focus on your interests without sacrificing understanding or consistency.
In a similar vein, the text is sometimes so information-rich that it can seem overwhelming for the typeface neophyte. Though I consider myself a fast and avid reader when it comes to most books, I often found myself reading a single chapter and then taking a break from the book to prevent font overload. Garfield does guard against this somewhat by mixing shorter, lighter chapters with the more dense ones, but even then all of the ideas still seem to mix together.
The final problem and caution I have about the book has nothing to do with Garfield or the actual text and everything to do with the medium. Although I understand the cost-saving measures involved in providing electronic copies to people for review, this is not a book that lends itself well to reading on a device. The number of graphics and the different fonts used make this book almost impossible to read on most e-readers. I tried reading it on my Nook Simple Touch before realizing the incompatibility between the device and the content.
Overall, although this isn’t the type of book I would read on my own, I was very pleased to have the chance to read such an informative and pleasant treatise on font and typeface. For people who are interested in knowing more about font and print, this would be an excellent starting point (just try to get a physical copy rather than an electronic one!).
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throughout the book. Furthermore, he does a good job making his explanations accessible and engaging for those who do not share his awareness and knowledge of font.“Just My Type” provides a history of typeface and printing starting from Guttenberg up until present day. It also dissects different fonts, such as the much maligned Comic Sans, and provides stories about the fonts and their designers. Garfield also includes lots of graphics and examples from history and popular culture to help illustrate his points, which contributed a great deal to my understanding and enjoyment of the text. In addition to his lively account of the IKEA controversy that arose after the company changed its typeface from Futura to Verdana, I also appreciated his explanations of such issues like the use of period inappropriate fonts (often found in film) as well as the differences between legibility and readability (using the record cover of The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds”).
That said, given the myriad of topics included under the general umbrella of font and type, the book can be very uneven, and some chapters undoubtedly will have more appeal to the general public than others. I would have preferred to see more discussion on the use of type in branding and advertising rather than the chapters dedicated to minutiae like the ampersand. However, after the first few chapters, it is easy to go skip around in the book and focus on your interests without sacrificing understanding or consistency.
In a similar vein, the text is sometimes so information-rich that it can seem overwhelming for the typeface neophyte. Though I consider myself a fast and avid reader when it comes to most books, I often found myself reading a single chapter and then taking a break from the book to prevent font overload. Garfield does guard against this somewhat by mixing shorter, lighter chapters with the more dense ones, but even then all of the ideas still seem to mix together.
The final problem and caution I have about the book has nothing to do with Garfield or the actual text and everything to do with the medium. Although I understand the cost-saving measures involved in providing electronic copies to people for review, this is not a book that lends itself well to reading on a device. The number of graphics and the different fonts used make this book almost impossible to read on most e-readers. I tried reading it on my Nook Simple Touch before realizing the incompatibility between the device and the content.
Overall, although this isn’t the type of book I would read on my own, I was very pleased to have the chance to read such an informative and pleasant treatise on font and typeface. For people who are interested in knowing more about font and print, this would be an excellent starting point (just try to get a physical copy rather than an electronic one!).
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LibraryThing member datrappert
I read this from the version provided by netgalley.com, which lacked many of the illustrations. In addition, when transferred to my Nook, the formatting was very peculiar, with blocks of text sometimes repeated multiple times. Despite these shortcomings, I thoroughly enjoyed this very well written
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and interesting book, getting through it in two sittings. Its focus on the people behind the various fonts we have come to love and perhaps hate as well as on the characteristics of the fonts themselves makes it a fascinating read. Garfield also provides a brief overview of the history of typography and he makes us understand how some people can become tangled up in fonts to the point where they can't walk down a street without being distracted or appalled by the use of a certain font. Reading it makes me want to open up Microsoft Word and experiment with a few different fonts. Unfortunately, most of my time in Word is spent at my job for a government contractor--and the government almost always specifies the use of either Times New Roman or Arial. This book makes you realize what a loss that is! Show Less
LibraryThing member kraaivrouw
I wanted to read and review this book because I love fonts and type. It started when I was a kid and a British friend of my parents gave me this gorgeous calligraphy set. It had pens and nibs, of course, but also about a dozen inks with great labels and beautiful colors. She had purchased it in
Later in life, I worked in graphic design and desktop publishing. This was back when dinosaurs walked the earth and production of newsletters and ads and catalogs and on and on required a good eye and a knowledge of Adobe software. Now, of course, various templates have been loaded into various "desktop publishing" programs and everyone thinks they can do without people like me who used to do that. Sadly, most people have little to no aesthetic and thus much desktop publishing is godawful and ugly. It was very fun to do and indulged my interest in fonts and what works where and how readable they are and so on.
New Alphabet - Designed by Wim Crouwel
This spread into the early days of the web when I had websites that weren't built on tools like Blogger (those days I don't really miss). Things like font and size and colors are very important on the web and differently important than in print. This is because your brain processes the printed word differently from words on a computer screen.
I've also been one of those people who reads the note in the back of a book about the font used. It usually has a little history and I've been known to read up. This is all a long-winded way of saying that this book was right up my alley.
If you don't know anything about fonts (or know a fair amount) this is a fun read. It's more popularly oriented than many books on the subject, but is full of lots of essential facts that most people don't even know to think about. Add to that the histories of various fonts and their creators and you get a really fun read.
Garfield writes in short chapters covering all the facts, historical and otherwise that you might want to know. He also speaks to what I'd call the politics of fonts - where they were designed, the design influence on the appearance and success of the font, and many other factors including readability and the vicissitudes of font fandom. A fun read for anyone who is curious about the actual words they read and why they look the way they do.
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London for me and it was one of the best gifts I ever had. I got a book about calligraphy so I could play with it and became interested in fonts from that.Later in life, I worked in graphic design and desktop publishing. This was back when dinosaurs walked the earth and production of newsletters and ads and catalogs and on and on required a good eye and a knowledge of Adobe software. Now, of course, various templates have been loaded into various "desktop publishing" programs and everyone thinks they can do without people like me who used to do that. Sadly, most people have little to no aesthetic and thus much desktop publishing is godawful and ugly. It was very fun to do and indulged my interest in fonts and what works where and how readable they are and so on.
New Alphabet - Designed by Wim Crouwel
This spread into the early days of the web when I had websites that weren't built on tools like Blogger (those days I don't really miss). Things like font and size and colors are very important on the web and differently important than in print. This is because your brain processes the printed word differently from words on a computer screen.
I've also been one of those people who reads the note in the back of a book about the font used. It usually has a little history and I've been known to read up. This is all a long-winded way of saying that this book was right up my alley.
If you don't know anything about fonts (or know a fair amount) this is a fun read. It's more popularly oriented than many books on the subject, but is full of lots of essential facts that most people don't even know to think about. Add to that the histories of various fonts and their creators and you get a really fun read.
Garfield writes in short chapters covering all the facts, historical and otherwise that you might want to know. He also speaks to what I'd call the politics of fonts - where they were designed, the design influence on the appearance and success of the font, and many other factors including readability and the vicissitudes of font fandom. A fun read for anyone who is curious about the actual words they read and why they look the way they do.
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LibraryThing member ellynv
There has not been a day since my father’s death in 1993 that I do not think of him. Reading Just My Type has given me an extra moment to feel loss and nostalgia. I wasn’t far into it before my first thought was, “Wish Dad was still around - I’ve found the perfect Christmas gift for him.”
Growing up with a father who had a print shop and graphic design business taught me more than I had realized. (Or appreciated. And that includes his insistence that my sister and I take typing -today it would be called keyboarding - in high school though it wasn’t recommended for the college bound. Dad found that insulting, since his ability to access those ‘qwerty’ skills had provided well for our family. Plus he inquired what ‘good fairies’ did we expect to appear to type our papers. )
Having access to some of the first applications of desktop publishing equipment and a very early Mac was quite an education. Well, first there was the Letraset - and the “Ellyn, be careful with the X-Acto knife.” The Alphatype and CompuGraphic was so cutting-edge. The machinations of setting type on these machines (delicate glass discs, type printed on strips of light degradable photo paper, no easy editing of errors!!!) would be laughable to my children, who can now publish assorted school papers, party invitations, or manifestos with a certain design sophistication and ease that my father could only aspire to in his lifetime.
All of this preamble is to explain why I was so very excited to receive an early copy of Just My Type. I was not only ready for a sentimental journey but to also build on the foundation that my father gave me.
I find much to recommend: the history of typeface design, what constitutes good typography, why some typefaces are both highly popular and equally despised. (Hello, Comic Sans...we’re talking about you)
Those interested in graphic design, publishing, making the most of the work that they produce on their laptops, anyone curious about what they see not just in print but everywhee...Just My Type is a book for all of you. Not just type nerds like me - people who found "Helvetica" to be an exciting movie.
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Early in the book Garfield talks about the way concepts that were once reserved for those in the typesetting/printing industry are now in the everyday lexicon. There was a time that “font” - outside of the baptismal definition - was not a word that most people used. Now third graders discuss fonts while doing homework. (In truth, what they should really say is ‘typeface,’ but society has made great progress, so this might not be the time to quibble,)Growing up with a father who had a print shop and graphic design business taught me more than I had realized. (Or appreciated. And that includes his insistence that my sister and I take typing -today it would be called keyboarding - in high school though it wasn’t recommended for the college bound. Dad found that insulting, since his ability to access those ‘qwerty’ skills had provided well for our family. Plus he inquired what ‘good fairies’ did we expect to appear to type our papers. )
Having access to some of the first applications of desktop publishing equipment and a very early Mac was quite an education. Well, first there was the Letraset - and the “Ellyn, be careful with the X-Acto knife.” The Alphatype and CompuGraphic was so cutting-edge. The machinations of setting type on these machines (delicate glass discs, type printed on strips of light degradable photo paper, no easy editing of errors!!!) would be laughable to my children, who can now publish assorted school papers, party invitations, or manifestos with a certain design sophistication and ease that my father could only aspire to in his lifetime.
All of this preamble is to explain why I was so very excited to receive an early copy of Just My Type. I was not only ready for a sentimental journey but to also build on the foundation that my father gave me.
I find much to recommend: the history of typeface design, what constitutes good typography, why some typefaces are both highly popular and equally despised. (Hello, Comic Sans...we’re talking about you)
Those interested in graphic design, publishing, making the most of the work that they produce on their laptops, anyone curious about what they see not just in print but everywhee...Just My Type is a book for all of you. Not just type nerds like me - people who found "Helvetica" to be an exciting movie.
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LibraryThing member agnesmack
I’ve received dozens of books from the GoodReads First Reads program this year, but I was more excited about Just My Type: A Book About Fonts than I had been about any of the others. What can I say, I’m a nerd for words!
It started out strong and immediately starting poking good humored fun at
Mr. Garfield certainly did his research and I really did learn a lot from this book. I learned about a study done in the ’40s that showed that the easiest fonts for people to read really have nothing to do with the way the fonts are designed, and everything to do with how frequently we see a particular font. I learned that we can read lower case much faster than upper case, and an argument was made that all road signs should be in lower case. I learned about some of the politics behind fonts, which I would never have even considered.
All that said, I did have one main issue with this book, which was that many of the chapters didn’t end, they just stopped. I had an Advance Reader’s Copy, which can sometimes get a bit wacky, and there were several chapters that ended so abruptly that I actually looked to make sure that I wasn’t missing pages. Some topics were really delved into and tons of details and background information was given. Other topics were just touched on, or a theory was given with no information to back it up.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who’s interested in past, present and future of fonts. However, I think there was a better book in there, if some additional details had been added or weak chapters had been deleted.
It started out strong and immediately starting poking good humored fun at
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comics sans. There was a ton of information and really interesting anecdotes packed into the pages of this book, and the writing was mostly amusing and laugh out loud funny in a few places.Mr. Garfield certainly did his research and I really did learn a lot from this book. I learned about a study done in the ’40s that showed that the easiest fonts for people to read really have nothing to do with the way the fonts are designed, and everything to do with how frequently we see a particular font. I learned that we can read lower case much faster than upper case, and an argument was made that all road signs should be in lower case. I learned about some of the politics behind fonts, which I would never have even considered.
All that said, I did have one main issue with this book, which was that many of the chapters didn’t end, they just stopped. I had an Advance Reader’s Copy, which can sometimes get a bit wacky, and there were several chapters that ended so abruptly that I actually looked to make sure that I wasn’t missing pages. Some topics were really delved into and tons of details and background information was given. Other topics were just touched on, or a theory was given with no information to back it up.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who’s interested in past, present and future of fonts. However, I think there was a better book in there, if some additional details had been added or weak chapters had been deleted.
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LibraryThing member Laura400
This is an absolutely charming and enjoyable introduction to the world of fonts. It's not for the professional or the font fanatic. But it's engagingly written and wryly humorous, and thus perfect for an interested layperson. It has me wanting to read further on the topic, so I'd call it
It's another book that really benefits from being a physical book. The presentation includes examples of different fonts incorporated right in the text, as well as numerous larger illustrations and photographs. You need not only to see the referenced fonts, but to flip back and forth in later chapters. I have a Kindle and iPad, but I recommend this in book form.
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(positively) infectious.It's another book that really benefits from being a physical book. The presentation includes examples of different fonts incorporated right in the text, as well as numerous larger illustrations and photographs. You need not only to see the referenced fonts, but to flip back and forth in later chapters. I have a Kindle and iPad, but I recommend this in book form.
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LibraryThing member Katya0133
The first chapter of Just My Type is pretty basic, and it had me worried that I wasn't going to learn anything new from the book. However, the rest of the book surpassed my expectations. This book tends to focus more on the human side of typography, which makes it an excellent companion to books
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that focus more on the technical aspects. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on, the man who designed Comic Sans, the man who threw all his type into the Thames, and the list of the worst fonts in the world. Show Less
LibraryThing member dirving57
Check out the graphic on the endpapers! The Periodic Table of Typefaces is a wonderful intruduction to Garfield's book. I put it on the shelf next to Anatomy of a Typeface and The Elements of Typographic Style, both of which I prefer slightly over Garfield, but still a good read.