Design Museum Fifty Typefaces That Changed the World

Design Museum Fifty

by John L. Waters, Design Museum

The Design Museum brings you fifty typefaces that changed the world we live in!

The digital revolution has made typesetters of us all as we define our identities through the typefaces we choose to communicate with the world. In this witty and insightful book John L Waters explores 50 of the most influential typefaces and shows them in use on posters, perfume packaging, buildings and more.

From the power of Gotham - the typeface used in Obama's first presidential campaign - to the eloquence of Baskerville, from the classic cool of Helvetica to Wim Crouwel's provocative New Alphabet, this is a book of visual treats and wonderful stories.

Contents Includes...

Blackletter c.1455

First Roman Type c.1470

Garamond c.1532

Romain du Roi 1690 - 1745

Baskerville 1757

Bodoni late 1780s

The first Egyptians (slab serifs) 1810

Wood Types - condensed grotesques 1828 - c.1900

The First Typewriter 1868

Franklin Gothic Condensed 1903 - 14

Cooper Black 1921

Futura 1927

Times new Roman (aka Times Roman) 1932

Helvetica 1957

Beowolf 1989

Comic sans 1994

Gotham 2000

Guardian Egyptian 2005-

Ubuntu 2011

...And Many More!

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Architecture, Art

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2013

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it – what I understood. Too much was left unexplained for this uninitiated reader – why Albertus is called Albertus, for example, and what's the difference between being a member of a "family" of types and being a type with a completely new name despite having been based on another print type. The glossary could have been more extensive – I went looking for "grotesque" with no luck.

The book did send me off searching for more on Pouchee and his decorative alphabets, and it was fascinating to discover that the British face Transport was made for its purpose on travel signs in the UK. I recogized it readily – but had never realized I hadn't seen it anywhere else. A little more discussion of what was different about a new type than its predecessors would have been interesting, too; there's some of that, but the author probably thought it was obvious.

Liked it, though, and I'll read more on typefaces.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved looking at all the fonts and typefaces. This book is easy to follow, with a short descrip of the history of 50 major typefaces, how they were created and how they evolved into the 21st century. The writing is a little dry and I think assumes you have a pretty good working knowledge of fonts. I wish they showed more of the typefaces. If you're really interested in the history of type, i prefer "Just My Type" by simon Garfield.

[Sula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure who this is aimed at - there's not enough background information and context for those who know little about typography, and for those who do there is probably little new to them. The writing is dry and ironically the font it is set in is not the most readable for a body text and would be better just as the titling font.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A handy reference. Not exactly an intro to using and selecting type. More like an appetizer for such a book.

[Marc Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Alessandro Muraro · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun read through the history of typefaces, good book.

[Kya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for someone who knows nothing about typeface. I enjoyed the read, especially as someone within the design community - I feel as though I will make more informed decisions about my typeface moving forward.