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The Visual History of Type: A visual survey of 320 typefaces
The Visual History of Type is a comprehensive, detailed survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing with movable type in the mid–fifteenth century to the present day. Arranged chronologically to provide context, more than 320 typefaces are displayed in the form of their original type specimens or earliest printing. Each entry is supported by a brief history and description of key characteristics of the typeface.
This book will be the definitive publication in its field, appealing to graphic designers, educators, historians and design students. It will also be a significant resource for professional type designers and students of type.
Reviews
"A mind–blowing catalogue of typefaces and type history… a fantastic, heavyweight compendium of letterforms that's a firm WIRED art department favourite." – WIRED magazine
" The Visual History of Type is a comprehensive, detailed survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing…This book will be the definitive publication in its field, appealing to graphic designers, educators, historians and design students." – Against The Grain
"Accessible, highly readable and, moreover, a type book to pore over and simply enjoy as the history of the medium evolves chronologically from page to page." – Creative Review
"This exquisitely produced, extensively researched and extraordinarily comprehensive work is a definitive study of the history of type." – New Design
" The Visual History of Type is a beautiful book. Its arranged into hundreds of short chapters invites one to peruse it haphazardly for pleasure. Beneath its coffee–table appearance lies a genuine reference work." – The Times Literary Supplement
This book will be the definitive publication in its field, appealing to graphic designers, educators, historians and design students. It will also be a significant resource for professional type designers and students of type.
Reviews
"A mind–blowing catalogue of typefaces and type history… a fantastic, heavyweight compendium of letterforms that's a firm WIRED art department favourite." – WIRED magazine
" The Visual History of Type is a comprehensive, detailed survey of the major typefaces produced since the advent of printing…This book will be the definitive publication in its field, appealing to graphic designers, educators, historians and design students." – Against The Grain
"Accessible, highly readable and, moreover, a type book to pore over and simply enjoy as the history of the medium evolves chronologically from page to page." – Creative Review
"This exquisitely produced, extensively researched and extraordinarily comprehensive work is a definitive study of the history of type." – New Design
" The Visual History of Type is a beautiful book. Its arranged into hundreds of short chapters invites one to peruse it haphazardly for pleasure. Beneath its coffee–table appearance lies a genuine reference work." – The Times Literary Supplement
672 pages, Hardcover
Published September 26, 2017
19 people are currently reading
570 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 25, 2024
I'm a nerd, guys.
Last summer, I listened to The Medici, which I don't recommend, for problematic reasons, but also because it didn't hold my attention. The things that made me take notice the most were a few brief anecdotes on the history of certain fonts, how they were inspired by a particular person's handwriting. After this happened two or three times, I thought, "Hmm, maybe what I actually want is a book about the history of fonts."
This came up when I Googled that, and it isn't what I meant. I was looking for some narrative nonfiction, and I will probably still look for that someday. After a break.
This book. I cannot convey to you the size of this book. It is enormous. I took an extra bag to work with me to carry it home after seeing it. I stopped reading it for a while because I hurt my back and it's so heavy that it hurt to hold it. Even aside from that, it took forever to read because I couldn't easily carry it around with me and read a little bit while waiting places.
It's so huge because it covers more than 550 years, and because most of each two-page spread is a large picture of an original example of the font being discussed. These are so cool to see. Also included is some technical information and a few paragraphs about the font. My one real critique is that this is presented in very small print. It might have been difficult to fit a larger size, and admittedly it's probably time for me to get a new glasses prescription, but I found it uncomfortable, which didn't combine well with the lack of easy ways to hold the book. But it was often such interesting information, and the writing style was professional but not textbook-dry. I got fascinating tea from the font world.
I love fonts, but in a very casual, adjacent to my graphics-making hobby way, and I have zero education on the subject, so I didn't understand everything. But I learned things along the way, and even though this took six months to read and was exhausting, I'm glad I put in the effort. If you want an easier experience, just flipping through and looking at the pictures would still be great.
Last summer, I listened to The Medici, which I don't recommend, for problematic reasons, but also because it didn't hold my attention. The things that made me take notice the most were a few brief anecdotes on the history of certain fonts, how they were inspired by a particular person's handwriting. After this happened two or three times, I thought, "Hmm, maybe what I actually want is a book about the history of fonts."
This came up when I Googled that, and it isn't what I meant. I was looking for some narrative nonfiction, and I will probably still look for that someday. After a break.
This book. I cannot convey to you the size of this book. It is enormous. I took an extra bag to work with me to carry it home after seeing it. I stopped reading it for a while because I hurt my back and it's so heavy that it hurt to hold it. Even aside from that, it took forever to read because I couldn't easily carry it around with me and read a little bit while waiting places.
It's so huge because it covers more than 550 years, and because most of each two-page spread is a large picture of an original example of the font being discussed. These are so cool to see. Also included is some technical information and a few paragraphs about the font. My one real critique is that this is presented in very small print. It might have been difficult to fit a larger size, and admittedly it's probably time for me to get a new glasses prescription, but I found it uncomfortable, which didn't combine well with the lack of easy ways to hold the book. But it was often such interesting information, and the writing style was professional but not textbook-dry. I got fascinating tea from the font world.
I love fonts, but in a very casual, adjacent to my graphics-making hobby way, and I have zero education on the subject, so I didn't understand everything. But I learned things along the way, and even though this took six months to read and was exhausting, I'm glad I put in the effort. If you want an easier experience, just flipping through and looking at the pictures would still be great.
November 7, 2020
This is an incredible achievement of a book dedicated to the history and design of typefaces. It's a mammoth book, and one which could be considered purely as a reference book, however it is written with character and depth that makes it enjoyable to read from front to back, particularly because of its chronological approach. Each typeface is given a personal history, including the philosophies that influenced each designer and where the typeface fits into the canon of typeface design. Incredibly thorough in its research, with beautifully presented specimens and cross referencing back to other typefaces, this is probably one of the most comprehensive and accessible books on one of the lesser known fields of design, and also one of the most abused.
November 12, 2019
"The Visual History of Type" by Paul McNeil is by far the heaviest and most comprehensive collection on type design. Covering the period from the mid-15th century to present day, it’s clear any graphic designer working with type will be in for quite a treat. At a whopping 672 pages, this beautifully designed 7.5 lb book is equally daunting and delightful to read over long stretches of time. Part design history, part typographic primer, part reference guide and part type specimen print archive, this book covers early metal and wood moveable type design in Europe, to periods of experimentation via dry transfer lettering, optical scanners, and photo typesetting (once the norm, now a historical footnote), right down to small independent foundries in Switzerland or the Netherlands innovating with existing technologies—or creating new ones.
Each spread features numerous details behind each typeface, with known credits of designer, foundry, type classification, year/country, characteristics (with distinguishing features exhaustively and precisely annotated), connections to other similar faces, and a print specimen showcasing the respective type family. While older documentation may come across dry and factual in nature, newer entries provide fascinating depth and personal insights into the inspiration, creation or evolution of its existence into typographic history. Oftentimes, the backstories were dictated by a particular measure: the need to question traditional structures, to try their own take on an existing design, to create experimental works more for the process than the outcome, or the struggle and allure to create within restrictions (print limitations or inability to settle upon a single glyph style).
Whether type historian, student, educator or design professional, this book undoubtedly provides new discoveries of stylistic influences or influencers, or up-close examinations of typographic nuances once glossed over. With type design being far more accessible than ever, it is now about global digital designers—professional to amateur, corporate teams or independents—experimenting with ideas, combining hand drawn sketches, computer and collage techniques, as they look deeper into the past or challenging it. Using powerful, sophisticated digital tools supported by technological advances, the possibilities become that much greater. Once innovative ideas like Multiple Master fonts (bloated files that enabled fonts to adjust glyph details within their respective point size) evolved into cross-platform OpenType, mammoth superfamilies (distinct weights as numerous as 72 and up) and the recent emergence of variable fonts, enabling users to stretch or condense type instantly, within given limitations dictated by their respective designers.
The power of font editing software (Fontographer, Robotfont, FontCreator, Glyphs, or Fontlab), computer platforms beyond the basic OS (desktop computers giving way to robust drawing apps on tablets like Procreate or Illustrator for iPad) and the internet itself, are allowing global designers to independently or collaboratively create, share or sell fonts on or for the web that finally look and behave as intended. Quite a far cry from the Gutenberg Bible or italic type, initially created simply to fit more words on a given page!
It’s clear in the final chapter that type design has certainly matured, still has deep roots to early type history, and will undoubtedly have far more pages to add to this continuing and always fascinating visual legacy.
Each spread features numerous details behind each typeface, with known credits of designer, foundry, type classification, year/country, characteristics (with distinguishing features exhaustively and precisely annotated), connections to other similar faces, and a print specimen showcasing the respective type family. While older documentation may come across dry and factual in nature, newer entries provide fascinating depth and personal insights into the inspiration, creation or evolution of its existence into typographic history. Oftentimes, the backstories were dictated by a particular measure: the need to question traditional structures, to try their own take on an existing design, to create experimental works more for the process than the outcome, or the struggle and allure to create within restrictions (print limitations or inability to settle upon a single glyph style).
Whether type historian, student, educator or design professional, this book undoubtedly provides new discoveries of stylistic influences or influencers, or up-close examinations of typographic nuances once glossed over. With type design being far more accessible than ever, it is now about global digital designers—professional to amateur, corporate teams or independents—experimenting with ideas, combining hand drawn sketches, computer and collage techniques, as they look deeper into the past or challenging it. Using powerful, sophisticated digital tools supported by technological advances, the possibilities become that much greater. Once innovative ideas like Multiple Master fonts (bloated files that enabled fonts to adjust glyph details within their respective point size) evolved into cross-platform OpenType, mammoth superfamilies (distinct weights as numerous as 72 and up) and the recent emergence of variable fonts, enabling users to stretch or condense type instantly, within given limitations dictated by their respective designers.
The power of font editing software (Fontographer, Robotfont, FontCreator, Glyphs, or Fontlab), computer platforms beyond the basic OS (desktop computers giving way to robust drawing apps on tablets like Procreate or Illustrator for iPad) and the internet itself, are allowing global designers to independently or collaboratively create, share or sell fonts on or for the web that finally look and behave as intended. Quite a far cry from the Gutenberg Bible or italic type, initially created simply to fit more words on a given page!
It’s clear in the final chapter that type design has certainly matured, still has deep roots to early type history, and will undoubtedly have far more pages to add to this continuing and always fascinating visual legacy.
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December 4, 2023A very weighty reference book that provides a thorough overview of various typefaces from the days of Guttenberg to the present. Each typeface is presented with a set of facts about the font as well as a brief history of it. Just wish it had more commentary on the unique characteristics of each typeface and how that influences the feel/effect it has or how it's used. Very good for looking up info about a specific font, not so much for an overall history of type
April 28, 2018
Ok, good book full of a lot of info about different type/fonts. Good examples, but if you have no interest in type of any kind you might find it a bit dry. I didn't but I'm studying Graphic Design, so its useful to read lol
December 14, 2017
For such an enormous book, I expected so much more. While the historical samples are very interesting, the text itself is kind of dry - definitely aimed at left brain learners.
November 29, 2024
Encyclopedic.
May 3, 2021
An incredible book for type nerds. Incredibly complete and immersive. Excellent photographs, digital renderings of old type, analysis (beautifully calls out the details and unique aspects of each typeface) and some very interesting stories. It’s a marathon of a book, I read it a wee bit at a time, and let it soak in. I don’t think i’ll see letters the same ever again.
It’s a fantastic way to learn about how various styles of type developed over the years. Highly recommend for designers.
It’s a fantastic way to learn about how various styles of type developed over the years. Highly recommend for designers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews