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Type Specimens: A Visual History of Typesetting and Printing
Type Specimens introduces readers to the history of typography and printing through a chronological visual tour of the books, posters, and ephemera designed to sell fonts to printers, publishers, and eventually graphic designers.
This richly illustrated book guides design educators, advanced design students, design practitioners, and type aficionados through four centuries of visual and trade history, equipping them to contextualize the aesthetics and production of type in a way that is practical, engaging, and relevant to their practice.
Fully illustrated throughout with 200 color images of type specimens and related ephemera, the book illuminates the broader history of typography and printing, showing how letterforms and their technologies have evolved over time, inspiring and guiding designers of today.
This richly illustrated book guides design educators, advanced design students, design practitioners, and type aficionados through four centuries of visual and trade history, equipping them to contextualize the aesthetics and production of type in a way that is practical, engaging, and relevant to their practice.
Fully illustrated throughout with 200 color images of type specimens and related ephemera, the book illuminates the broader history of typography and printing, showing how letterforms and their technologies have evolved over time, inspiring and guiding designers of today.
256 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2022
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October 6, 2024
As an English teacher with an obsession for history (and a soft spot for typography that rivals my love for coffee), I approached Type Specimens by Dori Griffin with the kind of anticipation usually reserved for the release of a new Jane Austen spin-off story. And boy, did it deliver—like a perfectly kerned sans-serif!
Griffin took me on a rollercoaster ride through the history of typesetting and printing and even included a detailed timeline listing the woodblock days to the ClipArt era, to our current smooth digital fonts seen on every presentation software. It was like a time-lapse video of an old print shop manager transforming into a millennial graphic designer. Who knew that the history of printing could be so visually stimulating? Honestly, probably only for an English teacher nerd like myself.
Griffin took me on a rollercoaster ride through the history of typesetting and printing and even included a detailed timeline listing the woodblock days to the ClipArt era, to our current smooth digital fonts seen on every presentation software. It was like a time-lapse video of an old print shop manager transforming into a millennial graphic designer. Who knew that the history of printing could be so visually stimulating? Honestly, probably only for an English teacher nerd like myself.
Displaying 1 of 1 review