Paul Renner: The Art of Typography

by Christopher Burke

German typographer Paul Renner is best known as the designer of the typeface Futura, which stands as a landmark of modern graphic design. This title is the first study in any language of Renner's typographic career; it details his life and work to reveal the breadth of his accomplishment and influence. Renner was a central figure in the German artistic movements of the 1920s and 1930s, becoming an early and prominent member of the Deutscher Werkbund while creating his first book designs for various Munich-based publishers. As the author of numerous texts such as Typografie als Kunst (Typography as Art) and Die Kunst der Typographie (The Art of Typography) he created a new set of guidelines for balanced book design. Renner taught with Jan Tschichold in the 1930s and was a key participant in the heated ideological and artistic debates of that time. Arrested and dismissed from his post by the Nazis, he eventually emerged as a voice of experience and reason in the postwar years. Throughout this tumultuous period he produced a body of work of the highest distinction.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another read thanks to grad school...not the most exciting book but I learned a lot about early 20th-century German graphic design that isn't Bauhaus.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nazis first announced Gothic script as the national font for its Germanness; later when they were trying to win more international allies they denounced it as "Jewish" and replaced it with Roman font. Renner was opposed to the font from the beginning, finding it pompous and of low legibility, and thereby isolating, and he spoke against it in defiance of the Reich. If this sounds fascinating to you, we are at least somewhat alike.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for Christmas in 2004, not long after spending a semester exclusively using, dissecting, and understanding one typeface: Renner’s most famous font, Futura. Sixteen years and four career fields later (from graphic designer, to combat videographer in the Air Force, to small town pastor, to Air Force chaplain), I finally read this book in full. And I must say, it had its effect. Though I have not stopped designing in all that time, my appetite has been re-wet for more. Having spent a few years growing up in Germany and having seen Renner’s Futura as frequently as a young American child sees the Golden Arches of McDonalds, reading this book was like coming home. And there’s no place like home.

[Kohaga]

good