Logo, Font and Lettering Bible

by Leslie Cabarga

This is a comprehensive compendium of modern, up-to-date information illuminating the design, construction and usage of alphabets and symbols for graphic designers and other practitioners of the typographic arts.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Reference, Website Design, Art Design, How To

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2004

About the author

Zavier Leslie Cabarga, popularly known as Leslie Cabarga, is an American author, illustrator, cartoonist, animator, font designer, and publication designer. A participant in the underground comix movement in the early 1970s, he has since gone on to write and/or edit over 40 books. His art style evokes images from the 1920s and 1930s, and over the years Cabarga has created many products associated with Betty Boop. His book The Fleischer Story in the Golden Age of Animation, originally published in 1976, has become the authoritative history of the Fleischer Studios.

Reviews

[Ingrid Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm marking this as read, because I've spent hours (seriously, hours) reading and browsing this book, and it has earned a permanent place beside me in my studio, beside my bed to read and read again, and anywhere I have a chance to look at it.

This is a gorgeous book, written with a discreet (usually) sense of humour, and even though it was published in 2004, it is still extremely useful and inspiring. Every single page is eye-catching and interesting. One could possibly say that it is sometimes "busy" to look at, but the whole point (I think) of this book, is how to make anything interesting to look at.

I bloody love this book. I'd marry it, if I could. (well, I hope he would...!)

[Jeremy Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am conflicted about this book. The design of this book is horrid, yet there is a lot of really good information contained in a compact format. It pulls together a good review of the subject, better than any other book. Yet, the book design is so horrendous you question the author's design skills. Still, ultimately, I recommend it.

[Erika Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my favorites list. Would love to own! Witty, fun, expertly written, EXPERT advice from an intelligent author slash graphic designer. Learned a ton and was thoroughly entertained and impressed with the art.

[piranha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult for me to judge this book, because it is all over the place in every possible way. i'm an enthused amateur; i've designed my own fonts, graphics, and websites, but i've never worked professionally either as a designer or typographer or type designer or printer or anything related. i am not sure just how useful this book can be to a professional, or one aspiring to it; there are some aspects that seem tailored to graphic designers who are well-versed in design and only need help with type, and there are others that cater to those who haven't ever touched Illustrator, and haven't even heard of kerning a font. regardless of its target audience, the book falls short when it comes to organization; it jumps from one subject to the next, and even within a subject it's not always clear where a train of thought continues. and shame on Cabarga, the typography is actually no help in that regard at all; it's playful and i find that attractive -- but play shouldn't be more important than good transmission of information.

however, it's a terrifically FUN book with lots of eye candy -- not always my taste, sometimes much too busy, but fun, and it's clearly written by a person with much enthusiasm for his profession, and that transfers well, and makes it worth reading IMO. if you fall asleep when reading standard works on typography, give this a try; it's about as far from dry and boring as one can get, and it will give you enough information so that the drier standards will be less of a drag later.

Cabarga is irreverent and opinionated. i'm all for the irreverence, but it is to be expected that his opinions might grate on me, being that i am opinionated myself. and some of them do, fiercely so. for example i wish he'd be less disdainful of free fonts. to be sure, a lot of them are crimes against typography, but there are quite a number of really amazing type designers out there who offer their fonts for free, and their designs are by no means "4-6 weeks short of a professional font design". Cabarga seems hopelessly mired in the commercial zone as regards tools for font creation as well, and more's the pity, because i think many a newly minted type enthusiast looking askance at the high prices of commercial software would be delighted to find open source tools, even if they have less cachet and fewer bells and whistles. because who can afford Fontlab and Illustrator just for dipping one's toes in? He also seems strangely (for a letterer) married to a strict distinction between serif and sans serif, in which he isn't different from most of the establishment, but which in my opinion (told you i am opinionated) is something people cling to because they're used to it, not because it makes visual sense. remember readability? ah well. at least Cabarga frequently mentions the "other side" in his arguments.

aside from being fun, the book contains a lot of truly interesting and well-presented information about the history of lettering and type, and helpful advice on how to create your own. it shows the work of several well-known designers, complete with their doodling and thumbnails, which is very instructive. he also manages at the same time to express why knowledge of physical tools is helpful, encouragement to try some of the old tools, and yet that going straight to the computer isn't a bad thing as long as one keeps the physicality in mind. alas Cabarga doesn't mention (then) Metacration's Painter (now Corel's), which does a decent job of simulating actual brushes on actual paper -- no, that isn't the same as physical tools, but it allows simulating a great variety of tools; the basic version is cheaper than buying good physical tools, and it can really broaden one's horizons when it comes to ideas for font design.

in short, i enjoyed the book, and consider it a fun addition to my typography library, but it falls a bit short of being a solid introduction on its own for anyone seriously interested in typography -- read Bringhurst's with it, for example.

oh, and the cover? yeah, weird and not great IMO, though i don't find it as hideous as some typophiles. i have the UK edition whose cover is a lot better design-wise, but it doesn't actually fit the inside of the book, so i can't really consider it superior per se. hey, you can always design your own; it's a good challenge. ;)

[Wes Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, you can't really judge a book by its cover...or the pages inside.

So the book isn't exactly the most aesthetically pleasing, but the content is great for anyone wanting to get into experimenting with glyphs. Mister Cabarga gives some great shortcuts when playing with illustrator, as well as a handful of interesting tips along the way.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! It's not only informative, but incredibly visually appealing. I would recommend it to anyone interested in some of the basics of typography. It also included some guidelines on creating logos, although for a complete rookie (like me!), additional references are probably necessary.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I REALLY enjoyed the discussion of fonts and of the examination of what inspiration from varied sources can turn out in a creative mind. The Illustrator stuff wasn't as helpful, but that's because Illustrator and I hate each other.

[Alycia Wicker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has a lot of good information and it is interesting to see the sketches and thought process of other designers. I appreciate the 100+ fonts included to show that most every thing logo wise is a recycled iteration of something else.

[Kimberly Eddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book for inspiration, however the material is not well ordered. I did give it four stars only because of how often I find myself opening it on a regular basis, so I suppose it serves it's purpose.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite design book for learning. It makes me realize I have a lot to learn. It is definitely my bible.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference book. I find myself going back to it again and again.

[Melyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE!

[Atul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid illustrative guide about the fundamentals of hand lettering, fonts, and logo design.