A comprehensive, illustrated history which begins with the origins of the alphabet and carries the reader on through the earliest forms of writing to the invention of printing in the Renaissance, the subsequent explosion of graphic styles and printed media in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the impact made by digital technology on design today.
The book explores how styles have responded to the pressure of social, technological and cultural change and draws on a wide-ranging selection of illustrations from key works in typography and design.
Recommended for educational use!

This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition "Aldo Bakker - Creatures, studies for existence" presented at Villa Noailles (Hyères, France) from July 2 to September 26, 2010. Aesthetically well designed and in harmony with Aldo Bakker's work the catalogue shows the delicate, sensual,and natural forms which he uses to create furniture, glass work, ceramic vessels, and table-ware.

"The work of Aldo Bakker, (Amersfoort NL 1971) is the work of a designer. With that, Aldo distances himself from the current belief that a strong ‘concept’ will naturally lead to interesting forms. He believes that the mastery and control of aesthetics are essential competencies... Aldo’s objects are designed to influence the factor of ‘time’. He is deeply fascinated by such notions as ‘endlessness’ and ‘eternity’. Time is a dominant factor in the production process of his pieces of furniture. His use of Urushi varnish from Japan requires an extremely expensive and lengthy process and is a response to the fleetingness of mass production and increasing consumerism. These centuries-old techniques, combined with his love of architecture, are aimed at slowing the passage of time and creating a ‘time gap’. Emphasis is put on the physical experience and the possibilities offered by moving around the objects, admiring them or loathing them like extra-terrestrial beings. Fantasy and meaning demand an almost meditative state, and the mood of silence provokes the necessary care and attention. All these are collectively ignored today by western society." (Text from web-site Aldo Bakker)

'TypoMag'is a publication devoted to the use of typography in contemporary magazines. All content has been selected by Laura Meseguer, a Barcelona based graphic designer specialized in typographic design and custom type-design.
'TypoMag' analyses excellence in the use of typography in more than 30 magazines from around the world and on a variety of topics. Detailed typographic solutions as used in these magazines are clearly explained and shown through numerous illustrations.
Some of the magazines that are analysed are: Monocle, The New York Times Magazine, Carl’s Cars, Nico, Wired UK, Mark, Elephant, Oase and many more. It also includes resources for books and blogs on magazine design.

This catalogue is published in the context of the presentation of the Gerrit Noordzij prize 2009 to Wim Crouwel and the opening of the exhibition of the work of Tobias Frere-Jones, who was awarded the prize in 2006. The Gerrit Noordzij Prize is an initiative of the master course 'Type and Media' of the Royal Academy of Art and the Meermanno Museum of the Book in The Hague.
Tobias Frere-Jones (New York 1970) is awarded this prize for the various types that he developed with his open mind and eye, finding inspiration in the theories of Pythagoras, the music of Schoenberg, but also in everyday experiences.

Late in 1939 a chance meeting between Penguin founder, Allen Lane, and natural history publisher, Noel Carrington, changed the future of children's publishing with the formation of a series called Puffin Picture Books. The first four titles appeared in 1940 and the series quickly established a reputation for presenting children's non-fiction in a unique blend of editing and design. Puffin Story Books soon followed with the publication of Worzel Gummidge in 1941 and, like the original launch of Penguin itself, these story books appeared in the three horizontal stripe design.
Looking back at seventy years of Puffin paperbacks, Phil Baines charts the development of Puffin and the role of illustrators and designers in creating and defining the identity of the Puffin list from the very first picture book through to modern day. Rich with stunning cover and inside illustrations, and filled with detail of individual titles, Phil discusses the changes in typography, illustration and printing techniques over Puffin's spectacular 70-year history.
An extraordinary and beautiful book, this is a perfect companion to Penguin By Design.

"The designing of special type for printing Irish language texts began in the late sixteenth century and lasted into our own day, attracting the attention of many leading political and religious figures - Elizabeth I; Irish Franciscans in exile on the Continent; even at one point Napoleon I - and scholars such as John O'Donovan, Eugene Curry, George Petrie and John Henry Newman. Latterly, internationally renowned designers - Stanley Morrison, Victor Hammer & Eric Gill - made significant contributions to Irish type design.
Dermot McGrinne's book is the most comprehensive published on this subject and has already become a standard work of reference." (Publishers Text)

"The computer keyboard replaces ink - and while our own handwriting withers, cursive fonts boom. Together with Geum-hee Hong we went looking for the most beautiful and extravagant fonts. In Brush’n Script you will find expressive handwritings (such as Cezanne‘s or Jefferson‘s), elegant Italian and French cursives, wonderful English handwritings, expressive marker-fonts, flamboyant Brush&Swash typefaces, but also school- and freestyle fonts. The multiple examples will inspire not only calligraphers." (Publishers Text)
Well designed collection of cursive & written fonts.

This issue of Idea Magazine is almost entirely devoted to the great Japanese graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo, showing a great selection of the his work from the 1960s and 70s. With essays from: Fumio Tachibana, Kazunari Hattori, & Makoto Wada.
There is also an article on 150 years of Jan Rajlich & Czech graphic art. Jan Rajlich Sr.(1920-) is a great master of Czech graphic design and the founder of the Biennial of Graphic Design Brno. His son, Jan Rajlich Jr.(1950-) is also active in the same field.
Book Review: Ai Yamaguchi Art Works "First Light"

This well designed celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Penguin Books is a unique exploration into the subtle art of the book cover and confirms the high standards in art and design which have always been part of Penguin's publishing program. Longtime art director Paul Buckley has chosen seventy-five covers that represent the best of what Penguin has produced over the course of the last decade. Giving readers a rare behind-the scenes glimpse into the complex creation of a book's cover, Penguin 75 includes comments from authors, agents, and editors, as well as the designers and artists themselves.

"A majority of today's Western text types, whether Roman, Italic, Greek, or Hebrew, derive from type designs conceived or perfected in sixteenth-century France. They became available all over Europe from the 1540s onwards. Their design, often going by the name of Garamont, remained unchanged for two centuries. Their pleasant serenity and excellent readability triggered a revival from the 1850s onwards.
This conspectus aims at surveying exhaustively and regardless of aesthetics, all Roman, Italic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic typefaces made in France during the sixteenth century. Such a survey will be of interest to historians, bibliographers, and philologists wishing to identify the types used in the imprints they are investigating, as well as to type historians or type designers wishing to base their attributions on documentary evidence.
The conspectus consists of introductory chapters on the sources available, the evolution of sixteenth-century type-casting and letter-engraving, biographical notices of 17 punch cutters (both famous ones, such as Colines, Garamont, Granjon, and lesser known ones, such as Vatel, Gryphius, or Du Boys) and the methodology used. The main part of the book consists of the facsimiles of 409 typefaces (216 Romans, 88 Italics, 61 Greeks, 41 Hebrews, 2 Arabics, and one phonetic) each with a short identifying notice, describing their letter family, size, punch cutter (or eponym), their first appearance in books or type-specimens, the surviving materials such as punches or matrices, and finally (for about two-thirds of them), the recent literature. Every typeface has been illustrated, several with multiple examples of their use." (Publishers Text)

'Modern British Posters' explores the interaction between modern art, graphic design and the utopian vision of Britain in the twentieth century, as the modern poster found a way of communicating beyond the established rhetoric of advertising and sales. It discusses the cultural significance of the poster as mass communication and the development of printing through a large collection of posters. The posters cover topics as broad as transport, new towns, art, architecture, the seaside and popular culture. The posters in this book demonstrate the graphic language emerging in Britain during this time, as commercial art was transformed into graphic design.

"The main advantage of a contest with inexpensive participation fees is that works will be submitted that neither have a big budget nor a big boss or client. Like theatre or cultural posters for example. It is especially in this field of creative work – where not much money is made, but experimental and free work around exhibitions and staging is supported – where new things emerge. It is where the boundaries of the visual are fathomed and concepts are daring. That is what makes this publication so interesting: A modest book with surprising ideas and long lasting food for thought!"(Publishers text).

Your peers are your most valuable asset. The quality of the work of your colleagues determines for the most part the professional quality of your own. The best in the field will set the standard for the rest to follow. Organisations are indispensable for professional maturation. The Alliance Graphique Internationale (agi) is an international club of graphic designers that aims to gather the best in the profession. The formal purpose of agi is no more than encouraging professional exchange through gatherings. It is a privilege for everyone to meet others who are operating at the highest level.
Graphic design has gone_and is still going_ through dramatic changes. The exponentially growing and ever closer links with other professions on one end, and with all computer users on the other, has made graphic design an almost universal activity. Everyone with an ambition pays tribute to visual communication. This development is both exciting as it is confusing, like being in the middle of the ocean. You can go everywhere, the world is your oyster, but if you fail to set a course you are effectively lost. Graphic designers can no longer only design, they have to start to write about their work as well. It will help the profession of graphic design to keep on track. Talking about their work is for most designers not a problem, writing about it is often a different matter. Yet, design writing will become increasingly important for developing a professional horizon. This book brings together the editorials that have appeared on the agi website between 2003 and 2010.

Originally published in German,this unique and authoritative sourcebook, shows what good form design can achieve.
Order forms, invoices, applications and questionnaires should be designed to focus on the essentials and so make the communication of information faster and simpler. But if a form is too complicated, confusing or obscure, it can become a barrier to communication, wasting time and money and harming perceptions of a business or brand.
Successful forms do exist – efficient, streamlined and even stylish – but they are a real challenge to create. Packed with practical advice and inspiring ideas,'The Form Book' brings together a comprehensive collection of great designs for both print and digital media, showcasing a range of thoughtful,elegant or witty approaches to form creation.

Click here for the original German edition

"Can you really compare experimental 3D typography – like lettering made of live moss or letter kites that fly messages in the sky – to the work of Gutenberg? If you ask Jeanette Abbink, Emily CM Anderson and the over 100 international designers, typographers and artists featured in 3D Typography, the answer is a resounding yes.
Abbink and Anderson have compiled this book as a reaction to the fact that so much of today’s typography is conceived via screens. Like Gutenberg and generations of typeface designers who worked with physically shaped lead type the featured artists in 3D Typography return the literal heft to letters.
Contributors include Amandine Alessandra, Thorbjørn Ankerstjerne, asa~ama, Autobahn, Huda Abdul Aziz, Andrew Byrom, Rhett Dashwood, Keetra Dean Dixon, Oded Ezer, Hikaru Furuhashi, Anna Garforth, Keith Hancox, HandMadeFont, Fons Hickmann, Karrie Jacobs, Gyöngy Laky, Amitis Pahlevan, Mike Perry, Clotilde Olyff, Miguel Ramirez, Camilo Rojas, Stefan Sagmeister, Dan Tobin Smith, Typeworkshop, Thijs Verbeek, Thomas Voorn and many, many more." (Publishers text)

This publication appeared on the occasion of the exhibition 'Steven Aalders Cardinal Points' at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag from January to April 2010, in which the paintings of Steven Aalders enter into a dialogue with the museum's architecture created by H.P.Berlage and a selection of art works from the museum's collection.
This dialogue with other works of art is a means that works particularly well for Aalders. He reflects and analyses the work of Mondrian(the museum has the largest collection of Mondrians in the world), Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Jan Schoonhoven and Ad Dekkers.
This publication is entirely consistent with the spirit of Aalders; it is the result of careful collaboration between the artist and the designer Irma Boom.

When the financial crisis of 2009 was at its peak, Reinier Gerritsen took photographs of people in the subway between Wall Street and Grand Central Station in the New York banking district. We see a variety of introverted commuters in unposed group portraits, reflecting the state of shock of a world unable to comprehend the collapse of the global financial system. In his choice of subject, Gerritsen consciously places himself within the tradition of documentary photography from Walker Evans to Bruce Davidson and their fascination with everyday metropolitan life.
Gerritsen assembles his photos from a number of shots taken in rapid succession, and refers to his documentary series as a construct, thereby placing his work at the centre of the discussion on the significance of documentary photography in the year 2010.

Spacematrix explores the potential of urban density as a tool for urban planning and design. The authors’ fascination with density is not primarily normative, making no claim to know which density is best, but is driven by the desire to understand the relational logic between density, urban form and performance. This is a prerequisite for understanding and successfully predicting the effects of specific designs and planning proposals. The focus of attention is the relationship between types of urban environment and data such as amount, size, physical properties and economic values.
The book has been designed by the award winning Dutch designer Joost Grootens.

The apparent increase in popular demand for volumes presenting works of architecture as novelties has been curiously matched by the marked absence of a critical discussion of the objects that would explain and examine their role as cultural statements or as exponents of particular urban, social and political visions.

A NOT B walks us along the fine line between common sense and uncommon nonsense in a realm reminiscent of pre-school books, assessment tests and optical illusions. Uta Eisenreich is fascinated by the attempt to establish order within an inconsistent reality that constantly exceeds the borders of comprehension. She photographs ever-changing combinations of elementary objects arranged by basic methods of classification. From one image to the other, the meaning of things keeps transforming. A web of clues and associations is spun, in which one is triggered to discern underlying patterns and construct sense of the illusory correlations of a-logic connections.
Exceptionally well designed & fascinating artist's book.