Letterforms: Typeface Design from Past to Future

by Timothy Samara

Designer, author, educator Timothy Samara is a world authority on type and graphic design. His 2004 Rockport book, Typography Workbook has become an essential reference text for design classrooms and industry professionals.

Now, in Letter Forms: The Design of Type, Past to Future he takes readers even deeper, expertly guiding them through the aesthetics as well as the technical considerations of his subject. He begins with an overview spanning the invention of movable type to today's digital typography, and ends with a showcase of contemporary fonts.

Samara's true focus in this book is conveying the essentials of type design to practitioners, and thoughtfully and thoroughly explaining and illustrating the development of form and style. He walks you through letter form anatomy, stroke formation and rhythm, tool methodologies, structure and proportion, tool methodologies, and tons more.

This all makes for one excellent, timely reference work that designers can return to in designing logos, wordmarks, signage, titling accents, and all of their graphic design work.

• ISBN13: 9781631594731
• Publish Date: 5 July 2018 (first published 3 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 13 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Rockport Publishers Inc.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Letterforms: Typeface Design from Past to Future through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I should probably preface this by saying that I love typography. It’s my favorite graphic design focus, and I love reading about the history of fonts and typefaces. Naturally when I saw this book I knew there was no way I could continue without having read it, so here I am.
Letterforms is wonderfully comprehensive in the subject that it is covering. Everything from the history to how individual letters were invented, to their evolutions (accompanied by fun anecdotes), and finally even their reinventions.
That doesn’t sound like that much to squish into one book, but trust me when I say that it is. The history of type is actually quite long and sometimes overwhelming. This book gives a full and comprehensive look at it without throwing too much information at once. In short, it’s the perfect balance. Never one did I feel like I was reading a list of facts as opposed to an actual novel, and that exactly what I was hoping for.
Reading about the invention and evolution of the individual letters was fascinating. I knew the basics, but honestly I’ve never seen such an in-depth explanation like this one. I’m absolutely thrilled with it. I actually wish I had this book when I was working on my graphic design degree, but alas…
If you’re looking to learn about something new, or have already found yourself fascinated with letterforms, then this is absolutely the book for you. It’s charming and informative and very well written.

For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks