Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Professor Dori Griffin (Ohio University, USA)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Weight:   0.716kg
ISBN:  

9781350116597

ISBN 10:   1350116599
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   27 January 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Introduction 1: Early Broadsides Early broadsides: form and function Pragmatic beginnings - the Ratdolt specimen of 1486 Patterns of circulation Multi-tasking - specimens serving multiple purposes Broadsides: a lasting form 2: Printers’ Manuals Printers' manuals: form and funtion Shaping print culture Establishing shared knowledge and expectations Expanding typographic options Standardizing printing vocabularies Expressing visual styles Evolving tastes Conclusion 3: Foundry Specimen Books Formats and functions Comprehensive documentation Elaborate display Commercial utility Stylistic instruction International circulation Missionary zeal Centers and peripheries Conclusion 4: Industrial Methods and Materials Tools for economizing Saving time, materials and money Standardization of form Organizational redesign - ATF's example Tools for mechanization Reproduction - electrotyping and the pantograph Experiments with machine casting and composition Wood types as ""new"" tools An American (?) invention Advantages of wood type Advertising at large scale Conclusion 5: Hot Metal Hot metal: how and why Benefits Drawbacks New formats for the specimen Mega-books Loose-leaf binders and supplements 1-line specimens Roles of the specimen Commercial catalogs instruction manuals Display devices for ""good"" mechanical type Differentiation and cooperation Programmatic world views Conclusion 6: Ephemera New formats Supplements to binder systems Leaflets and brochures Emerging aesthetic trends Revisiting history Defining modernity Networks of circulation Imports, exports and adaptations Cultural specificity and stereotyping Local, specific, and vernacular forms - Cyrillic and Hebrew Conclusion 7: Photographic and Binary Processes Phototype: ""inherently superior"" ""Swift & Exact"": how phototypesetting works Typography, dematerialized Attitudes toward technology Inferiority - ""the hand is the guide"" Innovation - ""interesting possibilities"" Multiplicity - ""for case, matrix, and film"" Conclusion - toward a digital future Postlude: Digital Type, Diverse Futures Bibliography Image Credits Index"

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Author Information

Dori Griffin is an assistant professor in the School of Art + Design at Ohio University, where she teaches graphic design and design history. She earned her MFA in graphic design from the University of Florida and her PhD in design history from Arizona State University. Griffin’s primary research centers around the history of popular visual culture and the role that type and image play in creating cultural identity.

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