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 typographic design. Paul Renner , still the only study in any language of Renner's brilliant career, details his life and work to reveal the breadth of his accomplishments and influence. Christopher Burke presents a wealth of hithertounpublished materials, drawing on primary sources and archival research and clearly written with an eye to today's reader. Beautifully designed, Paul Renner is an inspiring tour de force portrait of this typographer's extraordinary career and his ongoing influence on the graphic arts.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction

220 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[Gregory]

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]

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]

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