Type in Use: Effective Typography for Electronic Publishing

by Alex W. White

A guide to understanding and designing a publication's essential typographic elements. Organized by application --text, headlines, subheads, captions, etc. --Type in Use describes and illustrates the principles of designing pages with type and shows how the pros do it with carefully selected examples from a wide variety of current publications. It focuses on the standard type categories used in magazines, newsletters, and in-house documents; the principles can be applied to all print and electronic media. A chapter is devoted to the use of type on Web sites.

207 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[mad mags · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Resource for Print & Electronic Designers

As a newbie to typography, I found "Type in Use" to be an excellent introduction to the field. It's written in a clear and concise manner; though it's straightforward and easy to understand, I didn't feel as though the information was watered down, either.

At least half of the book consists of pictorial examples, which serve to illustrate the principles laid forth in the text. There's also a good deal of "white space," which demonstrates White's ability to practice what he preaches. As a result, the book isn't too heavy on actual text. Nonetheless, White has an envious ability to express himself succinctly, efficiently, and in as few words as possible - so the lack of actual reading doesn't pose a problem.

The book's divided into twelve chapters, with one each focusing on the following topics: text; headlines; subheads; breakouts; captions; department headings; covers; contents; bylines and bios; folios and font lines; web typography; and the history of type. White begins each chapter with a discussion of the fundamentals, and then turns to real-life examples to help illustrate his points. A short paragraph accompanies each picture, and all are arranged in an organized, pleasing manner.

I only have two issues with "Type in Use." The text which sits alongside the examples is printed in red as opposed to black (black is the color of the introductory text). I'm not sure if my copy of the book was flawed, or if this is a universal problem, but the red type on some pages appeared to be smudged and smeared, making it difficult to read. Even on those pages without blemishes, I found that the red type strained my eyes; there's just so much red that it becomes distracting.

Also, I was happy to see that White included a chapter on Web typography, but I would have been happier had the discussion been more in-depth. The final chapter, "The History of Type in Use," was wholly unnecessary and didn't contribute much to the overall discourse; White's readers would have been better served had be omitted chapter 12 and extended his discussion of the Internet. I realize that the book was written in 1992 and revised in 1999 - and six years may as well be six eons in "tech time" - but the Web chapter struck me as very out-of-date. For example, I had to smirk when he announced that Photoshop 5.0 had recently introduced "significant improvements" in the area of type; I don't think I even know anyone who's using a version earlier than 7.0! He also appeared to be agreeable to Flash animation, which today is so overused and abused that it has become the bane of web design.

Nonetheless, I would most definitely recommend "Type in Use" to both novices and experienced typographers alike.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2005/05/10/...

[Cara]

I saw this and thought, "'Effective typography for electronic publishing'? I'm there!"

However, it turns out this book was written in the early 90s, when "electronic publishing" meant using computers to lay out magazines and newspapers for print. Oh well.