Twentieth Century Type Designers

by Sebastian Carter

This new edition of the text first published in 1987 includes an examination of the latest technological developments in the design and composition of type, and introduces the work of some of the more recent designers to have made their mark this century.
Although the skeleton shapes of the letters of our alphabet hardly change, many skilled type designers have devoted much time, sometimes their whole lives, to drawing different versions of the outlines. This book serves as an introduction to the concept of typefaces and to some of the personalities who have created them - Goudy, Rogers, Koch, Gill, Morison, Van Krimpen, Trump, Tschichold, Frutiger, and Zapf - and places them in the context of the enormous changes that have occurred the 20th century in the methods of creating and setting type.

Genres: Design

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Marc Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent overview of seventeen of the finest type designers of the twentieth century by Sebastian Carter, a famous English bookman, book designer and private press printer. The overviews are preceded by a lengthy introduction, prologue and a section entitled "Old Types for New Machines" written by Mr. Carter, which in their depth are worth the price of admission. The designer overviews are succinctly written and given the number of pages that particular designer warranted as a type designer. There are a number of illustrations for each designer showing their various and most popular type designs. Most of the designers listed worked as hot metal designers, although a few transcended into photographic and then digital design. All in all, a fine book detailing the finest of the type designers of the twentieth century and the one that might be called the golden age of type design. If the subject matter is of interest this book is highly recommended. As this particular edition is the first edition, released in 1987 and out of print, the current best price I could find at the time of this review is $17.00 in fine condition (Taplinger Publishing published the first edition).

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good type is invisible. That is to say, it doesn't draw attention to itself as you read. It suits the content. It takes a backseat. Better yet, it furthers the message of the content in which it is written.

Did your brain just explode? Mine did. To think that the shape of a descender in a letter "y" can transmit so much is mind-bending.

There were a bunch of people who did this feat brilliantly. In this book are some of them.

[Georg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two parts of Twentieth Century Type Designers are good, with well-formed small narratives that make the details live. The last part on New types for newer machines is way to short and sketchy. The presentation of Zapf and Frutiger does not do enough justice to them. But perhaps it was still to early to do that when the book was written (the first edition was published in 1987)? Nevertheless, Sebastian Carter's book is worth the time it takes to study it.