Faces on the Edge: Type in the Digital Age

by Steven Heller

Steven Heller and Anne Fink Designed by Michael Ian Kaye Faces on the Edge Type in the Digital Age More than any other graphic medium, today’s fontography mirrors the traditions, eccentricities, and trends of modern society. Faces on the Edge, by prominent art director and author Steven Heller, is a spellbinding survey of the revolutionary effects of digital type design on 20th-century typography. More than 200 typefaces, from the classically inspired to the exuberantly (near) illegible, are featured in this compilation, illustrating how new technologies have dramatically increased the possibilities of type design. Included are typefaces from many of the world’s most innovative type foundries, such as Emigre Fonts, FontShop International, Garage Fonts, Thirst Fonts, Exploding Fonts, and T-26, and represents some of the finest type designers such as Zuzana Licko, Rudy VanderLans, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Ed Fella, and Barry Deck. The Typefaces are Organized into Six Kinds of Rebirths and Revivals • Greeking Roman • Digital Carvings Off the Wall • Optical Delusions • Lots O’ Laffs Typefaces are identified by date, designer, and foundry; a brief description text places each in the larger context of digital type history. With useful information on how to obtain and apply each typeface, Faces on the Edge is an indispensable resource for graphic designers, desktop designers, and students alike. Over 200 illustrations in color and black and white document the real-life application of these inventive typefaces in popular magazines, advertising, posters, and multimedia. Faces on the Edge is a vivid, timely account of what is undeniably a significant era of type design.

131 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 1997

About the author

Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.