What do we read when we read a text? The author's words, of course, but is that all? The prevailing publishing ethic has insisted that typography-the selection and arrangement of type and other visual elements on a page-should be an invisible, silent, and deferential servant to the text it conveys. This book contests that conventional point of view. Looking at texts ranging from the King James Bible to contemporary comic strips, the contributors to Illuminating Letters examine the seldom considered but richly revealing relationships between a text's typography and its literary interpretation. The essays assume no previous typographic knowledge or expertise; instead they invite readers primarily concerned with literary and cultural meanings to turn a more curious eye to the visual and physical forms of a specific text or genre. As the contributors show, closer inspection of those forms can yield fresh insights into the significance of a text's material presentation, leading readers to appreciate better how presentation shapes understandings of the text's meanings and values. The case studies included in the volume amplify its two overarching themes: one set explores the roles of printers and publishers in manipulating, willingly or not, the meaning and reception of texts through typographic choices; the other group examines the efforts of authors to circumvent or subvert such mediation by directly controlling the typographic presentation of their texts. Together these essays demonstrate that choices about type selection and arrangement do indeed help to orchestrate textual meaning. In addition to the editors, contributors include Sarah A. Kelen, Beth McCoy, Steven R. Price, Leon Jackson, and Gene Kannenberg Jr.

Shouldn't your boat's name look as distinctive as your boat?

A well-chosen and well-designed name on a transom or topsides is the finishing touch and creates the ultimate first impression for any boat. Your boat's name is the single most highly visible clue to your nautical interests and sensibilities. Whether the name is whimsical ("Y-Knot"), classical ("Terpsichore"), irreverent ("Aquaholic"), mythical ("Valkyrie"), sly ("For Sail"), romantic ("Wayfarer"), or full of attitude ("Bite Me"), it won't communicate your message without an effective design. Choose the lettering and graphic style that best expresses your boating aspirations and personality. Communicate your choices to a letterer, vinyl lettering shop, or a designer. Browse 1,500 boat names and explore resources for expanded research. Take a visual tour through the history of boat naming and across a seascape of boat transoms and topsides. Work with hand-painted, gold-leaf, vinyl or lighted display lettering.

Inspired by timeless poems from around the world, Hassan Massoudy's calligraphy takes us on a visual journey through love in its many forms. Through his signature broad strokes and vibrant colours, this master calligrapher brings to life the words and wisdom of some of our greatest poets, from Ibn Zaydoun and Rumi to Kahlil Gibran, John Keats and Paul Eluard. Beautifully designed and illustrated throughout, Calligraphies of Love is the perfect gift for lovers, poets and dreamers.

This book reviews the circumstances that led to what Paul Renner called "the inflation of historicism," places his response to that problem in the context of the Weimar Republic, details how the German attributes with which he began the project were displaced from the typeface that emerged in 1927, demonstrates that Futura belongs to a new category of serif-less roman fonts rooted in Arts and Crafts lettering, and considers why the specifically German aspects of the project have gone unrecognized for over seventy years. Renner's writing is compared to ideas prevalent in early twentieth-century German cultural discourse, and Futura's design process is placed in the context of Renner's personal experience of Weimar's social and economic crises. Objective measurements are employed to establish the relationship between drawings attributed to Renner and are used to compare features of Futura with other fonts of the period.

First published in 1978, Typography: Design and Practice is now established as a landmark introduction to working with text. Although writing at the dawn of computerized typesetting, Lewis's basic principles and design advice still stand strong. This remastered edition provides both an overview of the history of typeface design and an easy-to-understand grounding in the practice of choosing fonts and laying out of text. Essential reading for graphic designers, typographers and anyone with an interest in the printed page.

The Complete Source Code and Program Listing for TeX Now, 35 years after the first edition, the leading worldwide experts on these systems have spent several months inspecting every page thoroughly. We now believe that every "i" has been properly dotted, every "t" has been properly crossed, and every bug has been properly exterminated. Donald E. Knuth, creator of the exciting TeX computer typesetting system, has made available in this volume the fully documented program listing for TeX. Readers who are already familiar with TeX and with its user's guide, The TeXbook, will find much of interest in the source code. Other readers interested in software development and in Knuth's programming style will find this a fascinating and instructive case study. Never before has a computer program of this size been spelled out so clearly and completely. Knuth presents all the algorithms and explains every detail of the TeX program, utilizing the WEB system of structured documentation that he developed as part of his TeX research project. TeX: The Program is the second in a five-volume series on Computers and Typesetting, all authored by Knuth. This series presents the results of nearly a decade of innovative research on the problems of preparing publications of high quality.

Typography is no longer the specialist domain of the typesetter: these days anyone who uses a computer has access to a wide range of typefaces and effects. This book offers an introduction to the basics of typography, including choosing which typeface to use; adjusting letter-, line-, and word-spacing for improved legibility; understanding kerning and leading; and mastering typographic details, such as italics, punctuation, and line endings. The book is illustrated throughout with practical examples demonstrating good and bad solutions. There are tips for specific design tasks, such as letters, charts, tables, and design for the screen, and a glossary explaining typographic terms.

This title draws together the development of type and type design from its inception, alongside the technical advances of printing.

This is a comprehensive guide to creating and using digital type, both in print and for the Web. An introduction offers a brief history and discusses font classification and software. Step-by-step explanations are provided for creating a wide range of type effects: drop shadow, wood block style, bevel, gradient, fading type, type on curves, perforated type, and many more. Designing type for the screen presents a new set of challenges, including editable HTML, type as image and how to choose fonts, type size and colour. A chapter on creating your own fonts discusses how to get the most out of industry standard software - Fontographer, Scan Font and Font Studio - and describes how to build up letterforms and refine them in Photoshop or Illustrator. Numerous creative approaches to font design discussed here include: amending existing typefaces, combining typefaces and creating fonts out of found objects.

The original, authentic and bestselling guide to modern calligraphy from Chiara Perano, founder of the pioneering and unparalleled calligraphy studio Lamplighter London. Play with type, get creative with letterforms and fall in love with handwriting again. Taking you letter by letter through the modern calligraphy basics, Nib + Ink includes ... The four essential pieces of equipment and how to use them Mark making drills and shapes A modern calligraphy alphabet with a variation of styles to practise with Guidance on joining letters, spacing and pacing How to create flourishes, finishes and decoration Simple projects from chalkboards and framed quotes to setting an envelope Stationery ideas for weddings, parties and table settings Troubleshooting tips, FAQs, stockists and resources With this beautiful and immersive workbook and journal, discover exciting, creative and interesting ways to personalise your stationery, add a flourish to your correspondence and develop your own unique style of modern calligraphy.

Beautifully illustrated with a covetable rose gold foil cover, Modern Calligraphy is a step-by-step workbook for those wanting to learn this super trendy form of lettering. Written by Lucy Edmonds, the founder of Quill London, the book will guide readers through the first steps of pointed pen calligraphy, encouraging you to spend an hour a week developing and practicing the new skill. Designed for complete beginners, the book offers tips, tricks and techniques on the materials required and how to use them properly, how to approach the modern calligraphy letterforms, and most importantly explores ways to develop our own modern calligraphy style. You'll learn about inks and how to make your own, brush calligraphy, and what you can do with your new skill - from envelope addressing and event stationery to beautiful dinner party menus and gift tags.

Treasury of copyright-free fonts with eye-catching appeal includes Carnival Open, Ecclesiastic, Garland, Laurel, Daisy Delight, scores more. All fonts include upper-case alphabets; some contain punctuation marks and lower-case letters. Most have numerals. Graphic artists and illustrators will find these distinctive alphabets ideal for use in display ads, on posters, signs, menus, etc.

Offbeat, eye-catching typefaces add a sharp, contemporary look to display ads, posters, signs, menus, and other graphic projects. Fonts include the jagged-edged style of Ransom Note, playful Kidprint and Fingerpaint, angular Desert Rat, whimsical Crazy Eights, and dozens more: Ninja, Hardscrabble, Everglades, Double Take, Bushman, Bramble, and Aspodistra.

Designers explain the production and design concepts behind 120+ letterhead systems and business cards, and why each works for the client.

EARLY GIANTS.

Johann Gutenberg.

William Caxton.

Aldus Manutius.

Claude Garamond.

William Caslon.

John Baskerville.

Giambattista Bodoni.

MODERN PIONEERS.

Frederic W. Goudy.

Morris Fuller Benton.

Rudolf Koch.

Oswald Cooper.

William Addison Dwiggins.

Eric Gill.

Stanley Morison.

Jan Van Krimpen.

Robert Hunter Middleton.

Beatrice Warde.

Jan Tschichold.

Designers and Their Typefaces.

Over 800 Art-Nouveau florals, swirls, women, animals, borders, scrolls, wreaths, spots and dingbats, copyright-free.

Examines the use of filmsetting, hot metal, and computers in setting type and how these systems have influenced book design.

A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.

Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger ( ) which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic squiggles, both exotic (

) and everyday (&).

From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs, figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W. Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang (?) and as divisive as the dash ( ). Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and artifacts.

Richly illustrated, ranging across time, typographies, and countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life."

As an introduction to calligraphy, the author, himself a past master of the art, supplies many different alphabets and shows how each may be applied by drawing, painting, carving or writing with a broad lettering pen. He also gives advice on materials that are most suitable. This is one of the classic books in the field.

This lush, three-volume slipcased set catalogues the V&A's superb collection of Western illuminated manuscripts. Providing a history of an art form spanning eight centuries as an integral part of the decorative arts, it documents not only the practice of medieval and Renaissance illumination, but also the survival of medieval bookmaking crafts alongside printing in the post-Renaissance period--and their revival in the 19th century. The three volumes bring together for the first time works such as the St. Denis Missal of 1350 and the Chambord Missal of 1844, the Sanvito Petrarch of 1463-64 and William Morris's "Book of Verse "of 1870. Catalogue descriptions discuss each work in detail and pay particular attention to the changing ways in which they have been evaluated and used through the centuries.

Early in this century, Futurist and Dada artists developed brilliantly innovative uses of typography that blurred the boundaries between visual art and literature. In this text, Johanna Drucker shows how later art criticism has distorted our understanding of such works. She argues that Futurist, Dadaist, and Cubist artists emphasized materiality as the heart of their experimental approach to both visual and poetic forms of representation; by mid-century, however, the tenets of New Criticism and High Modernism had polarized the visual and the literary. Drucker suggests a methodology closer to the actual practices of the early avant-garde artists, based on a re-reading of their critical and theoretical writings. After reviewing theories of signification, the production of meaning, and materiality, she analyzes the work of four poets active in the typographic experimentation of the 1910s and 1920s: Ilia Zdanevich, Filippo Marinetti, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Tristan Tzara.