Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- All Categories
- 39 Introductions
- 3.6K Typeface Design
- 765 Font Technology
- 1K Technique and Theory
- 590 Type Business
- 435 Type Design Critiques
- 527 Type Design Software
- 30 Punchcutting
- 132 Lettering and Calligraphy
- 79 Technique and Theory
- 53 Lettering Critiques
- 462 Typography
- 289 History of Typography
- 111 Education
- 62 Resources
- 480 Announcements
- 74 Events
- 104 Job Postings
- 147 Type Releases
- 154 Miscellaneous News
- 259 About TypeDrawers
- 52 TypeDrawers Announcements
- 109 Suggestions and Bug Reports
Options
Acknowledgement in books
lorcand
Posts: 3
Occasionally a publisher will acknowledge the fonts used in a publication. However, more typically not. This is despite the contribution of the font to overall reception. This is so, even in cook books or art books, for example, where the font may be quite distinctive and a foregrounded design element. Are there good reason for this?
Tagged:
0
Comments
A modern-day colophon typically includes information about the typefaces and their designers, the printing method used for the book, the paper and binding materials and processes, the illustrations (if any), and credits for the book designer, typesetter, art director, production manager, print shop, etc. The colophon, by tradition, is the last printed page of the book.
An alternative to a full colophon page is to credit the typeface and book designer on the copyright page (title verso).
Inclusion of a colophon may vary book by book, with only the most lavishly produced books from a publisher receiving them. On the other hand, some trade publishers, notably Knopf, have a tradition of including them in all or most books. On the other hand, I was surprised to find that the Folio Society, a publisher of fine editions, apparently never includes colophons.
When my first book was published two years ago by an academic publisher, the publisher suggested that we include a colophon. This is atypical for them, but they wanted to acknowledge my design work. Having already written it, I was happy to oblige.
This remains my favorite colophon that I've written.
I. will. die. on. this. hill.
We have a meta-level tag “colophons/imprints” for Uses that have images of such included credits. We recently introduced a more specific tag, “a note on the type”. It’s applied to cases where the note goes beyond a mere mention of the typeface’s name and designer/foundry, and also offers a brief bio of the typeface or similar.
The timing of this piece fits with @Stephen Coles idea that the practice didn't become widespread until the 1990s.
No alphabet comes along full-grown. A period of development is required for the individual letters to bloom and then another period for them to adjust to their place in the entire set, and sometimes this period can be a few weeks or it can be a lifetime. No quality font maker ever sat down and wrote out A to Z just like that.
It doesn’t happen. Getting Ray Bold right required five months, an intense creative period for me that has included my ten-week escape from the state facilities at Windchime, Nevada, and my return here one week ago.
And there is an amusing if belaboured parody by Jonathan Safran Foer, from The Guardian in December 2002, entitled ‘About the typefaces not used in this edition’.
E. g., in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, an Impressum is required in every print publication—basically a blend of copyright page and colophon. It can appear anywhere in the publication but is most commonly set on page 4 (verso of the title page) or in the back of the book; or it can be split. In addition to the legally required information, you are free to add to it any kind of credit you like. I always include typeface(s), foundry(ies), and type designer(s) by default and only remove them if requested by the client. This rarely happens, though.
(For some reason, it seems to be much more common to credit paper stock and manufacturers than typefaces and type designers—probably reveals what book designers value more.)
In publications for countries without legal requirement for a credit-like page, it’s a bit tricky sometimes to include typeface acknowledgements. Still, I just try to put them somewhere by default and if I don’t make a fuss of it, the thing will often get nodded through.