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Type Design Books Collection

Eryk KosinskiEryk Kosinski Posts: 72
edited February 2023 in Education
How big is the collection of books type design community uses and which of them do you recommend to learn? Three books I own are "Designing Type" by Karen Cheng, "Theory of Type Design" by Gerard Unger and "The Anatomy of Type" by Stephen Coles. 

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    Thomas PhinneyThomas Phinney Posts: 2,748
    edited February 2023
    Do you have the second edition of Cheng’s book? It adds a great deal of material compared to the original.

    My other top recommendation would be How to Create Typefaces: from sketch to screen by Henestrosa, Meseguer and Scaglione. A great book and an excellent companion to Cheng’s book. Hard to find from anywhere other than St Bride: https://stbridelibrary.bigcartel.com/product/how-to-create-typefaces, although there are a few bookstores worldwide that have it.

    Also, are you Polish, and is that your native language? I ask because this book is available in Polish, as well as the original Spanish, plus Portuguese and English.

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    John HudsonJohn Hudson Posts: 2,977
    I second Tom’s recommendation.

    Some others:

    Creative Lettering Today by Michael Harvey (several editions; try to find the 1996 edition, which has the largest section on digital type design).

    The Stroke by Gerrit Noordzij  (originally in Dutch, 1985; English translation by Peter Enneson published by Hyphen Press in 2005).

    Letters of Credit by Walter Tracy (1986).

    Looking at my bookshelves, I have far more books about using type than I do about designing type, and I have probably learned more from them. There are also some very educational books about the work of individual type designers, and even about specific typefaces, that are well worth studying.
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    James PuckettJames Puckett Posts: 1,970

    • The ABC of Custom Lettering by Castro

    • Lettering for Advertising by Leach

    • The Logo, Font, and Lettering Bible by Cabarga

    • Fonts and Logos by Young

    • Theory of Type Design by Unger

    • Anatomy of a Typeface by Lawson

    • The History and Technique of Lettering by Nesbitt

    • How to Create Typefaces by Henestrosa, Meseguer, and Scaglione

    • Designing Fonts by Campe and Rausch

    • Custom Lettering of the The 20s & 30s, 40s & 50s, and 60s & 70s by Hughes


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    Eryk KosinskiEryk Kosinski Posts: 72
    Thomas Phinney said:
    Do you have the second edition of Cheng’s book? It adds a great deal of material compared to the original.

    My other top recommendation would be How to Create Typefaces: from sketch to screen by Henestrosa, Meseguer and Scaglione. A great book and an excellent companion to Cheng’s book. Hard to find from anywhere other than St Bride: https://stbridelibrary.bigcartel.com/product/how-to-create-typefaces, although there are a few bookstores worldwide that have it.

    Also, are you Polish, and is that your native language? I ask because this book is available in Polish, as well as the original Spanish, plus Portuguese and English.

    Yes, I do have the second edition.
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    Eryk KosinskiEryk Kosinski Posts: 72
    Yes I am Polish, but live in UK for years now and prefer to do everything in English.

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    Nick ShinnNick Shinn Posts: 2,145
    I haven’t read most of the books mentioned, but I can recommend:

    • The Modification of Letter Forms by Stanley Hess, Art Direction Book Company, 1971/82.
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