Books About Typography

[fs_tigre]

Hi,

I have been ignoring typography just because I always thought it is a little boring and wouldn’t make much difference in my designs ( I know I know ) until now that I see the big difference, anyways I think it’s time to face it and jump into it.

Can you guys recommend me a good book that can show me the basics about typography?

I would like to be able to know what would be the best font combination, word spacing, height etc.

Also make some point as to why this is so important?

Thanks

[ralph.m]

I haven't read a book on it, but there are some good online resources, like this:

http://webtypography.net/

Here are some other resources I've bookmarked:
http://ilovetypography.com/
http://www.typebooks.org/r-elements.htm (That one's a book!)
http://www.3point7designs.com/blog/2...w-they-did-it/
http://ow.ly/htwb
http://typedia.com/

Also make some point as to why this is so important?

I probably should let the trained graphic designers step in here, but what the heck... I guess well formed typography is easy on the eye, a more pleasant experience that enhances the words, their readability and their meaning.

But basically I just do what looks good to me!

[fs_tigre]

Thanks a lot for your reply!

I haven't read a book on it, but there are some good online resources, like this:

So, a book is not really necessary as longs as I read some online articles?

[ralph.m]

Books are usually a better resource if you want to learn something properly (in my knee-jerk, ill-considered opinion), but there is some great stuff online too.

I'm not an authority, because I haven't studied typography properly anyway. I did study calligraphy for a few years, though, so I guess that gives me some idea, and I found books to be the best resource... well, other than studying the work of the masters themselves, which is arguably even better.

[fs_tigre]

Thank a lot!

[Black Max]

Jon Tangerine, Cameron Moll, and Vivien at Inspiration Bit maintain sites that are very informative about typography and worth visiting.

[kohoutek]

I'd learn the fundamentals and then some...

Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
Detail in Typography by Jost Hochuli

[RyanReese]

Also read this

[Black Max]

Originally Posted by RyanReese

Also read this

Ryan, cookies for you.

Off Topic:

I just found out yesterday that that article was cited in a book about Joomla developing. Not sure why it's cool in a different way to be cited in a dead tree publication instead of in a pixel-driven one, but there it is...

[RyanReese]

Off Topic:

Awesome cookie smiley! I will definately be using that .

That's cool! I tried writing for Sitepoint once but they rejected it :O.

@Op, I think the rule of thumb is, any information you find in a book, can be found in the interwebz

[Black Max]

Originally Posted by RyanReese

Op, I think the rule of thumb is, any information you find in a book, can be found in the interwebz

Wow, so not true! I do research as a second job/avocation (see the History Commons link in my sig), and there's a ton lot of info in books that will never make it on the innertoobz. However, that's not true about Web design and code info. This time, we split the cookie.

[RyanReese]

Originally Posted by Black Max

Wow, so not true! I do research as a second job/avocation (see the History Commons link in my sig), and there's a ton lot of info in books that will never make it on the innertoobz. However, that's not true about Web design and code info. This time, we split the cookie.

I was referring to web design but yes I should have specified that. Here, have a

[jennyrusks]

Hi Fs-tigre

Delighted to hear there is another typophile in the making. If you're just getting started with typography, Robin Williams (a designer not the comedian) has a couple of books that are very helpful.
Typography For Non-Designers
Design For Non-Designers

Both are written in an easy to understand way but are incredibly informative.

I'll also blow my own trumpet here and just mention that I write about typography once a week here on the Sitepoint blog if you would like to take a look. Here are links to a few recent posts that might be of interest to you and others.

Readability In Typography


Legibility In Typography

Kerning In Typography


Spaced Out - Tracking In Typography

There are lots more posts on the Sitepoint blog but I'll just point you to this - part 1 of a 4 part series dedicated to typography - you'll see the other links in the series on that page.

all the best

Jennifer

[AlexDawson]

There are some other titles out there if you enjoy reading books on typography, it's wrong to assume that online articles will act as a total replacement for the subject. Typography and web design are pretty new together (before we just had a limited amount of fonts to work with). I agree with the Robin Williams recommendations.

I recommend...

Thinking With Type (Ellen Lupton)
The Elements of Typographic Style (Robert Bringhurst)
The Typographic Desk Reference (Theo Rosendorf)

Enjoy!

[rizham]

Books are usually a better resource if you want to learn something properly