Review:The Elements Of Typographic Style, version 2.5

Eloquent and beautfully designed reference a must for the serious type student and designer

Elements of Typographic Style, by Bringhurst

Regardless of whatever other books on type, type history, and development there are, there are certain essentials that ought to be on any typeographer’s must-have shelf. One of these is The Elements of Typographic Style, version 2.5, by Robert Bringhurst.

Bringhurst, in his foreward, states:

There are many books about typography, and some of them are models of the art they teach. But when I set myself to compile a simple list of working principles, one of the benchmarks I first thought of was William Strunk and E.B. White’s small masterpiece, The Elements of Style.

But what a book to come from such a modest remit. It goes from basics to esoterics, speaks of layout and glyph design, and weaves history and tradition into the mix, all in a logical, progressive format, each subsequent point building on many of the last. There is a section on page layout that touches on the Golden Section and Fibbonacci sequences, and lyrically unites the subjects so that they all make sense together. The book is rounded out by font histories and the most extensive glossary ever provided for a type book that defines every figure worth knowing about.

To go into everything this book covers would overlengthen an already overlong report. Suffice it to say what Hermann Zapf said about the book:

All desktop typographers should study this book. It is not just one more publication on typography, like so many others on the market. It is, instead, a must for everybody in the graphics arts…Written by an expert, Robert Bringhurst’s book is particularly welcome in an age where typographic design is sometimes misconstrued as a form of private self-expression for designers…I wish to see this book become the Typographer’s Bible”.

And who are we to argue with Hermann Zapf? We wish to echo his words: if you are or fancy yourself a typographer, get this book.

The Elements of Typographic Style, version 2.5
by Robert Bringhurst
349 pp with index, Hartley & Marks, 2002
ISBN 0-88179-132-6 (pbk)
Buy This book from Amazon.com

09 September 2005

Samuel John Klein

Designorati

i’ve got proprietary self-designed fonts…how do i publish them,make them available to others and also profit by that?

greg sharp

22 September 2005
Greg:

You seem to be asking a very good here. I am not a lawyer, however, so this is a subject of exploration for myself also.

First, I’m guessing that by “proprietary self-designed fonts”, what you’re saying here is that you have fonts you designed by your own self, and you want to sell them.

I’m not yet familiar with the way they work, but there may be font houses that accept work and market them. T26 comes to mind. Again, don’t take my word for it, but check them out. If they don’t accept submissions, they may be able to give you advice on how you can.

Thank you for the question, and thank you for an idea for a possible future article!

Samuel John Klein
DESIGNORATI

22 September 2005