UNGER, Gerard
Theory of Type Design

A classic by internationally renowned Dutch graphic designer and typographer Gerard Unger (born 1942), this is the first complete and accessible theory of the breathtakingly varied field of typography. "Of all designed objects letters are probably the most pervasive," as Unger explains at the beginning of his study. "Very familiar yet amazingly diverse in their appearance … there seems to be no limit to human ingenuity when it comes to varying letterforms."

Unger approaches the diversity and creativity of the field with a wide-ranging, reflective, critical theory of how we design and make sense of text. The history of typography is surveyed, from cuneiform script to Wim Crouwel's New Alphabet and today's digital developments, and explored in relation to how our eyes and brain process various letter shapes in order to understand text.

This volume consists of 24 concise chapters, each clearly describing a different aspect of type design (from practical considerations like spacing and rhythm, legibility, size and italics to more ineffable considerations like personality and preference). This theoretical material is illuminated by more than 200 illustrations and practical examples, and an extensive glossary succinctly explains terminology and key ideas. [publisher's note]

Published by NAI010 Publishers, 2018
Graphic Design