"The Modification of Letterforms" by Stanley Hess (Art Direction Book Company, 1970).

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but:
Allan Haley, 'Hot Designers Make Cool Fonts';
Meggs & McKelvey (ed.), 'Revival Of The Fittest';
Fred Smeijers, 'Counterpunch';

These two I haven't read yet:
Gerrit Noordzij, 'Letterletter';
Walter Tracy, 'Letters Of Credit'.

Also check Typophile Books' Type Design section.

All of these books are either type design showcases or
history books. A few hold very valuable background
information, but none are written specifically to instruct the
new typeface designer. The only book I know of that fits
that bill is Stephen Moye's "Fontographer: Type by Design".

Caveat: I haven't read "Letterletter" either and this is the
first I've heard of Nick's suggestion.

Someone would hold a corner on the (admittedly small)
market if they wrote a new book to replace the aging and
out-of-print "Type by Design".

I have just finished 'Letters of Credit', and find it just an outstanding book. It is now back in print in paperback, so it is again accessible.

The way Tracy analyzes typefaces is really wonderful. He usually critiques individual letters from the point of view of how they harmonize or fail to harmonize in the overall face, and so how they work or fail to as text types. He is so experienced and with such broad tastes - he appreciates both van Krimpen and Goudy! - that the book is really an education, at least for this amateur typophile.

The Adrian Frutiger book "Type Sign Symbol" also contains some valuable information on type design. I also found Frederic Goudy's book "Typoligia" contains a lot of useful information. "The Verbum Book of Digital Typography" (1991) has several good chapters about type design with specific techniques in Fontographer described. It's a bit dated, but no more so than the Moye book.

Well, as a result of this thread, I just ordered Letters of Credit and Letterletter.

Hrant had suggested Leters of Credit to me before and I have been wanting to aquire and read it. No time like the present.

Amazon only had a few copies in inventory ... buy now while supplies last!

William,

Did Mike Parker write an introduction to that book? Or something!

Gerald,

No. The cover says Walter Tracy directed "the English Linotype letter design program from 1947 to the mid-70's." He directed a modification of Times New Roman, and his critique of that typeface in the book is particularly interesting. He died in 1995.

Walter phoned me and wrote several times before his death. Wanted me to send him several things for research purposes. I was surprised. I wound up inadvertently inheriting a massive amount of very interesting multiple party correspondences, all copyrighted. I thought that was unusual. On the other hand, it all was. I would love to tell you what was in it, but it was, as I say, copyrighted.

Keep your eye's peeled for Leslie Cabarga's new Logo and Lettering Bible from HOW Design books soon to be released in the Spring I believe . . .

It covers everything from Illustrator to FOG to FLAB. I'll see if there are some links I can share . . .

Stuart :D

Stuart Sandler speaks truth! My book, Logo, Font & Lettering Bible will be out in early February. The book is up on amazon.com though they don't have it yet. The book combines classic lettering rules and procedures with up-to-date Illustrator and Fontographer instructions. I tried to make it the BIBLE, though I know there's lots more to say. And I'm counting on all you typophiles to "beta test" the first edition and let me know where I've erred, so I can correct the next edition. For FontLab, I'm now working on "Learn FontLab Fast," due out in May. Check out both books at http://www.logofontandlettering.com (hey am I allowed to put urls here?--this is my first post).
Leslie

"Leaves from an Imaginary Type Specimen Book".
and
"As an experiment: 15 serifs applied to stems of similar weight to test serif influence in letter design."

Oz Cooper wrote/designed/drew these essays for "27 Chicago Designers Book" (1937, 1936). They are reproduced in full in "The Book of Oz Cooper" (Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago, 1949). There are not a lot of this on the market, but if you can find one, they seem to be going for $100-$150 U.S., which is a small price to pay for such a beautiful, inspirational book.

The essays are the most profound, instructive work on the practice of type design I've come across. When Oz says "hybridizers have a moral responsibility..." and draws a few words in a semi-serif type he's made up just to illustrate the point...

I'd scan them for y'all, but I don't want to crack the spine.

(Leslie, URLs are always appreciated. (And welcome.))

There is a chapter dedicated to type design by Jose Mendoza y Almeida on a Book Called "La Letra" directed by Gerard Blanchard. Published by CEAC on Barcelona in 1988 as a part of the "Enciclopedia del Dise

I'm now working on "Learn FontLab Fast," due out in May.

That's great news, Leslie. I know there are a lot of people who will appreciate this book. One of the most common things I hear from people new to FontLab is that they find the learning curve very steep and the manual hard to follow. I've been using FontLab for almost ten years now, so have picked up on the features of the current version as they were introduced, rather than having to learn them all at once.

Goudy's "The Alphabet" and "Elements of Lettering" once published as two separate slim titles have in the past years been published by Dover in a combined book.

There is a good illustrated comparison of historic types and other useful information.

Jim Rimmer

> I have just finished 'Letters of Credit', and find it just an outstanding book.

What's amazing about this book is it's "layers". You can -or need to- re-read it every couple of years to get everything out of it. I used to see that as a flaw, but then (thanks to Kent) I realized that was my fault! It simply has information useful to people at many levels, so as you progress you can benefit by re-reading - it has a very long life.

> [Tracy] directed a modification of Times New Roman

Actually, the result (Times Europa) is a totally different font - and much better.

> "As an experiment: 15 serifs applied to stems of similar weight to test serif influence in letter design."

Huh, sounds like Walker!

> I'd scan them for y'all, but I don't want to crack the spine.

Got a [digital] camera?

Hector, that Mendoza book sounds amazing. Where can I get a copy?

BTW, Leslie's book looks really juicy.

hhp

Michael Harvey's Creative lettering today is a little known but very good book for beginners. It is the only book I know of that approaches lettering from four different perspectives: written letters, drawn letters, digital font design, and stone/wood cut letters.

You right John!

Creative lettering today is for my type design courses, the unique book I know, who describe a perfectly good methodology on the different aspects of letterforms design.

http://www.porchez.com/Reading/ (check "Books" section!)

Hrant, the book is not by Mendoza, he only wrote the type design chapter, the rest of the book is directed by Gerard Blanchard.

The content is very comprehensive including type history, calligraphy, classification, semantization (logos), design, setting, printing and bitmapping (well this can be actually considered as digital stuff, but is archaic). The only advice I would give is that it

Seeing the amazing things happening in my 60/48/30 point metal Pascal, I'm sure I have a LOT to learn from Mendoza...

Hector, I just looked around and couldn't find that book anywhere. Is there anything that you'd like to exchange for a photocopy of that chapter? I recently got a photocopy of the first half of Smeijers's new book (Type now), but then I got the book itself. How about that?

hhp

I don

Ok, I found out how to fix this stuff, what about the papers?

Also valuable is Doyald Young's Fonts and Logos.

http://www.delphipress.com/

Definitely worth reading again and again.

H

Ok, let

Deal! Thanks.

hhp

Doyald Young has a new book, Dangerous Curves.

http://www.delphipress.com/

(wasn’t sure which Doyald thread to bump with this)

It’s a gorgeous thing. We’ll have a review on Typographica next week.