The judges will be out until I can take a look inside. Based on the cover ... well it won't be in my top ten. ;¬)

Unfortunately, publishers often have a very different idea of what makes a good cover, compared to those of us who buy and/or create books like these. I feel for David on the cover issue - I've been in his helpless shoes in that regard. But the guts of the book sound promising, and should prove well worth ignoring the less-than-lovely exterior.

Honest appraisal from the author:

The introduction is self-absorbed and self-indulgent. Sorry. The cover is horrible, and I told my editor that countless times. Its ugliness is compounded by the fact that, amazingly, the repro house screwed up the alignment of some of the glyphs moments before going to print. If you buy the book, burn the dust jacket and send me a photo of the flames. Please.

The main bulk of the book comprises of the interviews, however. There are some good chapters and some bad chapters, as you might expect from a first-time and inexperienced author, and from the range of those interviewed. Matthew Carter had some great things to say, based on a long and immensely enjoyable phone conversation with him, for example, and Jonathan Hoefler had some very valuable things indeed to share on the subject.

The interviews are accompanied by examples of the designers work, both straight typeface design and graphic design, and where possible there are early developmental examples to illustrate a typeface's progression. Jeremy Tankard's and Erik Spiekermann's early development work, both for typeface and typographic design, spring to mind as particularly strong examples.

One thing that pleased me was the diversity of approaches from all the designers, mainly due to their different age ranges and cultural backgrounds, and I think this has been reflected in the book. Its non-prescriptive as a result.

Anyhow. Its ok. I'm not Robert Bringhurst.

One final point - the book is primarily aimed at students and designers in the early part of their careers, and the text will naturally reflect this. The tutorial bit, for example, is aimed at those VERY early on in their type design career, so dont beat me too hard on that one.

That said, there is plenty in the body of the book to be of interest to those further along in their hopefully lifelong studies.

So I'm embarassed.

:$

David, is there any chance of seeing the table of
contents and/or the index?? I always like it when
Amazon has a peek inside the book.

Wow. That's enough for me. To the bookshop!

David tells me that the interviews discuss each
designer's process in designing type - something
that I don't think has been well documented
before. I'm excited to see the result.

> I don't think has been well documented before.

I only know of one good place:
Allan Haley's "Hot Designers Make Cool Fonts".

hhp

Of course I wanted to call the book "Making Faces", and had a big fat loving closeup of a tongue with a chunk of metal type shoved through the hole left by a piercing.

Yesterday the availablity was in stock and ready for 24 hour shipment. Same day in NY. Things change I guess. I got one. Early bird gets the worm.

I'm trying to get a copy through New York - look forward to seeing it soon

Jordan Davies

I got the book about two weeks ago from B&N in NY. Overall I like it. I think David Earls was pretty on tap and honest with his assessment of the book. It can easily be read in a day.

I like the introduction. Self-absorbed? I don

Wow, someone who likes the cover! Just goes to show, one man's meat is another man's poison. Or something.

Having spoken to the publisher today, it appears that the book is published in the UK and distributed here and in the USA. Availability in non-English-speaking countries is therefore very much up to individual stores or chains, apparently. I guess there is always Amazon.

In the meantime, contributors, if they have yet to receive their copies, should be receiving them this week, though it is dependant on international postal services as to exactly when.

Finally I

Hey David - do I get a copy? : )