With the advent of the Macintosh computer and desktop publishing software in the 1980s, tasks once performed by others, such as typesetting and the creation of mechanicals, fell upon the designer. But what of the typesetter's knowledge and craft? The appearance of new technologies seems to produce a disconnect between old and new ways of doing things. Something valuable gets lost in the shuffle.

Written for "anyone who regularly and enthusiastically commits acts of visual communication", as well as to accompany her own courses in typography at Maryland Institute College of Art, designer, author and curator Ellen Lupton’s new handbook, Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students, provides not only the how but also the why of basic typesetting practices for both print and screen, grounding this practical knowledge in a historical and theoretical context. Much care has gone into the creation of this third title in the Design Briefs series from Princeton Architectural Press, bringing the instruction of typography into the twenty-first century.

The book is organized into three main sections — Letter, Text and Grid —, each of which starts with a well-researched, thought-provoking essay. The article on Letter furnishes a brief overview of major trends in typeface design, from the fifteenth century to the present. The second essay articulates the evolution of text from linear page to non-linear screen. The third piece presents the different ways in which grids have been used to organize typographic matter.

Each essay is followed by an amply-illustrated how-to section and exercises. And like any good educator, Lupton doesn't just tell you typographic dos and don'ts, she shows you, with examples that are smart and humorous. The different typographic choices available to today's computer-enabled designer are displayed, along with reasons for picking one over the other.

An Appendix offers a crash course in editing and proofreading, as practiced today, and some excellent free advice to boot.

The book is beautifully designed and finely illustrated. Carefully chosen graphics of historic and contemporary works inform the text, and vice-versa. Every surface has been used to communicate some aspect of type, and Lupton’s wit is evident throughout. Even the title page, a tightly rendered sketch that echoes the cover layout, seems to imply that thinking, or designing, with type is best done on paper, before one sits at the computer. Color is used subtly, not only to differentiate page content and sections, but also to demarcate examples and reproductions. Relevant quotations are judiciously placed throughout the text—Lupton practices what she preaches, providing the reader with plenty of points of entry and exit on each page.

It's hard to find something not to like about this volume. I suppose that some readers, wanting more, will find Thinking with Type too brief! It is meant to be a basic text. Nevertheless, the author covers a lot of ground in just 176 small (7 in. x 8.5 in.) pages. For those whose interest is piqued, there is an impressive bibliography at the end. Lupton has also created a companion website that includes much of the practical instruction from the book and adds a special section for educators. (The essays and examples of designers' work are not on the website, but some additional didactic material not found in the book is included).

This is a rewarding and recommendable guide, all the more so because of Lupton's gifts as an educator and critic. Her expositional style is sophisticated yet approachable, and her analyses refuse to take anything for granted. By taking apart even the oldest of typographic conventions, Lupton casts them in a new light, bridging the gap between type's long-standing traditions and its newest, most up-to-date practices.

David Matt of Men's Journal conducts a panel discussion with some of today's leading type designers: Andy Cruz, Jim Parkinson, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, David Berlow, and Matthew Carter. The Society of Publication Designers event is Thursday, October 7, in NYC.

It's a ’70s---’80s Cooper Black frenzy at the Shop Odd t-shirt shop. I'm a proud owner of Folk it up!, purchased elsewhere years ago.

See also: Behind the Typeface

When Deborah Grumet's daughter Megan turned 1, mom decided to make a very special gift for her. She illustrated a poster of the alphabet where each letter was drawn or painted in the style of an artist whose name began with that letter -- for example, the L is filled with Lichtenstein benday dots, four brightly-colored Ws represent Warhol, etc.

At the urging of her friend Greg Balet, who was at the time marketing chipsets for Intel, Deborah began to have the poster printed commercially. She and Greg went into business and sell their poster at various bookstores (mostly in Cambridge and Martha's Vineyard) and via mail/Internet order.

I had the pleasure of working in an office with Stockholm designer Stefan Hattenbach this year. Stefan practically bubbles over with a love for typography. His walls are full of specimen books and his head full of font ideas -- some of which have manifest themselves in over 35 typeface designs since ’97. Many of these fonts reside at his three fine vendors, but Stefan finally has a single showcase for all his work at his new personal foundry site: MAC Rhino Fonts.

Stefan gave me the honor of designing some of the online showings, which he generously offers in printable PDF downloads as well -- a fine example for all small foundries. I only wish (and we've already had a friendly tussle over this one) he would have presented the fonts in a frameless site so you can see the specimens in their full splendor. Let us know what you think.

In any case, the typefaces speak for themselves, no matter how they're presented. My favorites are Lunda Modern and Sophisto. I've also had an enduring soft spot for the quirky western Oxtail. In the midst of setting the Oxtail poster, I discovered when it's set tight, the tails can act as connectors for a pseudo-script (see "our america"). Stefan's typefaces are full of these little unexpected nuggets. I like to think the relative isolation of Sweden offers him a unique perspective on letter design. So go buy some MRF fonts, now! [at PSY/OPS]  [at Veer]  [at Fountain]  [at FontShop]

See also: Classic Packaging

At this year's TypeCon in San Francisco, Matthew Carter told me about a court case that he was involved in as an expert witness. I won't give away the details for fear of upsetting the legal process, but let's just say that his familiarity with type design (and particularly one of his own typefaces) and typesetting (and the machines used to do it) enabled him to easily prove or disprove the authenticity of some historical legal documents.

Cut to the discovery this week by CBS' 60 Minutes of some very interesting documents that tell the story of George W. Bush's National Guard service -- or lack thereof. But the authenticity of the documents has been called into question due to certain typographic anachronisms. They're set in what looks like Times, with proportional spacing. There are superscripts used in the text. And to my eye they exhibit the casual ugliness that comes from a very special source: Microsoft Word.

But don't take my word for it. The Cyberspace News Service gathered opinions from a few typographic experts, including Allan Haley from AGFA Monotype ("It was highly out of the ordinary [in 1972] for an organization, even the Air Force, to have proportional-spaced fonts for someone to work with") and John Collins of Bitstream ("[the superscript] would not be possible on a typewriter or even a word processor at that time").

If these documents are fake, who faked them? One theory in our office is that the GOP did it to cast doubt on the Kerry campaign. As Richard Polt, a Xavier University philosophy professor and typewriter aficionado was quoted in the Weekly Standard, "I'm a Kerry supporter myself, but I won't let that cloud my objective judgment: I'm 99% sure that these documents were not produced in the early 1970s." He took the words right out of my mouth.

• Cressida NF – a multilinear wonder by Nick Curtis.
• Cigar Label and Campaign – by the Ringmaster of Antiquated Novelty: Dan X. Solo.
• Ed Rogers – digitized by the originators of famous artist handwriting fonts: P22.
• Neo Sans – the latest poster child for "clean and modern" and the best thing to come out of Agfa Monotype in quite some time.
• Ballpark Script – packed with underline swashes and put to fine use in the Jul/Aug I.D. magazine. [CORRECTION: The I.D. script is not Ballpark but a similar font by Design Director Nico Schweizer.] One of many great nostalgia-soaked fonts at Letterhead, like Euphoria (but I admit that makes the cut due to The Dancing Cat).
• Geetype and Houschka – actually not new, but probably new to most Yanks as Nick Cooke’s stuff was previously only available from UK-based Fontworks. I used Geetype in the (outdated) rollover maps at my other place.
• Metron – František Štorm revives a disappearing Czech transit face. Thanks Rolf.
• FF Legato – a sans for text that changes many of the rules defining character shapes and legibility. Read up and witness history!