Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface
by Lars M?ller
List Price:
Our Price: $12.47
You Save: $7.53 (38%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.77 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Lars M?llerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-01-14
ISBN: 3037780460
Number of pages: 200
Publisher: Lars M?ller Publishers
Book Reviews of Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface
Book Review: It's no Akzidenz
Summary: 5 Stars
First the mystery: just why was every alternate page in the book joined together? The reader has to carefully cut the perforations to be able to look at every page. I can't find any reference in the small amount of text about this. My conclusion is that the public use of the type is on the open pages and non-public (or designed) examples are on the perforation joined pages. At least you'll know if you buy a pre-used copy though.
Apart from the perforations I thought this was a handsome little book and homage in the title is very apt. Helvetica is probably the world's number one communication choice, it works just as well on a municipal sign or a new baby announcement. Before it gained a monopoly each nation seemed to have its own jobbing type, Franklin Gothic in America, Gill Sans in England or Antique Olive in France, for instance but the super clean lines of Helvetica (and computer typesetting) meant it was no contest for all the others.
The author mentions the uniqueness of Swiss design in the Fifties partly because the top designers always used the same typeface, the stunning Akzidenz Grotesk, which fitted into their rather austere but elegant graphic solutions even though it only had two weights, Medium and Bold. Who needs italic, extended, condensed, extra black and the other weights to communicate efficiently? The rest of the world for a start. From the late Fifties Swiss designed Helvetica spread across the globe and you'll see from the hundreds of examples in these pages some wonderful design solutions, especially the two hundred plus logos that use the face in all sorts of variations. As a typeface there are probably a few dozen Helvetica weights now available. Incidentally, the author suggests that Arial, the default type used on Outlook Express for most emails is a digital Helvetica, close but no cigar! The most obvious differences are the cap G and the lower case s and t.
'Homage to a typeface' is a lovely book that'll interest most typographers and anyone who is curious about a lettering style that seems to be everywhere.
Arts & Photography Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Typography / SML / See-ming Lee
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works (2nd Edition)by Erik Spiekermann, E.M Ginger
Adobe Press; Published: 2002-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.94
Price in other shops:
The Complete Manual of Typographyby Jim Felici
Adobe Press; Published: 2002-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.13
Price in other shops:
Books, Boxes & Portfolios: Binding, Construct and Design, Step-By-Stepby Franz Zeier
McGraw-Hill Professional; Published: 1990-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.39
Price in other shops:
Helvetica: Homage to a Typefaceby Lars M?ller
Lars M?ller Publishers; Published: 2005-01-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.17
Price in other shops:
Typographically Speaking: The Art of Matthew Carterby Margaret Re, Johanna Drucker and James Mosley, Johanna Drucker, James Mosley
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2003-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $47.12
LANGUAGE CULTURE TYPEGraphis Press; Published: 2002-11-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $35.27
Price in other shops:
The Elements of Typographic Styleby Robert Bringhurst
Hartley and Marks Publishers; Published: 2004-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.54
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Typographic Systems of Designby Kimberly Elam
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2007-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
The Elements of Typographic Styleby Robert Bringhurst
Hartley and Marks Publishers; Published: 2004-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.54
Price in other shops:
Type Addicted (The New Trend of a to Z Typo-Graphics)by Victionary
Victionary; Published: 2007-12-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.69
Price in other shops:
Fingerprint: The Art of Using Hand-Made Elements in Graphic Designby Chen Design Associates
How; Published: 2006-10-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.94
Price in other shops:
Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshopby Timothy Samara
Rockport Publishers; Published: 2005-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.68
Price in other shops:
Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Edit & Students (Design Briefs)by Ellen Lupton
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2004-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
79 Short Essays on Designby Michael Bierut
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2007-05-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.90
Price in other shops:
Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920-1965by Richard Hollis
Yale University Press; Published: 2006-04-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.35
Price in other shops:
Things I have learned in my life so farby Stefan Sagmeister
Abrams; Published: 2008-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.40
Price in other shops:
HelveticaRelease date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $14.98
Price in other shops: