Thinking with Type, 2nd revised ed.: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

Often when I talk to friends about my publishing, conversations are short. People get the idea of writing and authorship; they generally draw a blank when it comes to publishing. In particular, the idea that a book needs to be designed seems almost mystical [1]. So my delight in finding a new title focused on identifying and using type (or fonts) has been hard to explain… Ellen Lupton, author of Thinking with Type, has clearly traveled this route. She searched for a suitable textbook on using type for her class at the Maryland Institute College of Art, but resolved that she needed to write the book herself (7). The first thing to notice about Thinking with Type is that the book is rather heavy (1.4 pounds) and a bit more square (7” x 8.5”) than the more typical paperback (9” x 6”). Thinking with Type has a lot of glossy photographs to illustrate the points being made. Needless to say, it is a visual delight. The format of the book serves its purpose well. Lupton writes: This book is about thinking with typography—in the end, the emphasis falls on “with”. Typography is a tool for doing things with: shaping content, giving language a physical body, enabling the social flow of messages (8). If the medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan famously remarked, then the primary medium of a book is type. Good books sport good design and the designer needs to know the role played by type. A good choice of type requires some knowledge of how it came to be, the associations it brings to bear, and the way it relates to the subject of the book. Are you interested yet? Lupton organizes her presentation into three categories: letter, text, and grid (or spatial organization). Letters. Early text was significantly influenced by the human body and calligraphy. Johannes Gutenberg, for example, published the first movable type in a Bible in which he attempted to emulate Bibles that were previously written exclusively by hand and included copious illustrations. Movable type caught on in Germany, but not in China where it was invented, because the Latin alphabet was phonetic and could be illustrated with relatively few letters, unlike Mandarin which pictured words rather than sounding them out. Mandarin had too many letter forms to be easily automated with those early printing presses (13). Text. A text, Lupton reminds us, is: an ongoing sequence of words distinct from shorter headlines or captions (87). Debates about a book, which requires an author, as opposed to “text” are everywhere in the postmodern period when authors, like Jacques Derrida (91), question to the need for an authority figure in charge of producing a text. Lupton enters this debate, in part, by elegantly illustrating alternatives to simple text. For example, is a webpage with many links embedded a book? Most people would say no. Why? Who, for example, is the author? Is it the programmer, the web-designer, the illustrator, or the copy writer? Clearly, questions relating to the formatting of text go way beyond the decision to right, left, or center justify. Grid. Of the three sections (letters, text, and grid), grid is probably the least familiar. Lupton defines grid in this way: A GRID BREAKS SPACE OR TIME INTO REGULAR UNITS [all small caps]. A grid can be simple or complex, specific or generic, tightly defined or loosely interpreted. Typographical grids are all about control (151). Here Lupton’s use of illustrations is amazing [2]. The number of choices in organizing text is amazing because most of the options are not at all obvious. Those of us who use study bibles, for example, are used to seeing footnotes and other annotations down the center of the page, but this is seldom done anywhere else—most people are accustomed to footnotes at the bottom of the page. Repeatedly, Lupton draws on magazine grid to illustrate novel grids that highlight different dimensions of the text. The influence of graphical artists on how we perceive text is striking and at times even subversive. Presentation matters and significantly influences text interpretation. Think, for example, of the use of red letters in some Bibles—the original Greek was all caps without any punctuation and no red letters! Ellen Lupton’s Thinking with Type is a fun and informative book. For those of you who don’t care about publishing and have no interest in design might think of it as a conversation starter. It is that interesting. [1] It is kind of like asking a city kid where food comes from—well duh, it comes from the grocery store! [2] Of course, I gravitated to the Biblia Polyglotta (154-155) which in 1568 offered the reader the Bible in Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic, Syriac, and Greek. Today, a good program could organize such a text in minutes, but in 1568 all that was done by hand suggesting that proof-readers really did need some language skills.

"Thinking with Type" proved to be just what I was looking for. As someone who has studied graphic design for two years and works both with web and print, I needed a book on type which not only provided a theoretical basis but was also practical, explaining how theoretical design decisions could be applied though print software (inDesign in this case) and in on-line media. I knew a little about type from my studies and practical work but wanted a book to take me beyond the basics maybe to the level of a competent practitioner . Brim full of examples, there is plenty of inspiration here, and all of the ideas are more than amply illustrated. Infact, the wealth of examples is one of the strengths of the book. There is a lot out of information there about typography but this book is the most useful I have so far come across. I liked the extensive examples from many different traditions. What to look for in typeface design and how the anatomy of type influences the practical use of a typeface are particularly well explained. Layout, paragraph formatting, kerning and tracking and other aspects of spacing are very clearly covered. There are always plenty examples of typefaces shown. I particularly liked the notes about "type crimes". The book is beautifully illustrated and designed.Its printed on very nice ( and durable) paper stock. This is a good thing as my copy is in for a hard time as no doubt its going to get plenty of use. Great value, up-to-date and full of useful stuff for anyone wanting to make a beautiful (or just plain workman-like) job of type in print or on screen.

I found this book to be a great resource. I didn't find any straight-up design guidance here but did find a lot of inspiration and reference. The book touches a bit on the history of certain Type forms, which I love, and provides plenty of examples for context. It's written as a blend between type history book and a design guide. I use it as a brainstorming tool, a reminder of all the crazy design ideas that people leaned into and made successful. Great for breaking the routine and challenging yourself.

I like the book very much!!! It has new ideas mixed with interestingly told old school info. It wasn't 5 stars because of 2 moments: 1. The fact that I've pre-ordered the 3rd edition Kindle format and waited 2 or 3 months for the release that was being delayed week after week and just cancelled. 2. The images in the electronic edition are all pixelated. And it is a pity. ((((

Ellen Lupton's work on this book is clear, defines the terminology associated with typography thoroughly, and offers many helpful examples. The book itself is beautifully made and the companion website has enough information to create an initial framework for long-term study. Lupton makes the work accessible and fun with the examples she chooses, with emphasis both on initially expressing the rules and then with attention to how a designer might break the rules or explore them playfully. When I expose students to her work, even in the context of an introductory course in which typography is only one of many topics, they become instantly more curious and critical about type. This book joins Lupton's other design books on my shelf. Whenever my eyes get tired of typesetting, she pulls me back in.

I highly recommend this book. It has a great layout. It had really good information. I highly recommend buying this book specially if your new to type. I got this book for a great price though the deals on Amazon. I would buy it again. Buy it and see for yourself. The only thing I wished for about this book is making the book bigger & print bigger for easier reading. Other then that it is a great book. I highly recommend it.

Hi, if you are a designer of some sort or a signwriter and have always wanted a guide to understanding proper text weights, heirachy and placement, then this would be a great book for you. What i really enjoyed was seeing the different examples of text on a page, in particular the relationships between a typeface's family and an additional 'bold' or 'statement' font. It is a useful tool when it comes to directing the gaze of a reader and looks much more interesting than a standard typographical layout. So if you are like me and want to improve your typographical skills, this book is definitely worth more than it's cost. Regards

I had to read this book for my Beginning Typography class at Columbia College Chicago. Going into the class I really knew nothing about typography except for the names of some fonts. Not only does Ellen Lupton do a fantastic job explaining just about everything you've ever wanted, or needed to know about Typography - there are lots of elements discussed that will give you a better understanding of design in general. This book is not a critique on fonts, nor is it a book on how to design them. While this book explains what a font is, you learn a lot about what the visual representation of a word is comprised of (text) and how to use these representations (text) in the various ways in design, and how they have been used in the past. After reading this book you should be familiar with almost all of the typographer's jargon (terms, vocal), and you will have a better understanding of how to organize text in a design.