Typographie

After 21 years of teaching typography the author is concerned in this book with the problems of form which confront the typographer in the practice of his craft. Technical processes are explained in so far as they have a bearing on the question of design. The works illustrated are the author's own or are studies done by his pupils in the course of their training.#13;#13;In its 19 chapters the book shows a multitude of possible ways in which the typographer can work with his material in order to achieve his object and it has numerous useful suggestions to make. Typography is a means to a utilitarian end and must obey the rules imposed by legibility and reproducibility. For this reason the typographer must understand the nature and value of his materials, and he must assess one value against another in terms of proportion and contrast.#13;#13;Contemporary typography is not based primarily on the flash of inspiration and the striking idea. It is based on a grasp of the essential underlying laws of form, on thinking in connected wholes, so that it avoids on the one hand turgid rigidity and monotony and on the other unmotivated and arbitrary interpretations.#13;#13;The book is deliberately restricted to pure typography, to working with prefabricated types which are subordinated to a precise system of measurements. Its purpose is to make apparent the inherent laws of typography and - in spite of certain common features - the contrast between it and graphic design which, in both the selection of means and their application, is freer and more complex.#13;#13;It is not the author's aim to "encourage the bad habit of copying" but rather to press home the lesson that good design in printing is based on knowledge, experience and thought. He believes that individual speculation on the final result is less important than knowledge of the way a printed work is constructed and the logical thought which finally produces the typographical design.#13;#13;The book is intended not merely for typographers but also for all those who are interested in contemporary typography.