Type Rules!: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography, Third Edition

INTRODUCTION

Type is all around us, in everything we read, from product packaging in the grocery store to television commercials, from greeting cards, books, and magazines to movie credits and storefront signs. Learning to read and write the alphabet is one of the first things we are taught in school, and that process often begins before nursery school with television shows and videos intended for the hungry and curious minds of two- and three-year-olds.

Type and printed matter communicate not only information to us but also influence decisions we make on a daily basis. Whether we realize it or not, type and the way it appears affects which CD or book cover catches our eye, which detergent might make the whites whiter, and which movie might be the scariest or most romantic. Much of this process goes on unconsciously, which is why the art and craft of typography is so invisible to the average person. But its unseen nature by no means diminishes the importance and influence type has on the quality and substance of our daily lives.

Type Rules! is intended for anyone interested in typography, be they a novice computer user or a professional graphic designer. There is something here for everyone, whether you know a little or a lot about type. This book does not have to be read front to back; you may thumb through the chapters and stop wherever something sparks your interest, or you may read it chapter to chapter, cover to cover. This book will stimulate and satisfy the neophyte's interest ...