Tony Seddon is a freelance designer, art director and writer. He has authored and co-authored five books on graphic design, art direction and typography, including Thou Shall Not Use Comic Sans: A Designer's Almanac of Dos and Don'ts. He lives in East Sussex, UK.
Graphic designer and type historian Seddon presents the history of
typography in 100 typefaces, moving chronologically from movable
type to digital. Brief "biographies" of each typeface include
descriptions of its origins and influence and annotated depictions
with distinguishing features and side-by-side comparisons of
subfamilies (e.g., roman versus italic) and versions. Each of the
book's four main sections begins with an overview of the time
period in printing and biographical sketches of a few of its
notable type designers, from Aldus Manutius to Tobias Frere-Jones.
For the novice, the book also includes a description of the type
classifications and a "type anatomy" that illustrates the
differences between a serif and a spur, a loop and a tail... For
the general reader as well as the practitioner.--Lindsay Harmon
"Booklist" (2/12/2016 12:00:00 AM)
A perfect reference book!--Natosha Miller "Test Try Results Blog"
(2/16/2016 12:00:00 AM)
This amazing book provides the background of 100 famous,
chronologically listed typefaces. It is beautifully illustrated,
well written, and authoritative; any student of letterforms will be
delighted with the details presented here. Seddon, a freelance
graphic designer, provides his personal choices of which versions
of these typefaces to purchase, helpful guidance that is, of
course, open to debate. Fine books such as this have appeared
during each generational change in typographic technology, and this
one is suitable for the age of pixels. The choice of which
important typefaces of the last 20 years to include will be
susceptible to major revision in another 20 years, but no harm is
done by taking a stab at it, which the author does skillfully in
bringing the work right up to the present. Font designers (such as
this reviewer) will learn a great deal... This is a very important
work for anyone wishing to learn about the history of fonts,
whether one is a student of graphic design or a professional who
chooses typefaces. Highly recommended. All libraries and
levels.--S. Skaggs "Choice" (5/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)
This book shows how type has evolved since the dawn of the printing
press to the digital age through a collection of 100 typefaces.
Seddon also examines the contributions of various typographers and
type designers throughout history and breaks the book into sections
that show major shifts in typography and printing. These shifts
include the invention of movable type, the typesetting machine,
phototypesetting, and digital typography. Two-page spreads
highlight the typefaces that are relevant to each era. The two-page
spread for each typeface contains a font description and the
background information about the creator(s), its history, and
inspiration of each typeface. This information also includes
typefaces that were inspired by the highlighted font and
information about the various versions that are available,
especially in the instances of types that are digital revivals of
historic designs. Each spread includes a few enlarged letters that
show the defining characteristics that set the typeface apart.
Examples of the type set in dummy text show body and headline
weights, largely depending on the appropriate use of the font in
question, to give the reader a sense of how these fonts will work.
Finally, Seddon helps the reader by providing a recommendation of
which version to use when multiple options are available. The
Evolution of Type truly is an evolution of type and is not an
exhaustive history of typography. The brief history Seddon includes
shows the reader how technology developed and how it has influenced
the direction of type through time. This account, despite its
brevity, is handled well and helps readers to connect shifts in
type design with the major changes in technology. Seddon also
explains the classifications of typefaces and how this has been a
long point of contention between typographers, graphic designers,
and historians because there is no universally accepted method for
classifying type. While there are many similarities from one system
to the next, there are also some distinct differences. This is an
excellent text for anyone wanting to further their knowledge of how
typefaces have evolved in the last 500 years. While it is not a
comprehensive history, the selection of 100 types to represent this
evolution makes it a manageable text that should not be
intimidating to new readers. The most useful part is the inclusion
of the variations of each typeface and recommendations of which
ones to use and why. It is intriguing that Seddon chose Selva as
the 100th typeface, which is a modern interpretation of a
blackletter, thereby bringing the text full circle, beginning with
Gutenberg's invention, which began with a blackletter font whose
design was based on the popular writing of the scribes of his
era.--Amanda Horton "Technical Communication Journal" (2/1/2016
12:00:00 AM)
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