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Typography is one of the principal elements of graphic design and plays a huge role in every design layout, as it can convey different feelings and messages just using design, that is why I prepared this list with the 11 best graphic design books about typography to help you learn more about typefaces or find graphic design inspiration.
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The Visual History Of Type, written by Paul McNeil and released in 2017 it’s a great book to see how typefaces have changed during the years as it shows you the history of typography from the Gutenberg days to modern typography design.
This book has 672 pages containing 320 different typefaces each of one explained in detail with full-color specimens to show you the evolution of typefaces during the years, if you are looking for an extensive read about typography history this book is for you as it has tons of useful information for design history lovers.
The Elements Of Typographic Style is a must-have book for typography designers, written by Robert Bringhurst combines history, theory, and practical elements of typography as the name suggests, and it can be used by all typographers who didn’t mind your skill level.
This book is the perfect guide to master your typography skills at the same time that you will understand the history behind this art and how it has evolved during all history. This book is used by many design colleges to learn about typography so if you want to learn about typography design this book is for you.
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The Anatomy Of Type, written by Stephen Coles is primary a visual work where it examines 100 typefaces in 256 pages and it pays attention to every tiny detail of every typeface to analyze how they were constructed.
But what makes this book special is the beginning section where it covers the typeface classification helping you identify easier the different types of typefaces after you finish reading this book.
Thinking with type is a graphic design book written by Ellen Lupton focused on the study of typography fundamentals giving you a clear view of typographic rules making it easier for you to break them in a creative way.
This book is for those designers who don’t want a hard read and prefer a visual way of learning, making this book a perfect guide showing you how to create a font from the first line of a symbol.
Type: a visual history of typefaces & graphic styles is a book written by three authors, Alston W. Purvis, Cees W. de Jong, and Jan Tholenaar where they show you different letterhead, orders, typefaces combinations, letter concepts, and various ornaments that can be used in any print design.
With this book, you will discover the history of typography from 1628 to the twentieth century from visual elements and font design, and another interesting factor about this book is that you will discover up to 2,400 different font types in high resolution to get inspired.
Scripts: elegant lettering from design’s golden age written by Steven Heller and Louise Fili is the book you were looking for lettering typography inspiration, as it shows you decades of font evolution starting from the 19th century and ending in mid 20th century.
This typographic book contains hundreds of different cursive fonts being a perfect guide to understand how these fonts were designed decades ago, if you are a graphic designer who wants to know how fonts were made decades ago you should read this book.
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Designing with type is a book written by James Craig and Irene Korol Scala and originally published in 1976 but revised in 2006, this book has 176 pages and is considered a classic when we talk about typography design books, and it’s more focused as a school workbook than a readable book.
It’s used in college curriculums about design, and it’s the perfect book to introduce yourself to typography design, as is focused on beginner graphic designers, so if you want to read your first book about typography and know more about it I recommend you start with this one, but if you are a more advanced graphic designer I will recommend you another book from this list.
Why fonts matters is a typographic book written by Sarah Hyndman every graphic designer should have it as it shows you how different fonts influence your audience and studies how they impact the behavior.
It’s a recommended read for those graphic designers who want to use typography to influence their audience as it helps you understand how to use type to provoke different emotions using the science of fonts.
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The new typography is written by iconic typographer Jan Tschichold and released on 1928, I recommend you this book if you are looking for typography design history as this book is considered as the bible of Modernist Typography Design.
Is considered as one of the most important books about typography and graphic design in the twentieth century and it will help you to understand better the artistic avant-garde movement in central Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.
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Typography Sketchbooks is a graphic design book written by Steven Heller one of the world’s most known typography contributors and Talarico Lita, so you can expect a good typography design book.
This book is perfect for those designers looking for typography design inspiration and learn how to develop a typeface from a single idea as it shows you a collection of typefaces from different designers and the process behind them, showing you all the secrets behind these typefaces.
Just my type is a typography design book written by Simon Garfield that helps you to understand what font says about your design, with this book you will obtain tons of knowledge about typography and you will learn how to match up fonts with design personality.
This book is recommended for those graphic designers looking for a book that shows you how to understand fonts and use them to transmit different feelings at the same time that upgrade your typography skills.
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There are plenty of books about graphic design and typography, but on this list, I selected the 11 best books to learn typography design, find design ideas or learn more about design history, hope this list helps you learn more about typography and find great ideas.
If you found this post useful you might like to read these posts about Typography Design Inspiration.
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