- Publisher
- Adobe Press
- Published
- 2002
- Shelf
- typography: Fundamentals
- ISBN
- 9780201703399
Fundamentals
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works
Erik Spiekermann & E. M. Ginger
Spiekermann's introduction to type, built on the idea that letters have a voice before they have a meaning.
Why read it
The title comes from a printer's warning that a man who would letterspace lowercase would steal sheep, and the tone holds all the way through: opinionated, funny, and specific about why one face suits a timetable and another a novel. It teaches the ear for type that rules alone cannot.
Why own it
Bringhurst is the law and this is the induction. Give it to anyone who says they cannot see the difference between two sans serifs, and they will stop saying it.
Who it is for
Anyone at the beginning of typography, and anyone who chooses fonts by scrolling.
Reading order
Book 1 of 5 in the typography reading order, where it starts. See all 5
Read nextThinking with TypeEllen LuptonOnce you can hear a face, Lupton's short course teaches you to set it, one scale at a time.Opens a search on AbeBooks, a network of independent and antiquarian sellers, which is where a good part of this shelf has to be found, because it is out of print.
Read next
Chosen because they argue with this one, not because a machine noticed they share a category.
- Thinking with TypeEllen Lupton
- The Elements of Typographic StyleRobert Bringhurst
- Just My TypeSimon Garfield
Also on the·typography shelf