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This week — no. 14

Quiet authority

Merriweather sets the tone in one line. Lato stays out of the way and lets it.

MERRIWEATHER 700  +  LATO 400

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Industry Pulse: Top Typography books in 2013

April 28, 2013 by Douglas Bonneville

typography-books We like to keep an eye on what typography books people are reading. Every so often we do our own research using a variety of sources to get a pulse on what typography resources have people’s heart beating a little faster.

What’s old is new in 2013

This time around in 2013, we found a few “new” old books that have gotten talked about a little more in the last year or two. If you think about it, it’s not like the art of typography moves at the speed of the art of web design. While we should see new web design books yearly, a born “classic” typography books seems to come along once in a decade. So yeah, the list of the best books isn’t very long and we shouldn’t expect it to be. The ebb and flow of web conversations and ever-changing search algorithms produces changing results over time, and so, we like to refresh our bookshelves.

You don’t know what you don’t know

So maybe you know a few of these typographic tomes, and hopefully there are a few you 1) don’t own, 2) haven’t heard of, or 3) simply forgot about. Take a look, consider a purchase (these are not affiliate links!), and improve your typography! Learn from the best and discard the rest 🙂
  • Designing with Type
  • Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students
  • The Elements of Typographic Style
  • The Complete Manual of Typography
  • The Anatomy of Type: A Graphic Guide to Over 100 Typefaces
  • The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type
  • Type Rules! The Designers Guide to Professional Typography
  • The New Typography
  • Typography Essentials: 100 Design Principles for Working with Type
  • A Type Primer
   

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About Douglas Bonneville

Douglas has been a graphic designer since 1992, in addition to software developer and author. He is a member of Smashing Magazine's "Panel of Experts" and has contributed to over 100 articles. He is the author of "The Big Book of Font Combinations", loves cats, and plays guitar.

The BonFX Letter

One good pairing.
Every Tuesday.

2-minute read · free

This week — no. 14

Quiet authority

Merriweather sets the tone in one line. Lato stays out of the way and lets it.

MERRIWEATHER 700  +  LATO 400

A font specimen, a pairing that works, and one line on why it works. That is the whole email.

Free. One click to unsubscribe. No sharing, ever.

Free download

The Typography Primer.
Yours, right now.

Adobe's classic · PDF · free

The Typography Primer — book cover

The guide to type that everyone learned from. Subscribe and it is yours instantly. The BonFX Letter follows.

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The Big Book of Font Combinations

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About BonFX

Douglas Bonneville has been a graphic designer since 1992 and has written about type here since 2009. BonFX is a blog about typography and design, and the books that came out of it.

  • The Big Book of Font Combinations
  • The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations
  • UX for Cats

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