Just my type
by Simon Garfield · first published 2010
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Fun, accessible history of well-known typefaces, with each chapter covering a type designer's story and what the typeface is good for; recommended as an introduction for laypeople curious about typography.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A quick and personal tour through the past and present of fonts, their design, and use.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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If you enjoyed reading about the quirky history of different typefaces, like this one, I can reccomend the book 'Just My Type' by Simon Garfield. Each chapter introduces a bit quirky of history of a type face designer along with details of the type they cremated and what it's good for. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1592407463
on “One man's obsession with rediscovering the Doves typeface” ↗Frutiger's personality and work are sensitively depicted in two documentaries that are worth watching: "Adrian Frutiger - Typographer" (1999) [0] and "The Man of Black and White: Adrian Frutiger" (2005) [1]. "Just My Type", Simon Garfield's wildly popular book on typefaces, has a chapter titled "What is it about the Swiss?" which has a whole section dedicated to Frutiger. [2] Frutiger's design philosophy is beautifully…
on “Adrian Frutiger has died” ↗Simon Garfield wrote a great book called "Just My Type"[1] which dives deep into the history of landmark fonts. Includes a full chapter on Comic Sans, highly recommended read.
on “Why I created Comic Sans” ↗What a nice story... Here's a good book if you want to learn more about the world of type setting: Just my Type by Simon Garfield. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/books/just_my_type.htm
on “How the Doves Type Was Nearly Lost” ↗In many ways the familiarity and apparent simplicity of English text is a big challenge, particularly whole pages of text. A great book to read is Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield. Turns out I live not too far from the resting place of the only matrices of Doves type, at the bottom of the Thames. My brother talks about setting whole pages…
on “Typography is impossible (2016)” ↗I wonder if you've read the book "Just My Type" by Simon Garfield. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/books/just_my_type.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_My_Type It's a gem of a book about typography. In Chapter 9 "What is it about the Swiss?"…
on “'Godfather' of Helvetica font, Mike Parker, dies at 84” ↗…the history and backstories of types. I find it quite a fun read, and it can inspire your interests and appreciation for types, if you don't already know much about typography. http://www.amazon.com/Just-My-Type-About-Fonts/dp/1592407463
on “Ask HN: What are your design hacks for better web design?” ↗…subject, but like most subjects rules of thumb vary depending on who you ask, and it's hard to condense it into just a few rules (though this book is one such attempt). Here's some refs on typography: Just My Type - a fun introduction to the subject for the layperson Counterpunch by Fred Smeijers - perhaps a bit dry, but I found it engaging, a history of type The Elements of Typographic Style - perhaps a bit…
on “Practical Typography” ↗Yup obstacle did forget his footnote which I was also interested in. Making a guess that it is going to be a link to Amazon, let me steal that chance: http://www.amazon.com/Just-My-Type-About-Fonts/dp/1592407463...
on “Why I created Comic Sans” ↗