arensb reviewed Type on screen by Ellen Lupton (Design briefs--essential texts on design)
Review of 'Type on screen' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
If you picked this book up on the strength of Lupton's [b:Thinking with Type|69736|Thinking with Type|Ellen Lupton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436288210s/69736.jpg|67572], you may be in for a disappointment. For one thing, while “Thinking with Type” was written by Lupton, “Type on Screen” is edited by her (she’s the main author, but large parts were written by her students and others).
There’s some good material here, though: the book starts with a recap of the parts of a font or typeface, then proceeds to explain how type on a printed page differs from type on a computer screen, zooming out to layout and how HTML differs from traditional typesetting; the fact that while a traditional typesetter knows whether she’s working on a paperback or a poster, web design has to accommodate desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones.
And yet, for all this useful, practical advice, the book seems padded. One section has pages of fonts, rating …
If you picked this book up on the strength of Lupton's [b:Thinking with Type|69736|Thinking with Type|Ellen Lupton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436288210s/69736.jpg|67572], you may be in for a disappointment. For one thing, while “Thinking with Type” was written by Lupton, “Type on Screen” is edited by her (she’s the main author, but large parts were written by her students and others).
There’s some good material here, though: the book starts with a recap of the parts of a font or typeface, then proceeds to explain how type on a printed page differs from type on a computer screen, zooming out to layout and how HTML differs from traditional typesetting; the fact that while a traditional typesetter knows whether she’s working on a paperback or a poster, web design has to accommodate desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones.
And yet, for all this useful, practical advice, the book seems padded. One section has pages of fonts, rating each one on criteria like flexibility, showmanship, and classiness. It seems this space could have been better spent explaining how to identify a flexible font in an online catalog.
Likewise, the examples of work by Lupton’s students, while often beautiful, often take up more space than they ought. And the final section, which talks about icons, logos, computer-generated fonts, and more, seems less like a how-to manual and more like an art exhibit, a celebration of freedom from the constraints of paper.
Do read this if you’re interested in what Lupton has to say—and a lot of it is interesting—but it’s far more of a mixed bag than in “Thinking With Type”, so prepare to skip a lot.