Robin Dodd

Although I am not a graphic designer, I have followed graphic design and computerized fonts since the 1990s. Thus, many of the font-forms referenced in this book are familiar to me. This book narrates how letters have historically been formed by technology. As the title implies, it starts with ancient scripts, continues with Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1400s, and closes with modern fonts digitized in OpenType on computers.

Dodd focuses her energies on how the biggest fonts came to be. The stories behind high-impact fonts (like Times New Roman and Helvetica) are exposited. She also addresses how the best fonts (like Times Old Roman or Gill Sans) came into being. Most importantly, she dissects why these fonts have proved successful and what historical currents shaped their success. By alternating between these two hats, she acts both as a historian and as a graphic designer in authoring this book.

As one would expect, this book is replete with images of fonts and of fonts being used in design. It is colorful and full of visual stimulation. At times, it can degenerate into stretches of technical jargon, but it illustrates just how hard telling stories about fonts really is!

I found the story of transitioning from script to serif fonts (with the small dots at the ends of characters) in the printing-press era especially interesting. I also enjoyed observing the evolution in the modern era from serif fonts to sans-serif fonts (without the small dots). Finally, I enjoyed seeing the transition from sans-serif fonts back to specialized script forms facilitated by technologies like OpenType. This history of type-technology is clearly evident to the observant reader through the book’s images.

Erudite graphic designers and those interested in the history of technology will find this book especially useful. Personally, I will look at fonts more deeply due to time spent in this book. Through knowledge of good writing, history, and graphic design, Dodd crafts a book that will sit on many coffee-tables and begin discussions on an interesting quirk of history.… (plus d'informations)

The audience for which this book was written is not clear.
• It reads somewhat like a reference work - a mini-encyclopedia - but it lacks the comprehensive coverage required of an encyclopedia.
• It could serve as a text in a design class focused on typography but the extraneous material and lack of summary tables lessen its usefulness.
• Personally, I read it for pleasure because of my interest in typography but I found it lacking in focus and useful features.

I think Gutenberg to OpenType is best described as a reasonably comprehensive review of the historical development of typography. The genesis of many of the currently useful fonts is discussed and the leading typographers are introduced. However, the book strayed from that focus at times. For example, advances in the development of printing, focusing primarily on the press but also touching on developments in paper, appeared periodically, particularly early in the book. In fairness, the author's intent appears to be to cover those topics as well but I found that coverage to be far too brief and it interrupted the more interesting story of the development of typefaces.

Dodd attempted to show how each period of development was influenced by and reflected broader artistic and social movements that were occurring contemporaneously. That was done more or less successfully with the exception of the brief, extraneous aside on Elvis Presley that introduced the chapter on developments following the Second World War.

Dodd provided suggestions in sidebars about the appropriateness of the fonts for text and display purposes and listed the alternative weights and styles available for each font. The decision to scatter that information throughout the text was unfortunate. The book would be much more useful to readers if the information have been provided in tabular form in appendices. That would permit readers to scan down a table to compare those fonts the author recommends for specific purposes, or to identify the font weight and styles available for a given font.

The book is printed in black text on light purple pages. Some sidebars are rendered in a darker purple, creating a combination that was significantly more difficult to read, especially for older readers and those who require good lighting. Letters and forms also appear in the background, creating situations in which readers have to read lines of black text that can appears against a background that changes from light purple to darker purple to gray, depending on the placement of the images.

Largely missing is an analysis identifying the unique features of each of the major fonts. Dodd recommends the use of at least 36 point when comparing fonts to magnify their unique features but those unique, revolutionary characteristics that qualify fonts for inclusion in this book are given only the briefest of coverage. A feature of Simon Garfield's Just My Type that could have been used to good effect would be to identify contemporary usages of the fonts that interested readers can observe during their everyday activities. For example, what font is used on the street signs in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or Seattle.

It would also be instructive highlight the differences in some of the "almost" interchangeable groups of fonts. For example, Arial, Helvetica, Univers and Akidenz-Grotesque are quite similar. How do they differ and what purpose does each serve?

Dodd seems to have become tired near the end of the book. The penultimate chapter on font factories is somewhat interesting but it consists largely of identifying the factories and the number of fonts they house. The final chapter on identifying fonts is a mere two pages in which Dodd names several font classification systems and lists a few points to consider in identifying a font. The chapter will not be useful to anyone who attempts to identify a specific font.

I enjoyed reading Gutenberg To OpenType and found it to be useful in increasing my knowledge of fonts despite my disappointment with many of its features. When supplemented with books such as Ellen Lupton's Thinking with Type and Imin Pao's and Joshua Berger's 30 Essential Typefaces for a Lifetime the reader can obtain both an appreciation of this work and a reasonably broad and practical introduction to type. Having finished that, I recommend readers go on to my all-time favorite, Simon Garfield's Just My Type.… (plus d'informations)