Choice Review

Baines and Haslam's comprehensive and unique introduction contains hundreds of illustrations gracing an interesting design format. Their work is an attractive and skilled overview of various technical, technological, and aesthetic skills required in typography. History, classification systems, form, vocabulary, technology, and design approaches are introduced. Basic information is followed by chapters on structure and conventions, several valuable appendixes, a time line of type designers, and a glossary. The "Structure" section will be most interesting for those with solid grounding in typographic basics. "Conventions" is a visually fascinating presentation of typographic rules. Although many introductions to typography have been offered in the last two decades, this book is unique in several respects. The implicit rejection of the commonplace "great man" history of design is refreshing. Emphases on continental and British taste, communication theory, contemporary use, phonetics, and the vernacular development of typographic style are unusual and appreciated. Readers will learn about designers such as Claude Garamond, Beatrice Warde, and Eric Gill, and will become acquainted with the standard history of handsetting, metal type, and digital typesetting. Material on subjects as diverse as vernacular design, Saussure's semiotic theories, lettering before type, and typography in film ensure that this book is both different and useful. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates; professionals; two-year technical program students. R. M. Labuz Mohawk Valley Community College