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Informationen zum Autor Dori Griffin is an assistant professor in the School of Art + Art History at the University of Florida, USA, where she teaches graphic design and design history. Her research centers around the history of popular visual culture and the role that type and image play in creating cultural identities and transcultural visual exchange. Klappentext Type Specimens introduces readers to the history of typography and printing through a chronological visual tour of the books, posters, and ephemera designed to sell fonts to printers, publishers, and eventually graphic designers. This richly illustrated book guides design educators, advanced design students, design practitioners, and type aficionados through four centuries of visual and trade history, equipping them to contextualize the aesthetics and production of type in a way that is practical, engaging, and relevant to their practice. Fully illustrated throughout with 200 color images of type specimens and related ephemera, the book illuminates the broader history of typography and printing, showing how letterforms and their technologies have evolved over time, inspiring and guiding designers of today. Vorwort An introduction to the history of the promotion, selling and showcasing of typefaces through specimens in a highly illustrated exploration using never-before-published examples Zusammenfassung Type Specimens introduces readers to the history of typography and printing through a chronological visual tour of the books, posters, and ephemera designed to sell fonts to printers, publishers, and eventually graphic designers. This richly illustrated book guides design educators, advanced design students, design practitioners, and type aficionados through four centuries of visual and trade history, equipping them to contextualize the aesthetics and production of type in a way that is practical, engaging, and relevant to their practice. Fully illustrated throughout with 200 color images of type specimens and related ephemera, the book illuminates the broader history of typography and printing, showing how letterforms and their technologies have evolved over time, inspiring and guiding designers of today. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction 1: Early Broadsides Early broadsides: form and functionPragmatic beginnings - the Ratdolt specimen of 1486Patterns of circulationMulti-tasking - specimens serving multiple purposesBroadsides: a lasting form 2: Printers’ Manuals Printers' manuals: form and funtionShaping print cultureEstablishing shared knowledge and expectationsExpanding typographic optionsStandardizing printing vocabulariesExpressing visual stylesEvolving tastesConclusion 3: Foundry Specimen Books Formats and functionsComprehensive documentationElaborate displayCommercial utilityStylistic instructionInternational circulationMissionary zealCenters and peripheriesConclusion 4: Industrial Methods and Materials Tools for economizingSaving time, materials and moneyStandardization of formOrganizational redesign - ATF's exampleTools for mechanizationReproduction - electrotyping and the pantographExperiments with machine casting and compositionWood types as "new" toolsAn American (?) inventionAdvantages of wood typeAdvertising at large scaleConclusion 5: Hot Metal Hot metal: how and whyBenefitsDrawbacksNew formats for the specimenMega-booksLoose-leaf binders and supplements1-line specimensRoles of the specimenCommercial catalogsinstruction manualsDisplay devices for "good" mechanical typeDifferentiation and cooperationProgrammatic world viewsConclusion 6: Ephemera New formatsSupplements to binder systemsLeaflets and brochuresEmerging aesthetic trendsRevisiting historyDefining modernityNetworks of circulationImports, exports and adaptationsCultural specificity and stereotypingLocal, specific, and v...
