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designers books rare & out of print books reviewed by designers
Lettering art in modern use (R. A. Ballinger, 1956)
Peter Gabor just added a new book of his collection on his blog Design & Typo. The article in 4 parts shows a lot of double spread. Every chapters are visible: from the beginning of alphabets to types from the 1950′.
In won’t try to translate in english the posts, but let’s have an overview of all 4 posts.
In the first part Peter says that this books is a kind of response to the question: how to classify types? When europeans try to find a logical solution, american designers concidering things in a more practical perspective.
The second post show a large selection of calligraphic & handwritten letters.
Third post show examples not to follow: these romantical, sentimal types, full of nostagia don’t communicate a message, only a sentimental atmosphere (more than 15 typefaces are used on a single page).
And the last posts show experimental type from the 1950′. Experimental but also corporate, types are now in use evrywhere: from packagings, to architecture, advertising, etc. Even artists and other designers (industrial designers, etc.) are using types in their works.
The book is printed in 2 colors, different colors are used for every chapters, I don’t read it but the content seems to be a good beginning for student or professionnal who want to use tpes in different ways: from historical, classical or modern use.
Copies are very easy to find in the USA, a very quick search on a single site find copies from 1 $ to 50 euros. And several other books from Raymond A. Ballinder are also avaiable. Send an e-mail if you want some details.
I found a copy of Lettering Art in Modern Use by accident in a second-hand bookstore years ago. It remains one of my favorite books in my design library –- definitely worth the effort to hunt it down.
Do you have a look at the other books written by Ballinger? Seems to be quite interesting, like a whole set of books that could composed an ideal collection for student…
[...] Via. [...]
We’ve got Ballinger’s Direct Mail Design. Not my favorite, but has some relatively obscure projects from some well-known designers/firms in it. Obviously direct mail isn’t as big as it once was, so the content’s relevancy is a bit questionable for current students.
Thanks Derrick, I know there’s also these ones:
• ART AND REPRODUCTION GRAPHIC REPRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
• Design with Paper in Art and Graphic Design
• Layout & graphic design
• Graphic Arts Careers
• SIGN SYMBOL AND FORM
But except covers, I never seen inner pages.
[...] Hayez’s Designers Books blog has a great post on Lettering Art In Modern Use and various other design-related [...]
i have this same book. i love looking through it. i found it at library sale. love the two color printing throughout.