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Published by Sébastien Hayez

Lettering art in modern use (R. A. Ballinger, 1956)

Written by Sébastien Hayez, 607 days ago, 8 Comments
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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.

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The second post show a large selection of calligraphic & handwritten letters.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

About Sébastien Hayez

Art director, graphic designer & illustrator from France. Admin at Designers-books.com Co-curator at agfronzoni.com Writer at Qualitegraphique garantie.org Writer at Pointypo.com Typedesigner at Velvetyne.fr

  1. Jose NietoSeptember 4, 2009, 6:07 pm

    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.

  2. Sébastien HayezSeptember 4, 2009, 6:30 pm

    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…

  3. Derrick Schultz (bustbright)September 7, 2009, 7:23 am

    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.

  4. Sébastien HayezSeptember 7, 2009, 9:39 am

    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.

  5. D R E WSeptember 28, 2009, 10:10 pm

    i have this same book. i love looking through it. i found it at library sale. love the two color printing throughout.