Hasta La Ideas

University graphics lecturer Jim Williams’ A4 Type Matters! booklet, originally created to hand to his students, has been expanded and is set to be published in April as a notebook-style 160 page, faux leather covered book (Merrell, £17.95).

The book sets out the basics of typography and is sure to be added to graphic design course reading lists. The first chapter deals with the history of type design, the origins of typographic terminology, type measurement, Roman type and a very helpful spread entitled The Anatomy of Letterforms which will allow readers to correctly identify a stem, crossbar, descender, terminal, tittle or bowl at a glance.

Chapter two deals with setting headlines and display type, while the third chapter (by far the longest chapter) looks at setting text – from selecting a typeface through leading, kerning, letter spacing, alignment, indicating paragraphs, hanging punctuation, hyphenation, widows and orphans, apostrophes and quotation marks, ligatures and more. In short, Type Matters! is an indispensible guide to the basics of typography that no budding graphic designer should be without.

The publisher Merrell has kindly sent us an advance copy to peruse – and so here are some spreads:

Type Matters! by Jim Williams is published in April this year. More details can be found at merrellpublishers.com

CR in Print

Thanks for visiting the CR website, but if you are not also reading CR in print you’re missing out. Our March issue is an illustration special with features on Clifford Richards, Pick Me Up, the relationship between illustrators and writers, the making of the cover of the New York Times Magazine and a powerful essay by Lawrence Zeegen calling on illustrators to become more engaged with the wider world and accusing the profession of withdrawing “from the big debates of our society to focus on the chit-chat and tittle-tattle of inner-sanctum nothingness”.

The best way to make sure you receive CR in print every month is to subscribe – you will also save money and receive our award-winning Monograph booklet every month. You can do so here.