March 20th, 2010

Quote from Eric Gill

POSTED UNDER: Quotations, Typography | No Comments »

“A book is primarily a thing to be read, and the merely neat appearance of a page of type of which all the lines are equal in length is a thing of no very great value in itself; it partakes too much of the ideas of those who regard books as things to be looked at rather than read.”

Great quote from a master of typography. The invisibility of the typographer is especially true in book design. Typesetting books is much more about taking away distractions than adding meaning by design.

March 18th, 2010

Gastrotypographicalassemblage

POSTED UNDER: History, Legendary Designers | No Comments »

Gastrotypographicalassemblage. That is what the wall of type that Lou Dorfsman designed for the cafeteria at the CBS building in the mid ’60s has been called. Dorfsman was one of the most important designers in the second half of the twentieth century and his wall of type, which he considered his magnum opus, has become an icon of graphic design.

For more information there is a good article on Speak Up and also on AIGA.