Old School Bookbinding

See the making of the Webster's Pictorial Dictionary by John Carrera. Craft truly at its finest level.

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

Franklin Always Did Like Black

On the Road Again & Again

Foreign editions of Jack Kerouac's book, On the Road, continue to multiply. You can view an amazing assortment of more than 200 of the covers designs here. Dave Moore, the curator of this collection, began buying these editions in the 1960s, often swapping copies with other collectors. The covers range from the eerily evocative to the outright goofy. And see Jack's own book jacket design he created in 1952. He was a far better writer than he was a book designer.

Try to Do This With an E-Book

The New Zealand Book Council (yes, they have a council to promote books and reading) made this spectacular ad which makes a book come alive. Books are not even close to being dead! They're not even sleeping! Thanks Justin!

Just my Opinion Ya Know?

Typographical poetry in motion, by poet Taylor Mali.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

It's Never Too Late to be Punctual

Aldus Manutius, the Venetian typographer and printer who gave us portable books and italic letters in the late 15th century, is also known to be the inventor of the semi-colon. (Wouldn't you like to have that on your resume!) Manutius also was an early proponent of using a period to indicate a full stop at the end of a sentence and a diagonal slash to represent a pause in reading. Consider punctuation as the signposts for written language. Just as the period at the end of a sentence is like the stop sign; the semi-colon, which signals a pause to separate a long list or two independent clauses, is the yellow blinking light. Punctuation assists us when reading and navigating any written text. Use it with care and travel safely!

Heavy Metal

Find free stuff and great deals on metal revival fonts from ArchiveType. All fonts available in OpenType.

A Font of Knowledge

We're confronted everyday with typography. From advertising, road signage, instructions, books, media - yet how often do you stop to consider how most fonts are explicitly designed for reading and emotional effect? Listen to Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones talk about the design of their Gotham font and it's use as the font of Change and Hope during the Obama campaign. Learn about the career of master font designer, Matthew Carter and Verdana, his font designed for the internet. Discover why handwriting is becoming a lost art and why some say the book is becoming a relic of history. Really? Novelist Nicholson Baker doesn't think so. Listen to all this and more on Wisconsin's Public Radio show, To The Best of Our Knowledge.