Beginner's resources in typeface design

• William Addison Dwiggins, WAD to RR: a letter about designing type. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard College Library, 1940 | →PDF
• Jost Hochuli, Detain in typography. London, Hyphen Press, 2008 | →Hyphen Press
• Robin Kinross, Modern typography. 2nd ed. London, Hyphen Press, 2005 | →Hyphen Press
• Gerritt Noordzij, The stroke: theory of writing of the pen. London, Hyphen Press, 2005 | →Hyphen Press
• Fred Smeijers, Counterpunch: making type in the sixteenth century; designing typefaces now. London, Hyphen Press, 1996 | →Hyphen Press
• Walter Tracy, Letters of credit: a view of type design. London, Gordon Fraser, 1986 | →Amazon
• Michael Twyman, Printing 1770–1970. London, British Library, 1998 | →Amazon
• Michael Twyman, The British Library guide to printing: history and techniques. London, British Library, 1998 | →Amazon

• Steven Heller & Philip B Meggs, (eds) Texts on type: critical writings on typography. New York, Alworth Press, 2001 | →Amazon
• Rosemary Sassoon (ed.), Computers and typography. Oxford, Intellect, 1993 | →Amazon
• — Computers and typography 2. Bristol, Intellect, 2002 | →Amazon

You should make it a point to locate out of print issues of Typography Papers, the journal edited by the Department of Typography (and now published by Hyphen Press), and aim to own any issues that are in stock. The level of writing and editing, as well as they object itself, is generally exemplary. See, for example, the 'type rich' issue 7.

In addition:

• Sem L Hartz, ‘An approach to type designing.’ Penrose Annual, vol 52, 1958, pp 39–42 | Reprinted in: Sem L Hartz, Essays. Amsterdam, Serifpers, 1992
• Kris Holmes, ‘Lucida: the first original typeface designed for laser printers.’ Baseline, no 6, 1985, pp 12–13 | issue is out of print →Baseline magazine
• Ladislas Mandel, ‘Developing an awareness of typographic letterforms.’ Electronic Publishing, vol 6, no 1, 1993, pp 3–22 | available from →Nottingham U
• Erich Schulz-Anker, ‘Syntax Antiqua, a sans-serif on a new basis.’ Gebrauchsgraphik, August 1970, pp 49–56
• Richard Southall, ‘Shape and appearance in typeface design.’ ProText III proceedings, 1986 pp 75–86 (if you can't find it in your school library, we've got copies here; tricky to get hold of)

Visible Language has ocassionally relevant articles. One of the most important for typeface design was 19.1 (1985) with the title The computer and the hand in type design, which is still avaiable on the mag's site; order →here. That issue includes also:

• Matthew Carter, ‘Galliard: a modern revival of the types of Robert Granjon.’ Visible Language, vol XIX, no 1, 1985, pp 77–97
• Jack Stauffacher, ‘The Transylvanian Phoenix: the Kis-Janson types in the digital era.’ Visible Language, vol XIX, no 1, 1985, pp 61–76

Quarterly Eye occasionally publishes relevant articles. Most back issues are available →here. Some articles are available to read online, such as:

• Emily King, ‘Digital type decade.’ Eye, vol 10, no 40, 2001, pp 40–47 | (full text, no images) →here

For others, you will need to obtain a hardcopy; e.g.:

• Phil Baines, ‘Face lift: new cuts at the Times.’ Eye, vol 10, no 40, 2001, pp 52–59

Older issues are less easy to get hold of, bt may be locatd on eBay; they contain articles such as:

• Robin Kinross, ‘The digital wave.’ Eye, vol 2, no 7, 1992, pp 26–39 | a reference text for a period of major experimentation

Eye has a ‘Typography Special’ issue every few numbers. The content in these issues is type-orientated, and therefore interesting. Eye is increasingly confident, and manages to be both British in its approach, and international in its scope and response. Regardless of the typography-special issues, you should consider subscribing.

(Yes, there's lots; these are worthier of your attention:)

• Typefoundry: by James Mosley

Probably the only online resource where every article is of the same, superb, level of scholarship.

• Type Culture: by Mark Jamra

Includes a lot of student work. There is a range: try to filter by your reading list.

• Typotheque/articles: by Peter Bil'ak and Johanna Bil'ak-Balusíková

Several relevant articles. The site has now far too many entries for its structure (authors, titles, etc.), and it is difficult to separate those with broader impact from the lighter ones. Also, no indication of sequence: which are introductory, which are more substantial?

• Typblography: by the Adobe Type Team

More technically focused, but offered insights into the design process as well. Used to be Thomas Phinney's blog (now at Phinney on Fonts) but is now a joint effort.

• I love typography: by John Boardley

Like Typotheque, iLT is beginning to grow too big for its blog format, and the repository of articles / interviews etc. will need some filtering for effective access.