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The Designer's Dictionary of Type Hardcover – April 2, 2019

by Sean Adams (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 134
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The Designer’s Dictionary of Type follows in the footsteps of The Designer’s Dictionary of Color, providing a vivid and highly accessible look at an even more important graphic design ingredient: typography. From classic fonts like Garamond and Helvetica, to modern-day digital fonts like OCR-A and Keedy Sans, author and designer Sean Adams demystifies 48 major typefaces, describing their history, stylistic traits, and common application. Adams once again provides eye-catching illustrated examples, this time showcasing the beauty and expressiveness of typography, as employed by the world’s greatest designers. Organized by serif, sans-serif, script, display, and digital typefaces, this book will be a vital guide for designers, teachers, or students looking to gain a foundational understanding of the art, practice, and history of typography.

Trim Size: 9.625 x 7.5 inches
Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Abrams
  4. Publication date
    April 2, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    9.63 x 1 x 7.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    141973718X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1419737183
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sean Adams is a founding partner of the award-winning design firm AdamsNorioka and is cited as one of the 40 most important people shaping design internationally. In addition to being AIGA national president, Adams directs the graphic design program at the Art Center College of Design. Adams is the author of The Designer’s Dictionary of Color. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abrams (April 2, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 141973718X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1419737183
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.34 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.63 x 1 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 134

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Sean Adams

Sean Adams

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Sean Adams is the Chair of Undergraduate and Graduate Graphic Design at ArtCenter,

founder of Burning Settlers Cabin studio, and on-screen author for lynda.com/Linked In. He

is the only two-term AIGA national president in AIGA’s 100-year history. In 2014, Adams was

awarded the AIGA Medal, the highest honor in the profession.

He is an AIGA Fellow, and Aspen Design Fellow. He has been recognized by every major

competition and publication including; How, Print, Step, Communication Arts, Graphis, AIGA,

The Type Directors Club, The British Art Director’s Club, and the Art Director’s Club. Adams has

been exhibited often, including a solo exhibition at The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Adams is an author of multiple magazine columns and several best-selling books. He has been

cited as one of the forty most important people shaping design internationally, and one of the

top ten influential designers in the United States.

Previously, Adams was a founding partner at AdamsMorioka. His clients have included The

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Disney, Mohawk Fine Papers, The Metropolitan

Opera, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Richard Meier & Partners, Sundance,

and the University of Southern California.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
134 global ratings
The best of twenty-six letters
5 Stars
The best of twenty-six letters
Sean Adams has created a useful book to explain some of the practical reasons for using a particular typeface. Forty-eight faces, from serif to digital, are examined in six chapters and in two ways.First, he writes a very brief history of the face followed by two, three or four pages showing the face in use over a variety of mediums though most are printed examples. Secondly, at the end of each chapter, the faces are shown as complete caps and lower case alphabets (in twenty-one point I think) with the letters ARQGag enlarged so that the unique characteristics of each font can be indicated.These alphabet are four to a spread and are probably the most interesting pages in the book. Non-type folk would no doubt look at the sixteen sans serif faces and conclude they more or less look the same only to have keen typographers point out that a cap Q could, for example, have a horizontal tail (Avenir) a curved tail (EF Real Head) a hook tail (Franklin Gothic) a centred tail (News Gothic) or a forty-five degree tail (Futura).The forty-eight featured fonts are the author's choice and most designers would probably choose a few alternatives, I wouldn't have included Gill Sans preferring Folio and Century Old Style to Century Expanded. Oddly Helvetica Regular and Neue Haas Grotesk Regular are both included in the Sans Serif chapter and both faces really are virtually identical.The book is beautifully produced and a useful overview of basic types in everyday use. Design school students in particular would find it a good introduction to the subject.
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Top reviews from the United States

Andrea
5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
I got this for my daughter who is studying graphic design. The book is very good for its type.
One person found this helpful
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Andrey
5.0 out of 5 stars A good, no nonsense book
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
Many books describe the history of typefaces. Others have collections of the legendary ones.
This book one a practical manual, which is a missing niche—a dozen serifs, a dozen san-serifs, a few more decorative and fancy ones. You can see what is fashionable now. You can immediately work with it. Very specific and helpful.
2 people found this helpful
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susu
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent font/ typeface resource
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
10/10! This book well written, and beautifully designed! Full of real world examples & images, helpful tips and analysis. I took Adam's online course and saw the books he designed. Very happy with this purchase!
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kevbot
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be deceived by the ugly cover
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book is great. It contains an overview of lots of common fonts, including examples of how they have been used in the real world. I did wish there were more fonts represented, but that would probably come at the expense of going as in-depth on each font, so I think the book strikes a good balance.
4 people found this helpful
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Shay Diamond
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2020
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I really love this book as a young graphic designer it's something that really makes me more excited about my field!
One person found this helpful
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DF_NYC
4.0 out of 5 stars Short and to the point - great reference for learning type
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020
Verified Purchase
For the next edition it would be great if:
1. Typefaces were presented in sequence of historical development and not alphabetically
2. The name of the typeface appeared in its typeface
3. The sampling of the typeface was presented in the section about the typeface and not in the back section
6 people found this helpful
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stephanie burdo
5.0 out of 5 stars A must buy
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2019
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Incredible book
One person found this helpful
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Juliana Macedo
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent book!
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2019
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Great purchase
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Top reviews from other countries

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paul kashala
4.0 out of 5 stars dictionnaire des polices de caractère
Reviewed in Belgium on April 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
livre informatif extrêmement interessant
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robert
1.0 out of 5 stars 1star
Reviewed in Canada on November 18, 2020
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Unsatisfied with the quality of the book
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robert
1.0 out of 5 stars 1star
Reviewed in Canada on November 18, 2020
Unsatisfied with the quality of the book
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Ermannik
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto
Reviewed in Italy on November 2, 2020
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Perfetto per il corso di grafica di mio figlio.
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Viktor Enns
3.0 out of 5 stars Schönes Bilderbuch für Anfänger
Reviewed in Germany on April 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Es ist ein sehr schönes Bilderbuch. Leider ist es kein Lernmittel für fortgeschrittene Studien. Einsteiger sollten hier gut aufgehoben sein. Die Beschreibung des Buches auf der Produktseite ist irreführend und spiegelt nicht den Inhalt wieder. Ich habe es zurückgeschickt.
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