Thinking with Type, 2nd Revised Ed.: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

This book is possibly the best design education text I've seen. Everything is kept simple, and clear. Ellen Lupton's categorizing of typeface styles, for example, is logical and all inclusive, yet still a simple breakdown of the vast variety of typefaces. She is easier to understand than Robert Bringhurst in "The Elements of Typographic Style," something crucial to any budding designer. This book will serve you well.

I got this book because it's a requirement for my Typography class. I enjoy reading it greatly and I've learned many things from it. I think it's an excellent read if you're just interested in typography even if you're not interested in type setting (the book is filled with interesting facts). The only reason I gave it four stars is because the book is meant to be a typography class book and I feel it's a bit too vague for that. I think you'll learn MANY things from this book, but you'll still need to get nother one to fill in the gaps. But as an introductory book I think it's awesome (I also got Stop Stealing Sheep and Learn how Type Works, which is also an introductory book, they are pretty much at the same level of depth).

As the author of Looking Good in Print: A Guide to Basic Design for Desktop Publishing, I approach design and type books with high expectations. I judge books on not only the amount of information they communicate, but also the accessibility of the information, the clarity of the visuals, the design of the pages, and--last, but not least--the price. Ellen Luppon's Thinking With Type scores well on all standards. It's also one of the few books that has important things to say about online type. At its remably low price, you can't buy a more useful book for learning from the past and setting computer-based type on the basis of what others have done previously.

This is a well-structured and well-written text with refreshing examples from a wide range of designers. These examples reinforce the concept that successful design and typography come from critical thinking and that there is no one style or approach that is "correct." I plan to require this book in the undergraduate typography class I teach, but because it is accessible even to a novice, I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in type. One of the strengths of the book is its succinctness, but that may be one flaw as well. When a book is so well done, you want more... (Fortunately there is a website which does have supporting materials for those who want more.) Also if you want a meaty book on the specifics of type, then you should also get Robert Bringhurst's phenomenal book "The Elements of Typographic Style." It pairs so well with the overview and examples from Lupton's book. It is a terrific value and well-produced.

Personally, this has probably been the most influental design book that I own. I felt like I was a better designer after having read half of it, without once touching my mac. i just knew that what I had absorbed was going to come out in my work, and it did. The book takes an overview look at design, and speaks in plain english about many things that I've heard or dealt with. But catagorizes stuff and explains things in a fluid manner so that the different bits of information come together and make sense. It is good for the novice and the struggling self taught. Full of great examples. It's too elementary for the serious designer. But for someone who did not go to Design School, but now works with design, its the perfect basic "education in a book".