JUST MY TYPE
Simon Garfield
"When
I started writing this book, several people warned me that it would ruin my life.
They said I wouldn't be able to read an advertisement or walk past a shop front
without identifying the fonts, and if I couldn't I would curse and not rest until
I'd solved the dilemma. I thought they were exaggerating. But unfortunately the
bastards were right. And seeing as everyone wants to know, my favourite fonts
are Albertus and Bodoni Ultra Bold, with Georgia for text. My most loathed is
Papyrus (the Avatar font) and the typeface for the London 2012 Olympics. That's
this week anyway." Simon Garfield
Whether you're enraged
by IKEA's Verdanagate, want to know what the Beach Boys have in common with easyJet
or why it's ok to like Comic Sans, 'Just My Type' will have the answer. LEARN
WHY USING UPPER CASE GOT A NEW ZEALAND HEALTH WORKER SACKED. Refer to Prince in
the TAFKAP years as a Dingbat (that works on many levels). Spot where movies get
their time periods wrong and don't be duped by fake posters on eBay. Simon Garfield
meets the people behind the typefaces and along the way learns why some fonts
- like men - are from Mars and some are from Venus. From type on the high street
and album covers, to the print in our homes and offices, Garfield is the font
of all types of knowledge. Just My Type is for those who know they care about
type, and, crucially, everyone else who didn't quite know they had an interest
in or opinion about fonts, until someone mentions the T in Beatles, or German
blackletter, or the story of Baskerville, or the sign on the moon (Futura), or
the link between Benjamin Franklin and Lady Gaga.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Simon Garfield writes for the Observer about science,
health and the arts. He is a former editor of 'Time Out', and his book 'The End
of Innocence' won the Somerset Maugham Prize. He has written and edited twelve
books, including bestselling Mass Observation diaries.
JUST
MY TYPE is available now.
