From the Baroque to the Nineteenth
Century 119

Baroque Roman 119
Neoclassical Roman 120
Seventeenth- to Nineteenth-Century
Scripts 125

Nineteenth-Century Display
Styles 130

Bold Roman Neoclassical 130

Egyptian and Italienne 130

Tuscan 130

Sans Serif 130
Cyrillic 166

4 Type and Lettering
in Practice

Introduction 111
Typography 112

Choosing Type 112

Mixing Type /13
Calligraphy 114

General Remarks 114

Documents and Short Texts 115
General Remarks 115
Using Parchment 116
Raised Gilding 116

The Handlettered Book 119
General Remarks 119
Format and Page Layout 180
Designing the Text Block 183
Front Matter and Colophons 185
Planning the Layout 186

Binding Handlettered Books 181
Paper Structure 181
Folding Paper and Board 188
Folders, Covers, and Tubes 188
Binding Multiple Pages 188
Lettering in Applied Graphic Art 190

Logotypes 190

Lettering in a Circle 192

Posters 192

Packaging and Labels 193

Book Jackets 194

Lettering for Exhibitions 194

Rubber Stamps 195

Stencils 196

Computer-Generated

Lettering 196

Drawing Large Letters 196

Transfer Type 196
Graphic Arts Tools and
Procedures 196

Roughs and Finished Artwork 196
Sketching Type 191
Lettering on Photographs 191
Phototypesetting 198
Special Techniques 200

Woodcuts and Wood

Engravings 200

Linoleum Cuts 203

Engravings 204

Resist Technique 204

Scratch Technique 205
Lettering in Architecture and
the Environment 205
General Remarks 205
Practical Hints 206
Special Techniqus 201

Neon Signs 207

Lettering on Walls 208

Lettering Design for Stone

Carving 209

Lettering in Bronze 211

Lettering on Glass 211

Large-scale Lettering on

Banners 211

5 Portfolio of Type
and Lettering in
Practice 213

Bibliography 249
Index 251

Textbooks generally address members of
a particular trade or profession. The
Handbook of Type and Lettering does not.
This book covers aspects of the design,
use, and evaluation of lettering as it is
practiced by graphic artists, advertising
copy writers, sign painters, decorators,
stonemasons, architects, typesetters, re-'
touchers, bookbinders, engravers, art
educators, teachers and students at col¬
leges of fine art and related institutions,
and interested amateurs. This book does
not offer a theoretical discourse on the
art of lettering; it does not claim to rep¬
resent the current status of the art itself
or the accomplishments of letterers in
Germany or any other country. The
purpose of this book is to encourage and
guide the pursuit of beautiful and well-
chosen lettering.

Today's professionals in the field rely
almost exclusively on already existing
and prefinished materials, such as
graphically or photographically repro¬
duced alphabets, stencils, rub-on type,
stamps, and photocopies. Their creativ¬
ity is limited to choosing, combining,
and arranging type. This is not al¬
together a bad development. It is much
better that the nonexpert should follow
proven models rather than dabble in the
creation of yet another amateurish new
production. The use of original, newly
drawn alphabets should be the domain
of the adept. Type design and callig¬
raphy play a constantly decreasing role
in today's technologically controlled
processes. Only a select few of all the
artists who are involved in lettering have
the opportunity to influence the design
of type directly, yet for all of them famil¬
iarity with the areas of type design and
application is indispensable and can only
be achieved through a traditional course
of studies in lettering and drawing for¬
mal alphabets. The object may be a sign,
a logotype, or a poster; the design may

have to stand on its own or be part of a
larger idea; the aim may simply be
readability or the transfer of emotion. A
haphazard string of letters will not serve
any of these purposes well. To control a
situation is to take all elements into con¬
sideration. Even working with already
existing material requires careful thought
about the relationship of all contributing
components and their positions on the
page. The designer must be able to change
images in a creative way according to the
specific requirements of the situation,
which is only possible if he or she has a
solid understanding of the letters' anato¬
my. This understanding can be gained
from practicing the art of lettering and
by studying the forms of the letters.

The Handbook is a workbook that can
be used in a self-study course by anyone
who takes it upon him- or herself to fol¬
low the instructions. Since the text is
often short on any given topic, it is im¬
portant to read it in its entirety. Atten¬
tion should be given to the introduction
to each chapter. No book can be a sub¬
stitute for a good teacher, but a solid
foundation for the task of drawing and
designing alphabets can certainly be
gained from these pages.

The book offers a series of exercises
for beginners (Chapters 1 and 2) and for
advanced students (Chapter 3). Chapter
1 offers information on general design
principles, Chapter 2 basic facts without
which serious work with letters would be
impossible. Step-by-step instructions are
offered to compensate for the missing
guidance of an actual teacher, but it is
clear that self-study requires a great
amount of discipline, since the student
not only has to understand the critical
phases of the learning process, but has to
guide the process while being involved
in it. Golwitzer likens this act to looking
over your own shoulder.

As the learning process unfolds it will

9