Margins
Scripts book cover
Scripts
Elegant Lettering from Design's Golden Age
2011
First Published
4.31
Average Rating
352
Number of Pages

From wedding announcements to IOUs, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of scripts—some “classic,” others eccentric. Derived from handwriting, these are typefaces that are stylized to suggest, imply, or symbolize certain traits linked to writing. Their fundamental characteristic is that all the letters, more or less, touch each other. Scripts tend to fall in and out of fashion, but they are most definitely part of the typographic landscape today, and the more curious and distinctive they are, the better. Drawn from the Golden Age of Scripts, from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, this is the first compilation of popular, rare, and forgotten scripts from the United States, Germany, France, England, and Italy. Filled with examples from a broad spectrum of sources—advertising, street signs, invitations, type-specimen books, personal letters—the book is a delightful and invaluable trove of long-overlooked material.

Avg Rating
4.31
Number of Ratings
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Author

Steven Heller
Steven Heller
Author · 81 books
Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.
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