Many situations of visual communication in practice involve written language; interaction design is no exception in that regard. Typography is important in all those situations, and the book by Lupton is a really good introduction for teaching and learning. It draws upon the history of typography, presents a broad collection of typographic concepts and well-chosen examples, and shares practical advice, all in a very accessible and enjoyable way.

Graphic design is an important help to any venture. In the age of electronic communication, it has become only more important to capture the public’s attention. Distractions abound, but well-thought visuals stand the chance of garnering a glance. Of course, only deeper substance will sustain interest in a written work, but interest will never be piqued without visual appeal. Lupton’s work seeks to enlighten those who deal with type in some format about the graphical principles required to display those words pleasingly.

Lupton divides her book into three main sections: Letter, Text, and Grid. Letter covers typefaces and fonts; Text covers practices about forming words into sentences; and Grid covers how to lay them out on a page or screen. The book primarily examines the medium of print, but communication via computers frequently receives mention. Further, many of the concepts of graphical appeal can be translated to this increasingly common mew medium. (Some readers might also benefit from Lupton’s Type on Screen, but this work is the more important seminal work.) Like any graphical design book, frequent use of example images litter the book throughout. Every caption not only cites a source but also informs the reader of its worth.

As the subtitle suggests, multiple potential audiences exist for this classic. Pure graphic designers provide an obvious one, but writers, editors, students, and even web developers (like myself) can benefit from perusing Lupton’s pages. After reading this, I immediately changed a graphic or two in my software’s code. It’s hard not to get thinking creatively about how type is presented after reading this work, both through well-explicated ideas and copious inspirational examples. Reading it is time well spent. ( )

The popular online companion to Thinking with Type (www.thinkingwithtype.com) has been revised to reflect the new material in the second edition.

My favorite feature is the "type crime" showing misuse of various principles. ( )

Superb introduction to the basics of type, typography and layout. ( )