Paris artist Manon Gignoux work lies somewhere between art and fashion. Manon uses the history of everyday life - workwear - as inspiration for the pieces and is interested in deconstruction and appropriation.
Hand Job: A Catalog of Type, by Micheal Perry, (see more of his work at his website), published by Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2007).
I don’t look at design books from start to finish, left to right or whatever the real reading order is meant to be. This book is a delight in that regard. I can open it on any page and be swamped with some pretty cool examples of hand drawn type. Its perfect to have lying around the breakfast table for when you have 2-3minutes to have a look at it. Essentially it is a book of typography drawn by hand. I guess from a designers point of view, the craft is the important aspect. That each shape/letter is a work in its own right and then that is part of a bigger meaning. It is how these crafted letters come together that create the impact of the type. The great thing about this book is the use of photographs as well as illustrations. It places the hand drawn works in type and invites the reader to look around them and see handwritten type in their own environment.
But I’m getting carried away. The only two things that I didn’t like about the book was the paper it was printed on - a bit dull and well, personally the name is a bit odd. I understand where the male author is coming from, but I don’t understand that pleasure so… Overall 4 out of 5. It is interesting, keeps you coming back for more and is a nice insight into type - for non designers it gives a great awareness as to the power of type and the thought of its creation.
Even though I am a designer and can half claim to understand what typography is, the benefits of a book like this for a wider audience are huge. I think its due to the entertaining way the graphics are combined. Its not just a series of alphabets, but an insight into the minds of those that like to craft letters and how they see the world. The book showcases something we see everyday even if we don’t want to. We live in a world of type, and creating an awareness of the beauty and power that this branch can generate makes great fleading (flick reading). Its lighthearted approach to a complicated subject makes the knowledge/process of type available to those that otherwise wouldn’t know what a font is.
About the reviewer: Heather is a designer, film maker and generally crafty creative person. She loves to invite her friends round for a craft jam and craft-a-noon - and has a website which she occasionally updates with her adventures and experiments in design.
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