December 12, 2011

Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every product we buy. But where do fonts come from, and why do we need so many? Who is responsible for the staid practicality of Times New Roman, the cool anonymity of Arial, or the irritating levity of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)?

Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about 20 years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House.

A must-have book for the design conscious, JUST MY TYPE's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES and SCHOTT'S ORIGINAL MISCELLANY.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 

Headed out to do some holiday shopping? Before you go, check out our What to Give, What to Get feature with ideas in six categories.

This year's featured categories are:

- Accessories for Book Lovers: Accessories for books and eReaders
- eReaders for Book Lovers: eReading devices for book lovers
- Eat, Drink & Be Merry: Cookbooks, Entertaining Guides and Culinary Tales
- Faces & Places: Biography, Memoir and History
- Great Choices for Book Lovers: Fiction and Nonfiction Highlights
- Holiday Spirit: Perfect Selections for Holiday Reading
 

Throughout this holiday season, a number of authors will be sharing their favorite memories of giving or receiving a book at the holidays on our Holiday Blog.

Here are links to posts from authors who already have shared their stories: