As other reviewers have written before me, this book surely has an historical value to it. It allows the reader to have a quick glance to a particular historical moment of typography in pre-WWII Germany, written in a Marxist tone. Also, the layout of the book is a beauty in itself, with its glossy paper and sans-serif Futura font. But that is pretty much it, unless you want to read it because you are a student in History of Typography. Do not expect to learn basic or advanced typographic elements here. If you want that, read "The Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert Bringhurst instead.

I was expecting something more contemporary when bought this book. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and have been glad I bought it. It is true, the author overstates his points on what constitutes good vs. bad typography, even going so far as to make philosphical "natural law" arguments in favor of good type! The social scientist in me enjoyed the Marxist overtones to his diatribe, and the artist in me enjoyed the period type of his Weimar Republic era work. While I won't suggest that one couldn't learn a thing or two from his principals of the "new typography", to my mind this is a book for art/social historians.

Este libro introduce en el estudio de las nuevas tipografias que surgen a principio de siglo en Alemania. Si bien el traductor reconoce que el autor esta equivocado en algunas de sus apreciaciones (tengan en cuenta que se escribio a principios de siglo) no deja de ser una forma de comprender los cambios mentales que surgen de las tipografias, y como estas interactuan con la sociedad.

First the good. "Life in Typography" is a beautifully illustrated paperback containing gorgeous, intriguing scans of pages and illustrations from the work of typographer/illustrator Jan Tschichold. Fortunately, a number of reprints in the book are reprinted actual size, to give the viewer a distinctly real vantage point into what the originals actually looked like. So unless you've got the cash to buy out-of-print books, this is by far the most sane route. And it's not too expensive either.

But the only problem I had with the book is that I wanted to learn more about the artist himself. Tschichold's bold, at times abbrasive tone comes out in his pen sketched notes on a number of reprints and in-house drafts, leading the reader to believe he was probably one obnoxious, colorful, temperamental character. Instead, "A Life in Typography" sheds little light on the 'life' of Tschichold, and focuses instead on images with little explanation.

Were there no interviews with Tschichold that could have been reprinted? A larger window into his persona would have really helped understand his persistance and drive for typographic perfection.

But of everything reprinted in the book, quite possibly the most stirring, worthy part is a four page reprint of "Composition Rules" written by Tschichold and distributed to employees of the Penguin Book company. It's forceful, blunt, and essential reading for anyone involved in typesetting. He explains in detail how to treat capitals, italics, paragraph indents and punctuation marks. His thoughts and opinions about typography leap off the page.

So if you need a quick reference of his work, or are someone who just discovered the name Tschichold, this is a must have for your design library.

I honestly had trouble staying awake reading this one. I'm very interested in type design and typography but the pace of this book made me feel like a kid with attention deficit disorder watching C-Span. There's a lot of interviews so definitely get your money's worth. Illustrations are bit sparse for a book on type and the whole book comes across as überconservative.

The four stars are for the content, which is generally excellent and has not been published in other books. Everyone will have their favorite chapters, but the interview with Dwiggins is particularly illuminating and amusing.

My problem with this book is its astonishingly poor design. The layout of the pages works well, even though there are few illustrations. The paper is a shiny, bright white that positively hurts my eyes. If the book featured photography, I could understand. But it's all black type on snow -- nasty. Not to mention that the stock itself stinks. It has a heavy chemical odor, and consequently is difficult to hold at a comfortable reading distance.

If Rauri McLean did not want to use ligatures, he should have choosen a type that did not require their use. The crashing fs disturb me. Also, the beginnings of chapters are not flagged well. They begin with a drop cap followed by a short introduction in italics. This would probably work if the drop caps were larger, or in a different color. As it is, it's difficult to pick out a subject by simply thumbing through the book.

I understand that McLean was trained by the great typographer Jan Tschichold, whom I admire enormously. However, I don't see much of his influence in this glaring white, smelly book.

This is a great compilation of the thoughts of numerous renowned typographers and type designers. It is not light reading, but consequently provides great insight. McLean has done a great job with all aspects of the book, including its layout

This book is quite a disappointment. Instead of leading the reader logically through a primer on orthography (good typography) or providing a comprehensive reference book, this is a collection of idiosyncratic observations. (A high point is the day McLean dared to set poetry in sans serif type!) It has some illustrations of good and bad layout, but not enough for a layperson to be able to generalize useful rules. The book itself isn't very attractive, and it cannot be recommended as a modern introduction. Laser printers have made "everyman" (and everywoman) a typesetter, but this is not the book to lead you to better layout and design.

The book was written in 1980 before the onset of desktop publishing, and even with the additions in 1992 is in some respects a little outdated in some places. However there is a lot of practical information that is still very relevant today. Furthermore the book is well written in an easy to read style and nicely designed with wide margins that have lovely illustrations and examples of typefaces. It also makes it easy to hold the book and not have your thumb cover the text. The book starts with an historical overview of printing, then explains equipment that would have been used in a typographers studio, much of which is probably superceded by computers now. The book then examines what makes a legible publication, taking account of typefaces (serif is better for long articles), good line lengths, use of space and cultural background. Caligraphy and classification of typefaces are looked at, followed by different methods of typesetting such as hot and cold metal and filmsetting (again this is now more of a historical section). An interesting chapter on paper explains how it is made and different types that are available, the good advice to talk to your printer rather than make a choice yourself is typical of the practical information the book provides. Two chapters cover book design ranging from the parts of a book and the merits of asymmetrical or centred typography and proofers marks. McLean translated a couple of Jan Tschichold's books so is well informed on this subject and that of the golden section for determining the margins in a book. Practical considerations such as libraries often re-binding books twice and guides on margins to allow this are given here. Short chapters on jobbing typography, such as business cards, and newspaper design close the book. McLean redesigned the Observer's weekend review section in 1960 and has useful insights on design considerations.