Thinking with Type

From the printed page to the screen, Ellen Lupton's primer in the Design Briefs series treats typography as a working tool. The material falls into three sections, letter, text and grid, and each pairs an essay on the key concepts with a set of practical demonstrations. Visual examples show the rules of typographic form and how to break them inventively. A revised second edition added 48 pages on topics including small caps, style sheets for print and the web, ornaments, captions, lining and non-lining numerals, font licensing, mixing typefaces and hand lettering. Lupton writes for designers and students as well as editors, writers and others who work with words, and a companion website extends the lessons.

Web designer Marius Ciuchete Paun included it among the books he suggests to young people interested in his career path. Kimberly Gloria Choi, founder of Marchbaby Collective, named it when asked what she would recommend to young people entering her field.