Typography is an art form – whether you’re a type designer by trade, or a graphic designer using type, you can’t just wing it. But the internet is full of contradictory lists on the best typography books, and it’s near-impossible to read them all (not to mention expensive), so we’ve gathered our shortlist to help you decide.
Enjoy a mixture of popular classics and up-and-coming font design books loved by the industry. There’s also something for every price point and, if you’re on a budget, don’t forget about the wide range of free fonts for designers.
The best typography book overall
If you’ve only got time and money for one typography book, we suggest Bringhurst’s, now in its fourth edition but not easily found on the high street.
Type design legend Hermann Zapf called it ‘the Typographers’ Bible’. Though far from a quick read and totally monochrome, it’s still one to treasure.
Pros
- Timeless tips
- Recommended by plenty of professionals
- Even the paper is high quality
The best value typography book
Dr Borys Kosmynka, consultant at Typeface Design BK, recommends Sofie Beier as “the world’s leading academic specialist on accessible type”.
Her most famous book, Reading Letters: Design for Legibility, is hard to find, but this last chunk of her bargain three-part series, Type Tricks, nails user-friendly design principles for signs, scanning and more.
Pros
- Affordable at well under £20
- Easy to dip in and out
- Useful for students and pros
Good value and a strong choice
Note this is known as The Anatomy of Type in its US print run. Jim Parkinson, the type designer known for the Rolling Stone magazine logo, praised Coles’ ‘wonderful typographic insights’.
Typefaces explored include the historic Plantin and the purpose-built, newsprint-friendly Le Monde Journal; you’ll find new and old favourites.
Pros
- Detailed analysis of what makes a typeface work
- Loads of clear diagrams
- Useful background on type foundries and origins
Best typography book for students
A Professor of Visual Communication Design, Karen Cheng now finds that her book (first published in 2006) is on the curriculum for university students globally.
She explores type terminology and takes a deep dive into uppercase, lowercase, numbers and punctuation. This second edition includes expanded typefaces and new font families.
Pros
- Tried and tested approaches that help students
- Second edition has an extended section on spacing
- Case studies show how projects develop
Best for type pairing
There’s a fine art to pairing type styles, but freelance designer Tony Seddon has mastered it. Though he’s written loads of typography books, we had to pick this one, because it’s suitable for all levels of experience and it covers 150 different typefaces. Food for thought indeed.
Pros
- Full of inspiration
- Explains the rules
- Goes beyond obvious typefaces
A wider look at type in design
Ellen Lupton is an expert on design, and this is her all-encompassing approach to typography: speaking to global experts, discovering small type foundries, exploring layout principles, and finding the latest and most unusual fonts. There are also some highlights from the nonprofit Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
Pros
- Now with more content from women and BIPOC designers
- Suitable for designers, publishers and UX pros
Cons
- Some typography fans find it too broad
A future classic
This book is so fresh, it uses a brand-new typeface, Nave. Inside, it cleverly unpicks 100 concepts like hierarchy and open type.
John Boardley, at I Love Typography, calls it ‘a typographic Swiss Army knife that any designer would be wise to keep’. Stocks created and curated Google Fonts Knowledge and has a type-themed podcast.
Pros
- Very comprehensive
- Effective layout and graphics
- Introduction from Ellen Lupton
The best web typography book
Print and web design have different demands, but graphic designer, publisher and UX manager Jason Santa Maria has nailed all the considerations of web type you’ll need – again, with a foreword by Ellen Lupton. As he says in the introduction: ‘Good type inspires confidence and trust; bad type triggers disdain and disgust.’
Pros
- Blends in general design rules
- Friendly and chatty tone
- Easy to apply theory
The best non-Latin typeface book
Mourad Boutros, founder of Boutros™, is one of the world’s leading figures in Arabic type design. As designers look to be more inclusive, expanding font families with Arabic script makes sense, but it takes dedication. Learn how to successfully convert logotypes, what works on TV, and why Arabic calligraphy books are so stunning.
Pros
- Suitable for non-Arabic speakers
- Culturally sensitive
- A wide range of case studies
Going back to the roots of type design
Letterpress has seen a well-deserved resurgence in the design world, taking things back to basics and reviving heritage skills. Step away from your screen and get back to the beauty of movable type; learn from the author’s interviews with museums, foundries and craftspeople keeping it alive. Inspirational stuff.
Pros
- Written by one of China’s leading design professors
- Get to know modern letterpress creators
- A hands-on way to think about type
A compendium of trending type
Every year, the New York-based Type Directors Club brings together 12 months’ worth of incredible type design from around the world. This 44th edition includes 35 new fonts, puts a spotlight on lettering, and gives cutting-edge examples of type from foundries, freelancers and agencies. Not cheap, but very coveted.
Pros
- A yearbook for type lovers
- Packed full of illustrations
Cons
- This year’s cover lettering is divisive
Best typography photobook
Here’s something to get you out of a creative slump: a photobook full of examples of real-life typography in Berlin, from an influential Twitter/X account, with street signs, shopfronts and adverts. Many popular typefaces are based on much older lettering samples, so let this be your sign to borrow from the past.
Pros
- Shows authentic use of type design
- Even non-typographer friends will enjoy it
Cons
- Mainly photo-based
If this has left you wanting more reading material, how about browsing books for graphic designers, the best books about branding, or maybe even our selection of the best illustration books?
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