Although, or perhaps because, most of us write less and less by hand, our fascination for handwritten letterforms is growing. Typeface designers who specialize in traditional, charming, or spectacular lettering with a handmade look have become role models for today's young typographers and graphic design students. Script fonts — digital type families based on handwriting — are among the most sought on the typography market today. Scripts from the past, be it 18th-century formal calligraphy or advertising headlines from the 1960s, are being digitized and turned into OpenType programming. The love of the hand-written look is nothing new. Even the oldest printed books pretended to be something unique and not a machine-made mass product. Hand to Type is a collection of some of the best work by today's lettering artists in the fields of hand-made and digital script forms. The book includes texts about outstanding designers and contains a series of expert chapters outlining the principles of script forms that may be lesser known to most western typographers — from the German S tterlin to Arabic and Asian scripts. Hand to Type also traces script fonts back to some of the earliest examples: hand-lettering as a sign of authenticity, or printing type made to look like formal writing.

A useful current overview for designers, consultants, agencies, and their customers of modernfonts, independent foundries, and innovative type designers. In the past, there were only a few specialists worldwide who worked intensively with typography. Since the introduction of digital fonts and their dissemination via the internet, typography has gained a new significance. More and more designers are creating fonts for a variety of applications. Simultaneously, more and more of these designers are founding type foundries to sell their fonts themselves. Supply and demand in this area have been growing considerably for years. The expanding market for typography is exciting and diverse, but it has been difficult to keep track of notable developments — until now. Type Navigator is a comprehensive handbook of the best independent sources for quality fonts. Structured and indexed according to practical criteria, it offers not only a valuable overview, but also possibilities for effective targeted searches. Whether a reader is in need of a specific type of font, is looking for fonts by a select designer, from a certain country, or even just wants to compare prices, Type Navigator will provide the necessary information. In addition to abundant examples of fonts as well as concrete applications for typefaces and alphabets, this essential compendium features concise profiles of type foundries and designers. Select interviews with managers of type foundries show how their creative visions are influencing the characteristics of their font libraries. Type Navigator is a valuable reference for agencies, designers, consultants, and customers who are looking for an overview of the modern typefaces currently available and the innovative people and companies behind them.