Typography Sketchbooks by Steven Heller

Typography Sketchbooks Reviews

• 
  Kitty G Books

  This is a really great book because it really gets back to the beginnings of the fonts which designers have developed. The fact that there is a little type to explain the background every now and then is great and the images themselves would have made a stunning book. For the cost of this book it has been well worth it throughout my Typography project and just for reading for fun. I love this book and I think that the sketches within are truly inspiring and exciting for anyone who enjoys type.
  Highly recommended!
• 
  reading is my hustle

  A visual window.
  Gorgeous and fantastic.
• 
  Parka

  
  
  (More pictures on my blog)
  
  Here's a colourful book for graphic designers and the typography fanatics.
  
  It collects more then 90 artists and their experimentation with typography.
  
  They are mostly hand drawn. You won't see much of the rigid fonts. Almost every one looks playful. There are some fonts created for comics, some grew plants to form letters, 3D fonts, painted fonts, and many more. The styles are wide-ranging and fascinating.
  
  It's a great collection of ideas to look at when need to come up with your own.
• 
  Brooke Stephenson

  A great look see for people like me who are obsessed with type. I found it really inspiring to see who artists work and how their ideas form. If you've ever wondered where fonts come from or you just like looking at awesome sketches, take a look at this book!
• 
  Pel0s Smith

  Type-gasm!!! ^__^
• 
  Beth (Minimalist Bookshelf)

  This book is a good survey of how a typographer sketches, develops and executes a font. If you're looking for a starting point for your own typography, this should encourage you to get to it!
• 
  Becky

  Absolutely stunning! It's incredibly impressive visually and the content is really inspiring. I would definitely recommend this.
• 
  Sandra

  If typography is your thing and you have a secret wish to spy into other people's notebooks/sketchbooks then this is the book for you. View the musings of a wide range of type designers and see how their process looks from the inside out.
  
  What I liked: Every page has something visually compelling. So many designers doing some amazing work, I liked learning about them as much as viewing their sketchbooks. I really love this book. It is one to buy and refer to often for inspiration.
  
  What I didn't like: I have no usual criticism because I really really like this book.
  
  I give this book a 5 out of 5 star rating.
• 
  Mauricio Villamayor

  Although this book gives a great glimpse of designer's processes through sketches, it short felt short of content per designers. There are too many designers and not enough pages.
• 
  Ruby

  Well, it's a wonderful book, don't get me wrong. But, there is so little information about how each artist works, and so few examples of each person's work, it is very frustrating. They say there are 90 artists represented. So maybe it would have been better to pick half that number and give them each twice the space to show their sketchbooks and discuss their working processes.
  
  It's a large, heavy, softcover and very hard to open. It takes two hands and a table and it is very hard to see into the spine area of the illustrations which run edge to edge with no white space around them.
  
  But it will keep you browsing for hours and hours, there are so many ideas.
• 
  Courtney

  Interesting and thought provoking. This book contains a large number of sketchbook samples from a diverse sets of designers. The book is organized alphabetically by the designer's last name so you're almost guaranteed to get a completely different style with each turn of the page.
  
  What was most interesting in reading the designers' thoughts on sketching was that it was used largely in two ways; first, as an initial or creative exploration, and second, as a flexible way of problem solving. Almost every designer interviewed also made heavy use of computers, but hadn't completely abandoned paper and pen for a variety of reasons.
• 
  Rebecca

  Oooh, this is cool -- as one reviewer put it, "type-gasm!" I especially like the work of Katie Lombardo, aka Katie Daisy, on p. 181 (
  http://www.katiedaisy.net/), and any of the lettering done in watercolor with variegated color. This is a big book on heavy paper -- a nice coffee table/inspiration book if you like seeing ideas develop through sketches. (Speaking of -- do everyone's sketchbooks look this nice?! Now I'm going to be sketching thinking, "must compose jauntily and nicely -- this may go in a sketchbook compilation someday!") Side note: sketching on graph paper. Hmmm.
• 
  Juliana

  This is a great book for any designer or type fanatic. Even if you aren't all that interested in type, it's a treat for anyone who's interested in the design process and the background behind how final designs come to fruition. This compilation is the perfect blend of sketches and visual imagery without bombarding you with too much backstory behind each work, making it a wonderful reference and inspiration piece for sure!
• 
  Roberto

  This book is insightful, easy to read, inspirational and filled with beautiful illustrations from the sketchbooks of multiple and talented designers/typographers. Is great to be able to peek into a creative's process even for a brief moment. Highly recommended for anyone interested in typography, illustration and design.
• 
  Palma

  I flicked through this in a bookstore recently and wasn't that impressed especially since it was quite expensive.
  It's a reference book of typography and you can easily find similar sources on the internet for free.
  If you like to have your sources in book form or want to support the artist then by all means buy.
• 
  Hannah Minchow-proffitt

  Every time I look at this book, my passions for graphic design, typography, and even the art of doodling are reignited. It reminds me that there are no mistakes in typography sketching. It's a time to simply be with the paper and ink/pencil/paint/whatever and see what happens.
• 
  Eva

  in een woord ; GEWELDIG! Ik doe de opleiding grafisch vormgever en ben zeker gek op zulke boeken, een of andere manier kan het mij echt helemaal blij maken, om allemaal verschillende ontwerpen te zien? en hij is ook nog eens super handig voor mijn opleiding!
• 
  Oscar

  An interesting collection of great and terrible type design, though both are made more appealing by the accompanying sketches. Of the presented artists, I dug George Bates, Duarte Design and Katie Lambardo.
• 
  Ben

  A hefty sampling of 'typographic musings' that intrigue and inspire, but can also end up running together if viewed all at once.
• 
  noclon

  Great book, creative and inspired.
• 
  Troy

  This makes me giddy to look at...A thick volume of sketches and doodlings and a joy to look at. Recommended if you like thinking about type.
• 
  Robbie

  Beautiful book, an ideas-factory not just for typographers but for graphic designers as well. More of a coffee-table book than a tome for reading, of course.
• 
  Lindsay

  Loved all the peak into different journals and the little bio about each designer. Very good book, Highly recommended.
• 
  Emily

  Great book full of heaps inspiring typography! I love to have a flick through every once in a while to get the ideas going :)
• 
  Lydia

  Pretty dang awesome. I'll be looking through it for inspiration often.
• 
  Cate Meredith

  Gorgeous book. Very inspiring.
• 
  Mie

  Such a great book. It's one I definitely will revisit a couple of times for inspiration. It was a light but interesting read
• 
  Amanda Schutz

  Type eye candy :)