Anybody with even just a mild understanding slash appreciation of fonts is sure to really enjoy the book Creative Characters, published by BIS Publishers.
Subtitled “The MyFonts interviews, vol.1”, the book presents the first two years of MyFonts’ popular series of monthly type designer interviews. The interviews were previously published in the monthly newsletter of MyFonts.com, the world’s largest web shop for digital fonts, and sent to some 450 000 subscribers.
The interviews with the type designers are all equally compelling, revealing much about the creative process but also the interesting bits that give insight into what puts the dot on the I for these type designers. Jim Parkinson, the designer behind the famous Rolling Stone magazine logo, tells what it was like working for the publication in the 1970s with the likes of Hunter S Thompson and Annie Leibovitz.
Adding to these types of ancedotes, there are also case histories and interesting examples of fonts in use. The list of designers include, among many others, Underware, David Berlow, Alejandro Paul, Veronika Burian, Rian Hughes and Cristian Schwartz. Creative Characters is also well balanced, with editor Jan Middendorp including not just the big names in type design but also the up-and-coming ones worth watching.
Creative Characters works to simultaneously educate and entertain the reader. The way in which the interviews were selected ensures a comprehensive overview while adding a little lesson about common mistakes in type design, how it has evolved over the years, as well as the use of online networking tools for type designers.
