design history


Design history is the study of objects of design in their historical and stylistic contexts.

Fonts 3

Karloff Positive
6 Styles
Karloff Negative
6 Styles
Karloff Neutral
2 Styles

Books 9

See all
Nasri Khattar, A Modernist Typotect
A book about inspiring design achievements from the Arab world. Nasri Khattar,proposed Unified Arabic to make reading Arabic easier to learn.
Works That Work No.7
This issue of WTW strives to probe beyond the visible aspect of design. We look at the invisible organisational principles shaping our lives.
Wim Crouwel modernist
A definite monograph about Wim Crouwel going into great depth to understand the methodology of one of the greatest minds in modern graphic design.
The Curly Letter of Amsterdam
This book presents the origins of exuberant curly lettering style on the windows of traditional Dutch cafés and bars.
Dot Dot Dot 11
Art/design publication which began life as a graphic design magazine, but whose content has widened to cover art, music, language, politics, film and literature.

Articles 56

See all
The history of History
Two years after releasing History, Peter Bilak reflects on the process of creating this skeletal system in which different styles are imposed on a Roman capital base. Previous experiments are mentioned, as well as inspiration sources for the typeface.
Typeface stories · 9 March 2010 · English · 1792 words
Beziehungen innerhalb der tschechoslowakischen Typografenszene
Dieser Artikel basiert zum Teil auf meiner Forschung für die Ausstellung über das tschechische und slowakische Schriftdesign mit Schwerpunkt auf der Entwicklung der Typografie in den letzten zwanzig Jahren, die ich zusammen mit Alan Záruba 2004-2006 kuratierte. Die Ausstellung mit dem Titel 'Experiment And Typography' wurde erstmals 2004 an der International Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno gezeigt und zog später weiter nach Prag, Den Haag, Bratislava, Cieszyn, Ljubljana, Warschau und Budapest.
Essays · 28 November 2006 · German · 3875 words
Czechoslovak Typography Connections
This article is partly based on the research for the exhibition on Czech and Slovak typeface design that we co-curated with Alan Záruba in 2004-2006 focusing on the last twenty years of typography development. The exhibition entitled 'Experiment And Typography' was first presented at the Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno in 2004 and later travelled to Prague, The Hague, Bratislava, Cieszyn, Ljubljana, Warsaw and Budapest.
Essays · 3 October 2006 · English · 3891 words
Fred Smeijers’s Arnhem typefaces
Andy Crewdson discusses the origins of the Dutch designer’s recent family of types.
Typeface stories · 24 February 2005 · English · 1573 words
New Faces (abstract): type design in the first decade of device-independent digital typesetting (1987-1997)
The abstract for Emily King’s doctoral thesis which focuses on typeface design in the United States, England and the Netherlands between 1987 and 1997.
Essays · 23 January 2005 · English · 392 words

Authors 9

See all
Petra Černe Oven
Graphic designer and writer. She graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Design, in Ljubljana and has worked as a consultant for a div...
Iva Janákova-Knobloch
Prague based curator, and writer. In 2003 she has organized a restrospective exhibition of Ladislav Sutnar that has travelled to Zurich and Rotterdam....
Mathieu Lommen
Author and book historian; works as a curator at the Special Collections department of the Amsterdam University Library. Mathieu regularly publishes o...
Steven Heller
Art director of the New York Times Book Review and founder and co-chair of the School of Visual Arts, New York MFA/Design Program. He is the former ed...
Roxane Jubert
Roxane Jubert is a graphic designer, teacher and researcher based in Paris. She teaches at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décor...