Short Synopsis
A hugely entertaining and revealing guide to the history of type that asks, "What does your favorite font say about you?"

Full Synopsis
Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every product that we buy. But where do they come from, and why do we need so many? Who is responsible for the staid practicality of Times New Roman, the cool anonymity of Arial, or the irritating levity of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)?

Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.

"A lively companion to books such as Robert Bringhurst's essential Elements of Typographic Style (1992) and John Lewis's classic Typography: Design and Practice." ---Kirkus Starred Review

"Highly recommended to all, whether or not you feel predisposed to like this kind of thing! Eye-opening and mind-expanding!" ---Library Journal Starred Review

"Whether you're a hardcore typophile or a type-tyro, there's something here for you." ---Chip Kidd

"With wit, grace and intelligence, Simon Garfield tells the fascinating stories behind the letters that we encounter every day on our street corners, our bookstore shelves, and our computer screens." ---Michael Bierut, author of Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design

New York Times Bestseller

New York Times' Janet Maslin's Pick

Amazon Top 100

Amazon Top 10 Nonfiction

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review