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The Type Specimen book brings together 25 different typefaces that range from Old Style to Sans Serif and displays them alongside an essay titled “Laws of the Letter. The essay by Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller details the shift from the humanist understanding of printed letters, to the modernist perspective, which views typography as the endless manipulation of abstract elements.
Through the combined use of photography and typography, the font resource book illustrates the message presented throughout the essay in an abstract way. The book is divided into five sections, and each section uses photographs of flowers and other natural objects to serve as the foundation on which typefaces are further explored and manipulated.
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“Since the late 1990s the web has removed much of the need for a foundry to issue traditional specimen books, and the cost of them puts off the company accountants (or, looking at it another way, producing specimen books makes the fonts more expensive). Instead, just as websites have taken the place of brochures in so many businesses, a well-designed foundry website typically shows its fonts used in various imaginative ways” (MyFonts).
Although not all pages of this specific type specimen book are shown here, not a single spread repeats. Every spread is unique and uses a different photo. This choice was made in order to increase reader engagement and keep them interested in the material.
The macro photos in the type specimen book were shot using a Canon Rebel XT and an adaptor ring that converted a 50mm prime into a macro lens.
