Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 2
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 3
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 4
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 5
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 6
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 7
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 8
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 9
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 10
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 11
Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014 - Image 12

Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014

Author: ,
Language:

€ 29,50

The Antologia di cultura grafica series is dedicated to the history of visual communication. Curated by Alessandro Colizzi and Silvia Sfligiotti, with the collaboration of guest editors, each volume focuses on a specific theme or era. The series presents a rich anthology of texts—articles, essays, chapters, excerpts, and manifestos—translated into Italian and introduced by an essay from the curators.

How is a typeface designed? What shapes the form of letters? What relationship exists between the elements of an alphabet? How decisive is technology in determining the appearance of text? And ultimately, what is a font?

Starting from these fundamental questions, Il disegno del carattere delves into the fascinating world of type design. This third volume examines the concepts and technologies that have shaped type creation, from the early days of printing in the 15th century to the digital revolution of the 20th century.

The book offers a comprehensive selection of documents, highlighting key moments in Western typographic history with an approach that balances historical significance and contemporary relevance. Through original texts by engravers, designers, and computer scientists, Il disegno del carattere guides readers in understanding the creative and technological foundations that have shaped the evolution of typographic aesthetics.

Authors in this volume: Felice Feliciano, Geoffroy Tory, Jacques Grévin, Giovanni Francesco Cresci, Joseph Moxon, Pierre-Simon Fournier, Rudolf von Larisch, Paul Koch, Harry Carter, William Addison Dwiggins, Edward Johnston, Edward M. Catich, Gerard Unger, Donald Knuth, Walter Tracy, Sumner Stone.

—

Antologia di cultura grafica 3
Edited by Alessandro Colizzi & Riccardo Olocco
Book design Bunker e Alessandro Colizzi

13.5 × 21.5 cm
360 pages
Softcover with flaps
Italian

Isbn 978-88-98030-74-3
First edition March 2025

Description

Il disegno del carattere. 1460-2014 is the third volume in the Antologia di cultura grafica series, dedicated to the history of visual communication and design, following La questione moderna in Europa and Controculture. This book brings together historical and contemporary documents, tracing the evolution of type design from the 15th to the 20th century. It features original texts and images from key figures in typography—engravers, type founders, calligraphers, and designers. Designed for both enthusiasts and newcomers, it combines historical insights with practical guidance for modern-day practice.

Il disegno del carattere. 1460-2014 explores fundamental questions: How is a typeface created? What principles define its form? How do the letters of an alphabet interact with one another? And how has technology influenced the appearance of text over time?

Its goal is to take readers on a journey through the world of type design. As the third volume in the Antologia di cultura grafica, it examines the evolution of typography, from early experiments in the 15th century to the digital revolution of the 20th century, shedding light on the ideas and innovations that have shaped type design.

Through a rich collection of historical documents and contributions from engravers, designers, and computer scientists, the book delves into key moments in Western typographic history. By blending historical analysis with reflections on contemporary practice, it offers a deep understanding of the creative and technological principles that have shaped typographic aesthetics.

The authors are Riccardo Olocco, a type designer and researcher with a degree from the University of Reading, and Alessandro Colizzi, an associate professor in the Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano.

You may also like…

  • La questione moderna in Europa. 1923–1948
    Add to basket

    La questione moderna in Europa. 1923–1948 IT

    , ,
    € 27,50

    “Antologia di cultura grafica” is the new series dedicated to the history of visual communication. Edited by Alessandro Colizzi and Silvia Sfligiotti, assisted from time to time by one or more guest editors, the series offers a series of volumes, organized around a theme or era, and includes a rich anthology of texts (articles, essays, chapters, excerpts, posters) translated into Italian and introduced by an essay by the editors. 

    “La questione moderna in Europa”, first volume of the series, addresses the graphic debate within the modern movement of the interwar years, with an expanded look at the European continent to include authors from cultures and national histories hitherto neglected by historiography. 

    Far from being a unified phenomenon, the modern movement was characterized by a plurality of manifestations and the presence of very different theoretical positions. In particular, modernist graphics was the result of a process of negotiation between actors belonging to different national contexts. Moreover, actors from multiple disciplinary fields participated in its formation: advertising, publishing, architecture, photography, journalism, and the printing industry. 

    This anthology reflects the variety of orientations and opinions expressed both within individual national events and by the different personalities involved, who interpreted the ideology of the modern in ways and forms as heterogeneous as ever. The panorama that emerges is decidedly more nuanced and hybrid than has appeared in existing publications to date, and allows us to grasp the phenomenon in its theoretical, aesthetic, technological and social complexity. 

    —

    Antologia di cultura grafica 1
    Edited by Alessandro Colizzi, Silvia Sfligiotti & Carlo Vinti
    Book design Bunker and Alessandro Colizzi

    13,5 × 21,5 cm
    280 pages
    Paperback with flaps
    Italian

    Isbn 978-88-98030-56-9
    First edition February 2023

    Add to basket

Related products

  • La copertina del libro
    Add to basket

    The Jenson Roman EN

    € 36,00

    For purchases in the USA and Canada, we recommend contacting Oak Knoll.

    This book is about the roman type used in Venice by Nicolas Jenson, one of the most successful 15th-century printers. Jenson was well-known among his contemporaries because of his success as a printer/publisher and because of the quality of his type.

    His editions featured several rotundas, and notably, a roman which can safely be considered as the prototype of virtually all roman types up to the present. Jenson’s roman has been highly praised in the past and was used as a model for several type revivals by early 20th-century private-press printers. However, the importance of this type in the development of our typographic letters has not yet been sufficiently recognised.

    The volume aims to draw attention to this important type and to its maker with fresh bibliographical information and photographic analysis of the letterforms. The type is thoroughly analysed, the career of Jenson is sketched, and discussions on type-making techniques and the origin and development of its letterforms are presented.

    Finally the influence of Jenson’s design is illustrated. This will show how his specific design choices were picked up by such punchcutters as Francesco Griffo and Claude Garamont, and became the standard for roman lowercase up to our times.

    Images will play a pivotal role in this richly illustrated book. These visualisations allow readers the opportunity to explore the data and examine both the broader context and finer details, and systematically follow the discussion while verifying the reliability of the analysis results.

    Text, photographs and book design by Riccardo Olocco
    Preface by Lotte Hellinga

    21 × 28 cm
    120 pages
    Hardcover
    English
    Isbn 978-88-98030-68-2
    First edition October 2024

    Add to basket
  • L’Architettura degli Alberi
    Add to basket

    L’Architettura degli Alberi IT

    € 95,00

    “So you have to know the trees to design parks; know them one by one, and also know that the design of a park is the design of a ‘becoming’, the proposal of a mechanism of transformation, growth, life and death.”
    – Franca Stagi

    The drawings in the book L’Architettura degli Alberi (The Architecture of Trees) by Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi represent an unsurpassed tool for the design of green areas.

    The result of a study that lasted over twenty years, the book contains the treatment of 212 tree species, drawn in scale 1:100, with and without foliage, accompanied by diagrams of the projections of shadows during the hours of the day and during the course of the seasons, tables of seasonal chromatic variation of the foliage and 393 descriptive cards for each family (53), genus (128) and species (212), with 185 particular drawings of leaves, flowers and fruits.

    A fundamental text, now available again in this renewed edition with a more up-to-date graphic design, appropriately revised, corrected and updated. Aimed at professionals, architects, landscape architects and designers, and anyone who suffers the irresistible charm of the wonderful world of trees.

    —

    Texts by Laura Conti, Augusto Pirola and Franca Stagi
    Introduction to the new edition by Andrea Cavani and Giulio Orsini
    Original illustrations by Studio Leonardi-Stagi
    Book design Bunker

    25,5 × 38 cm
    424 pages
    Over 550 illustrations
    Hardcover
    Italian
    Isbn 978-88-98030-19-4
    First published December 2018

    Add to basket
  • Designing Type Revivals
    Add to basket

    Designing Type Revivals EN

    ,
    € 22,50

    For purchases in the USA and Canada, we recommend contacting Oak Knoll.

    Many typefaces created today are related to types of the past, and interest in older letterforms is stimulated by the great number of visual resources available. We are surrounded by digital fonts based in one way or another on historical models, but it is clear that we cannot consider all of them as revivals. So, how to distinguish a type revival from a typeface that is loosely based on historical forms? More reflection on this subject is necessary, both to help navigate the landscape of contemporary typefaces, and to give greater clarity to discussions on the history of type. This 104 pages pamphlet provides tools for researching and designing revival types. A concise publication that will show a practical perspective and fresh content, fuelling the conversation among and between designers and scholars.

    The content is organised into four parts. The authors begin by defining the theoretical ground, including a definition of revivals, and a discussion on the boundaries of a revival project. The second part introduces the framework of analysis developed for recording the relevant design features of the type used as a model. In the third part, Olocco and Patané apply the framework to the roman type cut by Francesco Griffo for the De Aetna (1496). Based on this analysis, the fourth part showcases the process of reviving this historical type.

    Although the authors are focusing on defining a procedure to design a type revival, those suggestions can be adopted beyond the scope of a revival project. Their approach will ensure a strong connection with the original source and a substantial help towards understanding how to employ historical models in a contemporary context.

    —

    Texts by Riccardo Olocco and Michele Patanè
    Preface by Gerry Leonidas
    Book design by Riccardo Olocco and Michele Patanè

    12.5 × 21 cm
    112 pages
    Paperback
    English
    Isbn 978-88-98030-48-4
    First published May 2022

    Add to basket
  • Alfabeti Modernisti Italiani
    Add to basket

    Alfabeti Modernisti Italiani IT/EN

    € 70,00

    The first print run of 1,000 copies contains an eight-page insert, hand-set in lead type and printed by Editore Tallone on high-quality paper.

    For at least a dozen years, Luca Lattuga has been collecting and cataloguing metal and wooden movable type produced in Italy between the 1920s and 1940s. During his research, he rediscovered a recurring and consistent style, hitherto little considered, that characterized that period. Although widespread at the time, this style, which originated in the printing workshops, remained in the shadows for decades.

    These lesser-known typefaces coexisted alongside the famous types from historic foundries, such as Nebiolo and Reggiani, surviving thanks to their versatility and affordability and enjoying spontaneous and widespread popularity even in the most isolated provinces. They remained in use until the 1960s or 1970s, effectively lasting until the end of the era of movable type printing. They were widely used in advertising, flyers, posters, book covers, and magazine headlines. They followed European trends toward more modern forms and represented a fascinating vernacular expression, entirely Italian, of the international taste of the time.

    The book contains over one hundred specimens, divided and grouped into categories and subcategories. It is accompanied by a testimony from the book’s editors, Veronica Bassini and Luca Lattuga, a historical analysis by Carlo Vinti, and a technical study by Luciano Perondi. The work is completed by in-depth profiles of some of the key figures of that era: Guido Modiano, Ruggero Zuliani, Francesco and Antonio Tocchio, and a gem by Enrico Tallone.

    Texts
    Veronica Bassini, Luca Lattuga
    Luciano Perondi, Carlo Vinti

    Foreward
    Riccardo Olocco

    Book Design
    Luca Lattuga

    23,5 x 28,5 cm
    336 pages
    Hardcover
    English/Italian

    Isbn 978-88-98030-90-3
    Available from November 2025

    Add to basket

Il disegno del carattere. 1460–2014

€ 29,50