Rating: 
Summary: A foundation unshakeble
Review: As a practicing graphic artist, I've read & studied myriad books on typography. Although much of the information presented in "Typographic Workshop" is already familiar, never have I seen it presented in such a clear & pragmatic fashion. Even experienced artists can find a great deal of practical & interesting typographic facts. This is the typography book I wished I could have started out with.Type history is presented in context with the prevailing state of civilization (& barbarism). It brings the historical significance of type alive. In addition, much practical information is presented in comprehensible form. Were I teaching a class in typography, this would be required reading. It's self-teaching, therefore, making this immensely valuable information accesible to all who seek it.
Rating:
Summary: A foundation unshakeble
Review: As a practicing graphic artist, I've read & studied myriad books on typography. Although much of the information presented in "Typographic Workshop" is already familiar, never have I seen it presented in such a clear & pragmatic fashion. Even experienced artists can find a great deal of practical & interesting typographic facts. This is the typography book I wished I could have started out with. Type history is presented in context with the prevailing state of civilization (& barbarism). It brings the historical significance of type alive. In addition, much practical information is presented in comprehensible form. Were I teaching a class in typography, this would be required reading. It's self-teaching, therefore, making this immensely valuable information accesible to all who seek it.
Rating:
Summary: Good Price
Review: If your going to Fairleigh Dickinson University you will need this book if your taking Digital Design and Graphics Price is GOOD
Rating:
Summary: A complete look at the history, design & application of type
Review: Kate Clair's book provides a very complete look at typography: the history, aesthetics, functionality and applications. This book is a must for the design student and the experienced designer as well. Full of accurate and relevent information, it is a fresh look into of type and builds a better appreciation for the beautiful world of typography.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Run at Wide-ranging Subject Matter
Review: Kate Clair, you should be ashamed of yourself. While you're obviously very knowledgeable about typography and have written a very thorough book on the subject, you seem to have stopped there. Did you just write the manuscript, shoot it off to your publisher with nary a thought about it again? Judging by the number of typos, misspelled words, missing lines on captions, and typographic mistakes, I can't believe you ever looked at the book in layout. (A couple poignant examples: You write that it is not acceptable to have more than hyphen in a row at the end of lines of copy. And in that very sentence you have two hyphens! And throughout the book you have numerous places with two or even three hyphens in a row! This may seem like minutiae, but hey YOU wrote the book on typography! Look at page 237, last paragraph. All of a sudden the tracking is NOTICEABLY tighter. Very, very poor typography there.) And not only is the typography bad, but there are numerous instances where the book begs for some good editing! Redundancies, terms used that are defined in subsequent chapters, unorganized sections (especially the historical ones) all add up to one lousy book. Which is a shame. Because it could be a great reference. Instead it's just a mockery. Shame on you Kate Clair. And shame on your editors, proofreaders and publisher. You all should know better.
Rating: 
Summary: The Irony Is Killing Me!
Review: Kate Clair, you should be ashamed of yourself. While you're obviously very knowledgeable about typography and have written a very thorough book on the subject, you seem to have stopped there. Did you just write the manuscript, shoot it off to your publisher with nary a thought about it again? Judging by the number of typos, misspelled words, missing lines on captions, and typographic mistakes, I can't believe you ever looked at the book in layout. (A couple poignant examples: You write that it is not acceptable to have more than hyphen in a row at the end of lines of copy. And in that very sentence you have two hyphens! And throughout the book you have numerous places with two or even three hyphens in a row! This may seem like minutiae, but hey YOU wrote the book on typography! Look at page 237, last paragraph. All of a sudden the tracking is NOTICEABLY tighter. Very, very poor typography there.) And not only is the typography bad, but there are numerous instances where the book begs for some good editing! Redundancies, terms used that are defined in subsequent chapters, unorganized sections (especially the historical ones) all add up to one lousy book. Which is a shame. Because it could be a great reference. Instead it's just a mockery. Shame on you Kate Clair. And shame on your editors, proofreaders and publisher. You all should know better.
Rating:
Summary: Good Run at Wide-ranging Subject Matter
Review: The author does a good job taking on such a overwhelming breadth of material regarding the topic. (& taking on the subject opens her up to every nitpicker in the field who expect constant typographical brilliance in every line.) The book is by no means flawless, but should not be besmirched too harshly for a first run. It is still completely worth buying. Historical sections in the book give a good context for better understanding the topic. Ms. Clair's knowledge of the material is noteworthy. A good teaching tool, with helpful workbook sections and review areas. The book covers many important design issues normally overlooked by textbooks. Minor mistakes, and some readablity problems will no doubt be corrected in following editions. Excellent resource for students, educators, designers, and those in the print industry. The book stands out as more thorough and inclusive than any other textbook currently available on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Not all it's cracked up to be
Review: This book contains a lot of good information about the history of type. However, the small and varying typesizes found within make it difficult and in some cases nearly impossible to actually read the text on the page. The inconsistencies between what Clair says about type and how it is displayed in the book take away from her credibility as a good typographer. Read the book for the information, not for a good demonstration of how type should be used.
Rating:
Summary: typography 1.01
Review: This book is an excellent starting place for any newbie designer/typographer (despite the shortcomings of occasional poor typography as mentioned in other reviews). It's very difficult to find a book that covers the breadth and depth of this one, yet still manages to deal with fundamental issues in a very readable and accessible way. You won't find another book as comprehensive and practical as this one! The beauty of the book lies in its ability to reveal ALL the tools and skills you require, in a no-nonsense style, to create legible and artistic type. Your work won't win awards after reading it, but you will be armed with all the practical concepts you need to work with type in a competent and creative manner. I get the impression from the tone of the text that it's written for a young audience, maybe first-year college students, so the writing can sometimes belabor seemingly straight-forward concepts. The numerous exercises are designed to impart the nuts-and-bolts techniques of how to use type in a practical yet expressive way. Most of the projects are concerned with the mechanics of legibility and information hierarchy, as well as kerning, tracking, leading and ligatures etc. The history sections are also very informative and outline the expansion of writing systems and technologies throughout human social development. After reading this and completing the exercises, the reader could comfortably move onto a more advanced treatises on type like "The Elements of Typographic Style" by Bringhurst or "Type in Use" by White, equipped with a well-grounded foundation to absorb more technical/conceptual information.
Rating: 
Summary: Reader for New Hampshire
Review: This book was required (forced on me ) for a graphic design course that I am taking. Flipping through the pages, it appears to be a great book. Ten times I have attempted to read it, but after ten or fifteen minutes it gave me a headache or I couldn't keep my mind on it. No one else in the class was able to read it either. The material could be very interesting, but the author loves to use extremely small type size with a typeface that is extremely difficult to read (for example, page 259). This book never saw an editor--no competent editor would have allowed it to be printed.
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