The New Typography. A Handbook for Modern Designers by Jan Tschichold

Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography was first published in 1928 in Germany and in a way became a modern typography manifesto. This very thorough and fascinating work studies numerous theories from social criticism and art history to emerging importance of photography in graphic design. On top of this, the author clearly sets very definite guidelines for the printed material design. The final chapters provide practical instructions on preparing everyday documents, down to choosing the paper size and appropriate typefaces combination.

The book in a dust jacket

This is the first complete edition in Russian. Few chapters were published earlier in a Soviet magazine Poligraphicheskoye Proizvodstvo (“Printing Industry”), 1929.

The introduction to the current edition was written by Vladimir Krichevsky.

Though the standards from the book are out of date and out of use, and the author himself later disowned some of the statements and ideas, The New Typography remains one of the 20th century’s most significant books dedicated to typography and graphic design. This book is essential for graphic designers, type designers, illustrators, typesetters, and others interested in graphic and type design history.

The purpose of this book is to show the connections between typography and other types of creativity, to state clearly the principles of typography, and to demand the creation of a contemporary style. The connection between typography and all other fields of creativity, especially architecture, has been accepted in all progressive periods. Today we are witnessing the birth of a new and splendid architecture, which will set its stamp on our period. Anyone who has recognized the deep underlying similarity between typography and architecture and has understood the true nature of new architecture can no longer doubt that the future will belong to the new typography and not the old.

Excerpt from “The New World View” chapter