Book Review: Digital gestalten

[This is a book review I've written for next month's Die Neue Szene, the local scene-rag, in case anyone feels like reading it.]

€16.90
"Digital gestalten: Der Erste-Hilfe Kurs in Typo, Farbe und Layout" (Günter Schuler)
Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 2005

In this compact volume, author Günter Schuler attempts to cover almost all aspects of modern electronic typographical design and layout. As the subtitle suggests, the book is arranged like a course on design basics, with long stretches of raw information about design and layout, culminating in a detailed example showing its application.

Starting with the evolution of movable type, and tracing the histories of various typefaces, we learn for what purposes many familiar fonts were originally developed, and by whom, and what it is about them that has kept them alive into the digital age. Next, we move on to how one goes about using them. The classic techniques of layout are covered, and are analogized to workflows of modern programs like InDesign and QuarkXPress. This is attractive to budding designers; learning the principles of layout, instead of the tools and tricks, allows the reader to apply this knowledge to any design process.

Unfortunately, Mr. Schuler wastes large portions of the book with endless lists of examples that contribute little to the reader’s experience. The lists of typefaces in the opening chapters, for example, are overwhelming, not to mention boring to page through. Also, many examples of bad design are subtly made, and not clearly marked, giving the reader an uncomfortable impression that the guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, after all.

Despite the occasional glitches in writing style and organization, this book offers an excellent entry point into the world of professional design. It is brimming with the kind of information and concepts one needs to rise above the Web-monkeys and Photoshop-jockeys that saturate the field today.