Hand to Type: Scripts, Hand Lettering and Calligraphy

The beauty and art of creating handwritten letter forms.

Hand to Type is a stunning compilation of hand-made and digital scripts that showcases the beauty of handwritten letterforms. The book features work by some of today’s most successful and original calligraphers and lettering artists. In addition to fonts and lettering using the Latin alphabet, it introduces artists who explore Cyrillic, Arabic, and Greek scripts.

The book’s rich visual examples are complemented by in-depth interviews with outstanding calligraphers and type designers conducted by editor Jan Middendorp. Hand to Type also offers a revealing glimpse into processes by which hand-made letters may be turned into digital files. Prominent guest authors introduce the workings of scripts with which many readers may be less familiar — from Arabic and Indian writing systems to the amazing scripts found in pre-war German schoolbooks and on Amsterdam pub windows.

Hand To Type features interviews with Ken Barber, Timothy Donaldson, Tony Di Spigna, Gemma O’Brien, Luca Barcellona, Niels Shoe Meulmann, Brody Neuenschwander, Gabriel Martínez Meave, and Reza Abedini.

Contributing designers include:

Francesca Biasetton, Alison Carmichael, Allan Daastrup, Louise Fili, Cláudio Gil, Gray 318, Cyrus Highsmith, Brian Jaramillo, Seb Lester, Letman, Gabriel Martínez Meave, Erik Marinovich, Marina Marjina, Laura Meseguer, Greg Papagrigoriou, Alejandro Paul, Stephen Rapp, Ricardo Rousselot, Paul Shaw, Wissam Shawkat, Dana Tanamachi, John Stevens, Underware, and Laura Worthington, among others.

With specialist chapters by:

Nadine Chahine, Rick Cusick, Ramiro Espinoza, Kimya Gandhi and Dan Reynolds, Patrick Griffin, Florian Hardwig, Shoko Mugikura, and Alexei Vanyashin.