School of Visual Arts, and is the designer or co-designer of eighteen typefaces.Shaw applied the “Page 99 Test” to his new book, Revival Type: Digital Typefaces Inspired by the Past, written in collaboration with Abby Goldstein, and reported the following:
This seems like a ludicrous idea to apply to a non-fiction, non-continuous narrative book. You can dip anywhere into Revival Type rather than starting at the beginning. Although it is a de facto history of type design and its changes over time, each typeface is a stand-alone profile. Also, while books traditionally begin on the recto or right-hand page, Revival Type has been designed in spreads with each typeface beginning on the verso or left-hand page. This further dilutes the impact of page 99. With all of that said, page 99 is not a particularly revealing page in the book. It shows character sets for Big Moore and Austin Text Roman. Neither design is one that potential readers are likely to know before opening Revival Type and thus are not good for promotional purposes. The expectation of most design readers will be that Revival Type will include types by Jenson, Garamont, Caslon, Baskerville, Bodoni and Didot—but not by Isaac Moore or Richard Austin. However, one intent of the book is to expose designers to lesser known figures such as Moore, Austin, Eudald Pradell and Pierre Haultin.Visit Paul Shaw's website and Abby Goldstein's website.
My Book, The Movie: Revival Type.
--Marshal Zeringue
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