With an interactive cover 17 pop-ups and hands-on activities throughout Alphabet in Motion is
an immersive introduction unlike any other to the history of typography and letter shapes Ever
wonder how we ended up with so many different styles of letters? Open any text editor email
client or design app and you will immediately be bombarded with a buffet of typographic
choices. Serif or sans serif? Display or text? Classical or contemporary? Formal or casual?
Featuring 17 stunning interactive pop-ups this ABC pop-up book explains--as well as
demonstrates--the technologies and philosophies that have shaped letterforms through the ages.
Readers will learn about '60s psychedelic type by projecting light through a phototypesetting
pop-up how screen technology shaped letterforms by turning on and off anti-aliasing or the
aesthetics of typographic modularity by reconfiguring the puzzle pieces of Josef Albers'
Kombinations-Schrift . Type history is often technical and always visual. It is therefore
challenging to fully explain in text or in diagrams alone. The book's interactive features
provide a sensory inroad for curious general readers to grasp how typography has transformed
through history (and how lettering can convey a point of view or philosophical stance). A
128-page companion essay section includes an essay further contextualizing each pop-up.
Alphabet in Motion puts the reader's hands eyes and minds in touch with the meanings behind
the typography that surrounds us in our homes on our screens and on our streets. If you look
carefully you can see the history of the world--from the Bronze Age to the Information Age--in
the microcosm of type. Kelli Anderson is a graphic designer paper engineer educator and
author who uses design magic to connect people with the hidden talents of everyday things. Her
previous publications include This Book Is a Camera (MoMA 2015)--which transforms into a
working camera--and This Book Is a Planetarium (Chronicle 2017)--which houses paper devices
(including a planetarium) and has sold more than 100 000 copies.
