Shapes for Sounds: Why Alphabets Look Like They Do

Shapes for sounds examines one of humankind's fundamental creations: alphabets. In a culture that is overrun by the image, it is easy to forget that alphabets are the origin of gleaning understanding through images. Typographer, graphic designer, and teacher Timothy Donaldson has compiled a history of the Latin alphabet, consolidating his research into twenty-six informative and innovative charts that make clear how individual letters have come to exist as we know them today. "This book," says Donaldson, "attempts to show the genesis and evolution of the most popular alphabet, alongside development of its close relatives."

From ancient calligraphic traditions to semaphore, barcodes, and binary code, Shapes for sounds serves as a unique synthesis of many related disciplines that until now have never been fused together in this fashion, ensuring that the book will be of interest to linguists, typographers, designers, sociologists, historians, and anyone that loves to read.