Graphic designers have always developed and designed new fonts for application in individual projects. Playful Type discovers a new and young generation of designers who are applying typography beyond the classical typeset and creating a dynamic range of playful and illustrative fonts and ephemeral lettering.

Playful Type examines how designers today are creating typography with the aid of a multitude of different techniques. From manual lettering, calligraphy and collage to manipulative time exposure of photographs, designers are developing fonts for the moment which are irregular and often accidental. Blocks of ice are even being staged as real characters and paper cut forms and shadows metamorphose into letters and spatial installations. This book shows such cutting-edge examples of elusive scripts that are being translated into serially employable alphabets to be used digitally with the computer.

Playful Type presents an inspiring collection of illustrative fonts and hand-made typography created from a variety of cutting-edge approaches and indicates current development in font design.