"A major event in the design community!"

Reviewed by Fred Showker LIMITED EDITION Hardcover: 408 pages, Publisher: P22 INC. (September 27, 2002)

Indie Fonts

by Richard Kegler (Editor), James Grieshaber (Editor), Tamye Riggs (Editor)

I'm calling this a "milestone" in the Design community because

1. there hasn't been anything like it since 1995,
2. it embodies the essence of both fine and nouveau typography,
3. it's a wonderful visual piece, loaded with stunning art and graphics
4. it's limited edition and probably won't be duplicated again. Ever.

The P22 Type Foundry has long been one of the leading edge developers of "typography nouveau" and this milestone typography reference book represents the coming-of-age of the boutique font industry. It's not just about fonts. It's about a fresh, vivacious new generation of font developers and designers who think outside the traditional boundaries of letter forms. It's also about good typography. For a decade the nouveau foundries have been somewhat shunned by the main-stream design community. But with this new chapter in the world of typography, the most important impact of Indie Fonts will be GOOD TYPOGRAPHY. Not just headlines or decorative fonts, but classic revivals, superb text fonts, extravigant icon and dingbat collections, and yes -- bleeding edge experimental type that challenges the very foundations on which the type industry is built.

This limited-edition book brings together 18 independent font foundries from around the world creating an invaluable resource of over 2000 fonts for designers, art directors and typographers.
        It's hard-bound and divided by foundry so that the user can get a feel for the work produced by each group. This also makes it convenient to order fonts directly from their source. To make it easier for the user of this book, a visual font index is provided in the front for quick scanning.
        There is also a fully cross referenced index in the back of font names, designers, and original designers. Contributing foundries include Altered Ego, Astigmatic, Carter & Cone, Chank, Font Diner, fontBoy, Fountain, GarageFonts, International House of Fonts, LettError, P22, Psy/Ops, SynFonts, Test Pilot Collective, Typebox, Typeco, Typodermic and Typotheque.
        Tamye Riggs, one of the editors, and one of the creative forces behind much of the wonderful art utilizing the fonts to their fullest aesthetic levels, has been a long-time Design Center contributor and frequent poster to the "Design Cafe" discussion list for the Design Center. An example of her art is shown at right.

Accompanying this book is a Bonus Fonts CD-ROM that contains 33 indie fonts on an unlocked disc located in a sealed package in the back of this book. The fonts are licensed from each contributing foundry for use solely by the owner of this book.

This is a major accomplishment -- not seen since the 1995 typography compilation from the International Typefounders have we seen such a stunning accomplishment. The free fonts on the CD alone cover the price of the book. If you love the look and feel of a fine book, enjoy learning and using new type faces, and would like to stay on the bleeding edge of "type nouveau" then run, don't walk, to the links on this page and purchase INDIE. It won't last long, and you don't want to miss this milestone book.

1. Decorative Lettering styles which still hold traditional look an feel of theme typography use.
2. Gothic Lettering styles: new incarnations of typography with a historic look
3. Artistic Plate by Tamye Riggs: just one of many superb artistic endeavors that celebrate the fonts from each producer.

Indie Fonts
by Richard Kegler (Editor), James Grieshaber (Editor), Tamye Riggs (Editor)
LIMITED EDITION
Hardcover: 408 pages, Publisher: P22 INC. (September 27, 2002)