Book Review: Stop Stealing Sheep

Back in May Dan Cederholm, of the SimpleBits fame, posted a call for typography resources. Having only basic understanding of typography (we all got a little bit of it in us) I scouted the comments and ended up ordering Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works.

That’s quite an unusual title, don’t you think? The story—according to the authors, Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger—goes as follows.

In 1936, Frederic Goudy was in New York City to receive an award of excellence in type design. Upon accepting a certificate, he took one look at it and declared that "Anyone who would letterspace black letter would steal sheep." This was an uncomfortable moment for the man sitting in the audience who had hand lettered the award certificate. Mr. Goudy later apologized profusely, claiming the he said that about everything."

To better understand what drew Mr. Goudy’s sarcasm read about letterspacing and blackletter.

The book, Stop Stealing Sheep, is a great primer on typography. I really have no aspiration of learning every nook and cranny of typography, but being a web developer, I feel I need to be familiar with it. In fact, I wish more developers felt that way—we would’ve seen a lot less Arial and Times New Roman on the web, less improperly spaced text, and so forth.

The book distills a lot of complex theory into is a quick and enjoyable read. For example, kerning, tracking, line & word spacing are explained in very plain English, along with guidance on how to apply them.

Stop Stealing Sheep is designed on such a high professional level that it’s a work of art in itself. Both authors convey the meaning and utility of each typeface with amazing creativity. Here’s an excerpt from Poor Richard’s Almanac by Benjamin Franklin, set in a symbol type:

This is an adage that says, He that rises late must trot all day and shall scarce overtake the business at night; while laziness travels so slowly. Isn’t it darn amazing?

Below is a diagram from page 55, which, I thought, would be of good help to my readers. It illustrates various parameters of a typeface. (Used with assumed permission. I’ve contacted Peachpit Press and asked for permission to reproduce it, but never heard back. I guess this is how much they care.)

This book has a permanent place on my bookshelf now. Highly recommend.