Thursday, 4:13pm
28 June 2012

An A-Z of Style

Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits

(Chronicle Books, USD29.95)

Could anyone other than Steven Heller put together a pop culture book like Stylepedia? It’s a mind-bogglingly diverse collection of graphic bits and pieces (many of them familiar to Eye readers) assembled with Heller’s wife, the designer and illustrator Louise Fili, and beefed up with sidebars by the estimable Dan Nadel. So, until the time comes when we can download such accumulated knowledge and opinion as a braincast, this is a handy guide to their collected opinions on Handlettering, Helvetica (‘represents a clear Platonic ideal and a turgid generic sterility’), Heroic and Hip-Hop, to name just four adjacent entries.