House Industries Lettering Manual

I had been looking forward to the arrival of this book since I pre-ordered it a few months ago. It arrived yesterday, and I resisted the temptation to look inside then, as I had other tasks requiring completion at that time. This morning I sat down to give the book my complete attention. I read the introduction, the sidebar, and had just begun reading the case study on page 8 when I heard the unmistakable sound of the jacket releasing from the spine of the book. On page 8?!? Seriously?! I have their previous book as well as many of their catalogs and early promotional materials, all of which demonstrate their close attention to the smallest of details, which is why I find this failure so shocking. No doubt the content of this volume will Iive up to the standards I have come to expect from House, but the binding deserves a failing grade. I hope this is an isolated incident, and not an indication of a downward trend in the overall quality of items produced by and for House Industries.

Handlettering was the first thing that got me into graphic design years ago, but at the time, there were few contemporary books on the market that really explored the subject in the excruciating detail that I was looking for. Jessica Hische's book "In Progress" was the first that I bought and it really covered all the bases. However, I wanted more in-depth details about connections, ligatures, swashes, and rules that apply to more than just basic styles. Lettering spans a super wide range of looks and feels, and Lettering Manual takes the time to look at TONS of great case studies and examples. Retro, Brush, Scripts, and others are all covered. Finally I have hard and fast rules about connection points between brush strokes I'm vectoring (there are many ways to do these things, and some of them are quite simple, but it's so nice to have comprehensive explanations/processes outlined).Where other lettering books might feel more basic in nature, Lettering Manual addresses those lessons and then takes a full step into the advanced realm. Every diagram has extended explanations and every case study loads of process shots, and boy is the proof in the pudding. With clients like Ford, Hermes, and The Jimmy Kimmel show, you just can't mess with the professional, SUCCESSFUL, experience that Ken Barber is bringing to the table. If you had questions about the minutia of lettering, you're going to find it in this book. I will say that this is NOT a book about learning how to add various "effects" to your lettering so don't expect to learn how to add vector drop shadows or in-line strokes ( here's a tip : those types of things you just need to do the hard way––by hand).Final Note - the cover of the book has fallen off the first day. I've held the book literally twice and it is completely off. The book is bound fine, but the glue that was supposed to hold it to the cover.. well for a moment I just thought it was a book cover. It's insane to see something like this happen when House Industries, the undisputed champions of book design ( inside & out, seriously if you haven't seen their other books.. just look up their 2004 hardcover), are behind the project. Needless to say, the content is so quality it doesn't expect my 5 stars. I will glue it back together if I must because I'm going to be returning to this manual every time I have a lettering project.Thank you Ken!

Exquisitely designed with a thoroughness of detail that makes it one of a kind guide to lettering. It’s obvious that a tremendous amount of labor went into its creation. Mr Barber should be proud. Required for any House fan.5 stars for content, design and lettering joyBut...1 star for the physical book itself, the binding of which came apart during my first reading.I am in a shelter in place state so going to a UPS Store to return it to Amazon ain’t happening. I will live with its flawed beauty, a metaphor for American life in the time of COVID.

Love this book! I received my copy yesterday and was able to flip through it really quick. There is a ton of awesome content that I can’t wait to really dig into! Great sketch examples, lots of tips and things to avoid doing so I feel like I have a lot to learn!I will note, the cover is separating from the bound pages of the book, like the glue didn’t properly hold or something. This really doesn’t take away from the quality of the content in the book and I’m not that bothered by it so still 5 stars from me!

There is nothing that House puts out that I do not want to buy. There is a lot of content similar to that featured in the The Process is in the Inspiration, released by House In 2017, but almost completely different in those sections of each of the books. This book thankfully contains a more technical perspective on what seems to be the brand marks they’re best known for creating. I was about to throw a fit until I looked more critically.The Case Study in the Jimmy Kimmel Show logo features several logo concept sketches that I personally prefer to the final product. That seems to have been a long process.I saw the notes on the launch that promoted lay flat binding. I can see how that would have worked great, but mine was glued in a way that would have never successfully laid flat, so I scraped the glue off where the cover was glued to the last page. It now lays flat.

I can't give House a bad review. This book is beautiful, full of great ideas, and detailed information. I have had books about hand lettering, and books about typography. This books shows how two crafts that split with letterpress, can feed back together in a refined beautiful way.I love that there is a lot of copy in this book. Many lettering books will be low on content, just example after example. Ken Barber knows his job and how to write about it. You will want to sit with this book with your sketch book next to it for jotting notes and sketching ideas.Thanks House for this great product. yj,gujjhjuyuy uy uy y7The missing one star? My copy has weak glue in the spine. I don't know if that is a case of rush binding or poor quality glue. I like the book so much however I am holding on to this one. I took fiber arts classes in college and have some knowledge of hand binding, so I will find an at home solution. I just got this beautiful book and can't handle sending it back for a replacement.

Book looks amazing!! HOWEVER.....it’s coming apart and I’ve only flicked through it, really disappointing!!

Sadly the faulty books made it to Amazon. Returned mine immediately. House have been in Touch to say they are on to it and will hopefully have the issues sorted soon. I will be ordering direct from them to ensure I get the corrected item.

I have exact same problem with my book. It fell apart just few minutes after I opened it. It’s a shame because I love the content. Very disappointed.

Books great....but the cover fell off during first read!

El diseño de este libro es maravilloso; es una excelente compra si eres principiante, o no, ya que viene muy completo; contiene temas sobre anatomía, métodos de dibujo, técnicas de bocetado, efectos ópticos, y muchas otras cosas más, además de mostrar algunos modelos basados en diferentes estilos. Lo recomiendo junto con el libro de Iván Castro _El abc del lettering_, ya que es otro libro del cual no me arrepiento de haber obtenido.Lo malo del libro de House Industries, y como muchos ya mencionan, son las cubiertas, las cuales se desprendieron el primer día de uso; sin embargo, creo que el contenido es lo esencial, y por eso mismo no lo devolveré, menos en esta situación que estamos viviendo, tomaría bastante tiempo, así que prefiero usarlo. Es una lástima que se haya desprendido; pero pagué por el conocimiento que se puede obtener con este libro, y éste es enriquecedor, así que lo pegaré con resistol 5000 y listo.