Join First Light Books to explore the history of typography hands-on with designer Kelli Anderson and her newest book, ALPHABET IN MOTION.

About the book

With an interactive cover, 17 pop-ups and hands-on activities throughout, ALPHABET IN MOTION is an immersive introduction unlike any other to the history of typography and letter shapes

Ever wonder how we ended up with so many different styles of letters? Open any text editor, email client or design app and you will immediately be bombarded with a buffet of typographic choices. Serif or sans serif? Display or text? Classical or contemporary? Formal or casual?

Featuring 17 stunning interactive pop-ups, this ABC pop-up book explains―as well as demonstrates―the technologies and philosophies that have shaped letterforms through the ages. Readers will learn about '60s psychedelic type by projecting light through a phototypesetting pop-up; how screen technology shaped letterforms by turning on and off anti-aliasing; or the aesthetics of typographic modularity by reconfiguring the puzzle pieces of Josef Albers' Kombinations-Schrift.

Type history is often technical and always visual. It is therefore challenging to fully explain in text or in diagrams alone. The book's interactive features provide a sensory inroad for curious general readers to grasp how typography has transformed through history (and how lettering can convey a point of view or philosophical stance).

A 128-page companion essay section includes an essay further contextualizing each pop-up. ALPHABET IN MOTION puts the reader's hands, eyes and minds in touch with the meanings behind the typography that surrounds us in our homes, on our screens and on our streets. If you look carefully, you can see the history of the world―from the Bronze Age to the Information Age―in the microcosm of type.

About the author

Graphic designer, educator and author Kelli Anderson has been widely celebrated for her work in infographics, branding design, pop up books and risograph animations. She is a Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award nominee, was a fellow at both NYC’s Centre for Book Arts and San Francisco’s Exploratorium, and served as Adobe’s inaugural creative resident. Anderson’s previous publications include This Book Is a Camera—which transforms into a working camera—and This Book Is a Planetarium, which has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide in two languages. Her work has been praised by The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Today Show, Wired, and more.

She will be joined in conversation by Austin Kleon, the New York Times bestselling author of a trilogy of illustrated books about creativity in the digital age: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going. He’s also the author of Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by redacting the newspaper with a permanent marker. His books have sold over two million copies and have been translated into over 30 languages. He’s been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, and in The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He speaks for organizations such as Pixar, Google, Netflix, SXSW, TEDx, Dropbox, Adobe, and The Economist. In previous lives, he worked as a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons.