Sunday 3 April 2011

Street Fonts




Street Fonts


I received a copy of Street Fonts by Claudia Walde (the excellent Mad C to you and me) from the lovely people at Thames and Hudson.


On the face of it this book is basically a collection of writers showing off their style through 150+ sets of A-Z of the alphabet. However lets face facts, this book is far more than that. This is a book that shows what graffiti is all about – the letters. It has style dripping off of each and every page. From abstract lettering to handstyles to classic New York inspired lettering etc etc. This book has got it all and there are styles in here to please and inspire everyone.


Normally you see graffiti presented in the form of a name, in most cases there are 4 or 5 letters together. To see a full alphabet page after page after page is an even more powerful image. When you turn the page some of these just blow you away. For example, the full colour A-Z by Roket from Greece, to the simple black pen on white paper of Plaque from Prague.


Each writer's approach to how they present their A-Z is slightly different. Some pull the letters together like a big piece while others isolate them from each other, which for me personally really breaks down their style giving an even bigger impact.


An individuals alphabet is accompanied by a small bio, for example when they started, their favourite letter etc. Some also give their opinion on style and what make the perfect piece. Even if you dont agree with what that particular writer thinks, this at least gives you an idea of where they are coming from which helps to put their style into context.


As with all Thames and Hudson Graff book this is another top quality package. In fact, I would go as far as saying that this is one of my favourite Graff books ever - the only disappointing aspect being that there are no Scottish writers included.


If you have not already got yourself a copy then go get one.



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Time to get biteing then..

Daschund Stretcher said...

Good write up

Anonymous said...

LOOKS like a glossy text book that u wud get for a subject at school instead of a graf book....

Anonymous said...

Just got this. Excellent.
Amazon 13 buck. Its huge too

K
SFM