The Ohno Book
A Serious Guide to Irreverent Type Design
Chronicle Books · Print & ebook · October 14, 2025
From the cult favorite typography studio and foundry OH no Type Co. comes this richly illustrated and endlessly entertaining handbook featuring type specimens, process sketches, and instructions for creating typefaces.
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- Who it’s for
- Type specimens, process sketches, and practical guidance open a lively window onto typeface design.
- Themes
- Type design craft, Creativity and practical concerns, Typography instruction
- Genres
- Typography
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Start with this bookAbout this book
From the cult favorite typography studio and foundry OH no Type Co. comes this richly illustrated and endlessly entertaining handbook featuring type specimens, process sketches, and instructions for creating typefaces. The purpose of this book is to make type design fun. As author and OH no founder James Edmondson explains about type, “For me, it’s been a refuge, an infinite playground where I’m constantly excited to explore something new.
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It’s a place where I can exercise my need for control in a productive way.” OH no Type Co.'s wildly imaginative fonts—including Beastly, Casserole, Hobeaux, Ohno Fatface, Polymath, Regrets, and Vulf—lend an exuberant, psychedelic flair to packaging, editorial design, gig posters, and apparel, earning the company cult-like status in the graphic design community. Edmondson shares his knowledge and passion for type design with his signature humor, candor, and warmth beloved by his many students and followers. Along with a visual feast of fonts and signage and type ephemera, the book includes guidance and practical information for graphic designers and typographers, including: - Expert advice on designing type fonts - How to balance practical concerns with creativity - Why OH no names fonts after an obscure funk band and a French school of decorative arts - What it takes to earn a living as a type designer - And much more As engaging to read as it is to look at, this spirited go-to handbook is a must for all graphic and type designers looking for inspiration and instruction from a leader in the field. TYPE DESIGN GURU: Founder James Edmondson is a sought-after instructor at California College of the Arts, Letterform Archive, and Cooper Union. He hosts the popular podcast OHNO Radio and writes the OH no Type School blog series. INSPIRATION AND INSTRUCTION: The Ohno Book is both a treasury of type design and a practical guide to the craft. It features instruction and process notes for students of typography who want to hone or expand their design skills. HIGHLY DESIGNED ART BOOK: Taking a cue from OH no’s brilliantly creative fonts, The Ohno Book features a richly designed, attention-grabbing cover and over 175 black-and-white illustrations throughout, perfect for cutting-edge graphic and type designers to display on a bookshelf or coffee table. Perfect for: - Graphic design and type design students and professionals - Typography enthusiasts - Collectors of lettering art design books - Graduation and teacher gifts
Type Design Practice
Type specimens, process sketches, and practical guidance open a lively window onto typeface design.
Come here for
- Type specimens and process sketches
- Guidance on balancing creative ideas with practical concerns
Expect
- Instructions for creating typefaces
- Advice on earning a living as a type designer
Where it sits
| Typography | 100% |
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Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Graphic Design
- Typography
- Designer Profiles
- Authors
- James Edmondson
- Publisher
- Chronicle Books
- Published
- October 14, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Type design craft · Creativity and practical concerns · Typography instruction
- Reading lane
- Graphic Design