Arcade Game Typography – The Art of Pixel Type – Toshi Omigari
Arcade Game Typography: The Art of Pixel Type by Toshi Omigari / ISBN 9780500021743 / 272-page paperback with jacket, 6.75 x 9 inches, published by Thames & Hudson
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The definitive survey of ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s arcade video game pixel typography.
Arcade Game Typography presents readers with a fascinating new world of typography: the pixel typeface. Video game designers of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s faced color and resolution limitations that stimulated incredible creativity. With each letter having to exist in a small pixel grid, artists began to use clever techniques to create elegant character sets within a tiny canvas. This book presents typefaces on a dynamic and decorative grid, taking reference from high-end type specimens while adding a suitably playful twist. Arcade Game Typography recreates that visual aesthetic, fizzing with life and color.
Featuring pixel typefaces carefully selected from the first decades of arcade video games, Arcade Game Typography presents a completist survey of a previously undocumented outsider typography movement, accompanied by insightful commentary from author Toshi Omagari, a Monotype typeface designer himself. Gathering an eclectic range of typography, from hit games such as Super Sprint, Marble Madness, and Space Harrier to countless lesser-known gems, Arcade Game Typography is a vivid nostalgia trip for gamers, designers, and illustrators alike.
300 color illustrations
“A meticulously catalogued and vividly illustrated survey of typeface design during the golden age of arcade games… A bright, colorful, and nostalgic turn through major players and hidden gems of arcade game design… Arcade Game Typography is a loving tribute to the part played by design in many a childhood and still many a nerdy adulthood.”― Hyperallergic
