Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing The Elements of Typographic Style vs About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design, the Slant community recommends The Elements of Typographic Style for most people. In the question“What are the best books to read on user experience and design?” The Elements of Typographic Style is ranked 4th while About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose The Elements of Typographic Style is:
The book is designed to cover all aspects of typography which makes it a good intro book for readers who are new to the subject.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Provides a comprehensive overview
The book is designed to cover all aspects of typography which makes it a good intro book for readers who are new to the subject.
Pro Covers the history of typography
Throughout the book, typographic practices are explained along with their historical significance. Many terms and practices in typography are steeped in history, and learning it helps understand both the rationale, and significance of their adoption, and as a result, what role they play in modern typography.
Pro Well known book and author
The first edition of About Face was published in 1995, and has been referenced in a variety of work since then. It's in-depth coverage of of interaction design make it a well known reference book in the industry.
The author, Alan Cooper, is a pioneer of interaction design.
Pro Comprehensive guide
About Face takes an in-depth look at a breadth of topics relevant to interaction design. It covers everything from personal development and psychology to methods and further resources.
It's a large book at 720 pages for the fourth edition, and packed with information.
Cons
Con Poorly formatted book
The writing style of this book can make it difficult to read. Long walls of text, references to terms that are never defined, and a lack of captions. There is a lack of visual examples, and the small font makes it easy for a reader to lose their place.
Con Terrible binding
The fourth edition has had an issue with binding quality. There has been many reports of the book falling apart when opened or after a very short period of time.
Con Use of pseudo-terms
