Grafica della Strada: The Signs of Italy

"Labor of love" is an over-used phrase -- but it perfectly describes this endeavor, by Louise Fili. Her comment/confession that her numerous trips to Italy were mere excuses to photograph more street signs, made me smile. (not that anyone ever needs an "excuse" for one more trip to Italy) But I knew what she meant. Her dedication and enthusiasm for typography and letter forms is on beautiful display here; and she has curated a lavish banquet of note-worthy signs for our enjoyment. Excellent photos that put us at eye level with the signs*, stylish page design a la Fili, and a book that is also a beautiful object. My advice: Keep it out, and flip through often.*As a sidebar, the final image in the book is of Louise taking photos in Bologna. Seen in profile, wearing a Raphael-esque red beret and black stockings, and holding her camera "extender" straight up; she looked very much like the Sienese "Alfieri" or flag-throwers from the Palio pageant. One of their many intricate maneuvers is to wind the huge heraldic flags into a tight vertical "rocket" and then shoot it right up into the air. I did a double-take!

I really like Louise Fili’s design and work.There is no doubt of the historical importance for design and typography that the images in this book record.For type and design fans, who like Italian vernacular letters, this would be a great gift. Five stars there.But, I kind of wish it was an e-book too since, it is all images.or a web site.The image quality would have been better if a pro photographer took the images with a full frame pro camera and lens.Of the two books, this one is better.

Beautiful typography beautifully presented. An unexpected benefit from reading this book was the new insights it provided into the Italian character and culture. A visual treat.

Every page a visual gem - signs that people see everyday - past and present - rich in color and content. You will look at it many times - it doesn't disappoint - this book will inspire you.

I love it and Got to meet her soon after!

A beautiful book of vintage Italian typography and style.

Good

This gorgeous compendium of Italian street signs also includes some very astute essays.

Congratulations to Louise Fili for producing this. When you visit Italy now you can look for something really spectacular and individual that the guidebooks do not show you. For many years I have thought it a great shame that these signs are not better promoted, it is not entirely clear either how much they are protected, though it seems from Louise's book that some of them are, which is something.Buy this book and then visit Lucca (especially, as Louise points out), Bologna and Turin as well as where the tours want to take you. You'll be rewarded to a far greater depth than you will gawping at some old church, (in my opinion).

For sure a typographer's wet dream, this book is born out of the great idea to document the incredibly rich visual language of traditional Italian store signs. However, probably because of a need to fit as many pictures as possible in a limited amount of pages, many sections of the books end up being page after page of signs stacked together in a minimum amount of space.This prevents any of them to be properly enjoyed as there's no breathing space (what makes them so beautiful when you see them in the streets of Italian cities is that they pop out of the pastel colored walls they're mounted on).In short: great if you are only interested in the typographic details, disappointing if you want to enjoy these signs as you may have loved them in real life.(*) "What a disappointment!"

There's a little explanatory text, but mainly this book is just stuffed full of gorgeous Italian typography in the form of photographs of signs taken from all over Italy by the Italian American graphic designer Louise Fili. My favourite typography book so far (and I have a lot). Highly recommended for all typophiles everywhere.

A really luscious book, cram-full of Italian sign art. Ideal for anyone acquainted with Italy and - for me, at least - a better memento than any guide book.

An FYIAfter the first delivery didn’t arrive, I reordered and it arrived the same day. Excellent customer service from Amazon.BUT the book itself is defective.It was bound with the pages upside down and backwards. If flipped over and opened from the ‘back’ cover the pages appear in the correct order and orientation. This is not a design quirk but a bookbinding production error.After all I went through to get it, I’m keeping the book but I thought potential buyers should know!