I recently received this review copy of "Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili." Needless to say this resulted in much jumping up and down accompanied by shouts of "It's here! It's here!" As my husband looked at me like I might have lost my marbles I explained that Louise Fili is an icon in the world of graphic design.
This book is a beautiful retrospective of her work and filled with insights about her meticulous design process. Her passion for typography permeates everything she touches and franckly makes me feel unqualified to practice graphic design some days. It was interesting to read the forward by her spouse Steven Heller express the same sentiment. The copyright page of the book even has a special typesetting surprise, but I won't spoil that little gem by outting it here.
One favorite passage is Louise's thoughts on the challenges of creating monograms: "By the time the job is finished, and the letters are cohabitating comfortably, the emblem betrays not the slightest hint of a struggle."