Ming Romantic: Collected and Bound folds together reproductions of historical documents with contemporary texts to examine how Chinese typography can evolve through the use of digital tools and manipulation of form. Additionally, the book illustrates the design process of Ming Romantic, a display face reinterpreting a style of printed type originating in China’s Song and Ming dynasties. The typeface is one of the first didone-inspired Chinese typefaces that re-imagines how the character set could look when divorced from the effects of the brush. 

Presented in three sections: “Possibilities: Typographic Speciation”; “Translations—Putting It Together: Conversations about Language & Form (Ming Romantic)”; and “Myths: Chinese Typography from Afar.”

With contributions by Gabriela Carnabuci, Abby Chen, Jonathan Lee, and Dustin Tong

Designed by Synoptic Office (Caspar Lam and YuJune Park)

Published by Synoptic Office, 2017

Softcover (cloth-bound), 96 Pages, full color, 5.5 × 8.5 inches

ISBN: 978-0-9844244-0-5