A definitive survey of ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s arcade video game pixel typography.

By Toshi Omagari, with a foreword Kiyonori Muroga

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.

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 typeface designer at Monotype.

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, typographers, and illustrators alike.

"A definitive guide to 70s, 80s and early 90s arcade game pixel typography."
— HypeBeast

Designed by Leo Field

Published by Thames & Hudson, 2019

Softcover, 272 pages, 300 color images, 6.8 × 9.1 inches

ISBN: 978-0-50-002174-3