Arcade Game Typography: The Art of Pixel Type

Hours standing up, both pockets filled with quarters, puffer vest, ball cap, no need for sustenance. Yep, that was our life at the arcade in the ’80s. We never thought about the pixilated fonts everywhere in the name, the branding, on the low-res screens. This throwback book by typeface designer Toshi Omagari captures them in full color (250 typefaces, categorized and redrawn for publication), and even delivers detailed essays to educate us regarding these old-school digital typefaces. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Galaga, and many more are covered here, spanning the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. The paperback edition is special enough, but you can also get a limited-edition hardback that uses a double cover, metallic ink, and will only have 1,000 printed. The irony of the present analog medium that brings us back to the digital past isn’t lost on us.