Hyphens and Hashtags

The punctuation marks, mathematical symbols and glyphs which haunt the edges of our keyboards have evolved over many hundreds of years, shaping our understanding of texts, calculations and online interactions. Through individual entries discussing the story behind each example, Hyphens & Hashtags reveals the long road these special characters have taken on their way into general use. In the digital age of communication, many have gained additional meaning or a new lease of life – from the colon, which now doubles up as the eyes of a smiling face emoticon to the hashtag, which has gone from obscurity to an essential component of social media. Hyphens & Hashtags casts the spotlight on these stalwarts of typography who marshal our sentences, clarify our calculations and add some much-needed emotion to our online interaction.

Hardback, 192 pages.
Measures 18.4 x 11.8 cm.