The journey through a
typeface:
bodon i
Giambattista
Bodoni “ The quality of Bodoni’s design and printing, even though scholarship and proofreading were sometimes lacking, created a growing international reputation.”
A twenty-eight-year-old Bodoni was asked to take charge of the Stamperia Reale, the official press of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma. Bodoni accepted and became the private printer to the court. He printed official documents and publications desired by the Duke, in addition to projects conceived and initiated by Bodoni. His initial design influence was Fournier le Jeune, whose foundry supplied type and ornaments to the Stamperia Reale after Bodoni took charge. The quality of Bodoni’s design and printing, even though scholarship and proofreading were sometimes lacking, created a growing international reputation. In 1790, the Vatican invited Bodoni to Rome to establish a press for printing the classics there, but the Duke countered with and offer of expanded facility and a privilege of printing for other clients. Bodoni elected to remain in Parma.
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ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdef ghijklmnopqr stuvwxyz
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Origins of the typeface
Bodoni Bodoni was no revolutionary.
The modern roman style, which is attributed to him, did not, as many would believe, spring forth as if by magic. While the letters he cut and the books he printed were more refined and of exceptionally higher quality than most of the work originating before or during his lifetime, it would be difficult to classify any of Bodoni’s efforts as fundamentally new. Bodoni created typefaces and typography to impress the eye. His designs were studied efforts meant to be seen as well as read.
Few would deny that Bodoni’s typefaces are beautiful; unfortunately, few would say they are also easy to read. By current standards, his designs are, in fact, the antithesis of what an easily readable typeface should be. Had
he known this fact, however, Bodoni would probably not have been very upset. His goal was not to create typography to be appreciated by the masses. His books and other printing exercises were large regal efforts meant to be looked upon and appreciated as works of art, rather than as mere pieces of communication.
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Beatrice Warde
an eminent typographic historian, in a famous essay, likened the perfect type to a crystal goblet. Her perfect type is transparent, or invisible, to the reader and allows the content to be enjoyed without coloration or distraction. Bodoni’s type is anything but a “crystal goblet.� Its hairline serifs, strong thick-and-thin stroke contrast, and abrupt weight changes cloud the reading process. Bodoni is no quiet servant to the communication process; it is a design that demands attention.
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Characteristics of the typeface
Bodoni The ITC Bodoni, digitized in 1994-95 under the direction of Sumner Stone, are the closest of all the revivals to Bodoni’s mature style. (There are three versions, based on 6, 12 and 72 pt originals.) Other favorites are the Bodoni cut by Louis Hoell for the Bauer Foundry, Frankfurt, in 1924, and the Berthold Foundry version, produced in 1930. Both have been issued in digital form. Small caps and text figures are essential to all of these designs. The typical features of Bodoni revivals are: 1 2 3 4 5 6
abrupt hairline serifs ball terminal vertical axis small aperture high contrast exaggerated modulation
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The influences of
Baskerville and Didot When he was young, the work of John Baskerville served as his ideal; when he opened his first printing office for the Dukeof Parma, Bodoni did so with type from Fournier. In later years, the work of his great Parisian competitor, Francois Didot, influenced him dramatically. Bodoni was always, in some manner, dependent on the work of other, bolder contemporaries. Yet despite these influences, he was not a copyist.
There is even hint of “old style” in Bodoni’s work. He followed Didot’s lead, carefully evaluating the designs of his great competitor, consciously remaining, however, always just slightly behind the radical modernism of his contemporary. Perhaps this explains to some degree the longevity of Bodoni’s type designs. They were radical enough to be considered new and different (to establish for Bodoni an important and influential place in current typographic circles), but not so different that they became the 18th-century versions of fad designs.
There are distinct similarities in their work, and Bodoni surely studied Didot’s designs very carefully, but a close examination reveals that: 1 2
Bodoni’s weight transitions are more gradual His serifs still maintain a slight degree of bracketing
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Comparing
Bodoni
to the typeface by John Baskerville, 1750
Baskerville
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Characteristics of Baskerville compared to Bodoni: 1
sloping hairline serifs
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less round terminal
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similar vertical axis
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similar aperture
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smaller contrast
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Comparing
Bodoni to the typeface by Jonathan Hoefler, 1992
Didot
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Characteristics of Didot compared to Bodoni: 1 2 3 4 5
horizontal hairline serifs abnormal terminal similar vertical axis similar aperture larger contrast
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The legacy of the typeface
Bodoni If used poorly, Bodoni’s extreme weight contrast and vertical stress can cause a typographic effect, “dazzling,� which is visually uninviting and exceptionally disruptive to the reading process, especially at small sizes. Bodoni was one of the most prolific type designers and considered an archromantic. His hundreds of faces embrace considerable variety, and more than 25,000 of his punches are in the Bodoni Museum in Parma. The revivals issued in his name reflect only a tiny part of this legacy, and many are simply parodies of his ideas.
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If used carefully,
Bodoni type can create typography that is exceptionally beautiful, even elegant, but not particularly easy to read.
Bibliography Haley, Allan. Typographic Milestones. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992. (SC: Z250 A2 H18 1992 4o) Lawson, Alexander S. Anatomy of a Typeface. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990. (SC: Z250 L34 1990) Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Vancouver: Hartley and Marks,1997. (A&A: Z246 B745 1996 and Vault)
Jaspert, W. Pincus. The Encyclopaedia of Typefaces. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press; New York: Distributed in the U.S. by Sterling, 1983. (SC: Z250 J36 1983) Cleland, T. M. Giambattista Bodoni of Parma. Boston: Society of Printers, 1916. (SC: Z232 B66 C5)
Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces, essays by Carolyn Annand ... [et al.]; edited by Philip B. Meggs and Roy McKelvey, New York: RC Publications, 2000. (A&A: Z250.R45 2000) Bodoni, Giambattista. Manuale Tipografico, 1788. Facsimile a cura de Giovanni Mardersteig, Verona: Editiones Officinae Bodoni, 1968. (SC: Z232 B66 1788a 4o)
Bodoni, Giambattista. Preface to the Manuale Tipografico of 1818, translated by H. V. Marrot, London: Lion & Unicorn Press, 1953. (SC: Z232 B66 1953) http://www.linotype.com http://www.fonts.com
This book was created by Alyssa Carlotta Celentano in Fall 2012 for Washington University in St. Louis’ Typography I class in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was produced on 28 lb paper and used the fonts: Bodoni, Baskerville, Didot, and Helvetica.