B
“The letters don’t get their true delight, when done in haste and discomfort, nor merely done with dilligence and pain, but first when they are created This book is set in Bauer Bodoni.
with love and passion.”
Giambattista Bodoni (1741 – 1813)
ABCDE FGHIJK LMNOP QRSTU VW XY Z
abcdef ghijklm nopqrst uvwxyz 0123456789
the vertical bowl
Q
the thick to thin stroke
The iconic thick & thin strokes
of Giambattista Bodoni’s 1798 designed typeface make it recognizable among all others. Labels such as Vogue, Armani Exchange and Calvin Klein have adopted the typeface to execute the high-end image they’d like to portray. The characters in Bodoni that are most unique to the typeface are the uppercase Q and lowercase j. The uppercase Q has a tail that is centered and hangs below the baseline. The lowercase j has a “rounded hook” as a terminal, and shares a square circle tittle with the lowercase i.
the centered tail
the rounded ear
the small counter space
The father of modern type, as Bodoni has been called, shows that Bodoni started the Modern typeface movement by getting away from handwritten type and creating a typeface that could easily be used with copperplate engraving. This process is perfect for the delicate hairline strokes of Bodoni. John Baskerville, creator of Baskerville, inspired Giambattista Bodoni to create the more dramatic and visually expressive version of the transitional typeface.
g
the descender that goes below the baseline
the perfect circle tittle
the hairline serif
Crème de la crème
Created in 1926 by Heinrich Jost in Germany, Bauer Bodoni is considered the “crème de la crème” of the newer Bodoni recreations. The forms in Bauer Bodoni are more elegant and delicate than most other recreations of the typeface. While some more elegant than others, all versions of Bodoni have these similar characteristics: unbracketed hairline serifs and hairline horizontal strokes, contrasted by thick stems, a small x-height and vertical stress in the rounded strokes.
the descender with the rounded hook
j
&
Roman Roman Italic Bold Bold Italic
FINE. (end)
Alyx Jacobs Typography I 2013