l adie s bicycles
&
Typography
Introduc tion
1 2
1890–1900
TABLE of CONTENTS
1900–1910
4
1910–1920
6 8
1920–1930
Conclusion
10
Introduction It
is such,
an interesting thing; many objec ts and elements that have been transfor med, changed, ef fec ted, and move with the days’ contemporar y design trends. A s obvious as it seems, typography has por trayed and helped easily distinguish these trends throughout the decades. Even more subtly, we can see these trends and thought displayed in objec ts of our daily lives. For some people, one of these objec ts may be bic ycles. In this booklet we will disec t these pat ter ns through the movement of four decades, from the 1890’s to the 1930’s in women’s bic ycles.
page number
1
1890 Rudge Whitworth Crescent: No. 2 AeroS p e c ia l , L a d i e s This bic ycle came into existence soon af ter bic ycles had been re-designed with more consideration to safety af ter the tradition bic ycle
that
had
an
obviously
large
back wheel. Thus, these new bic ycles were more streamline, more thought fully propor tioned,
and
much
less
or nate.
Because safety was such a pr ior ity, these bic ycles were called safety bic ycles, giving it a pur pose of func tion and prac ticality;
Akzidenz-Grotesk
easy for the user to r ide. Specifically, this
This typeface was or iginally released in 1896,
ladies Crescent bic ycle was also funtional
only a few years af ter this ladies safety bic ycle was
specifically for women. It followed the
released to the public. This typeface was designed for
trends of fashion, cor relating with the idea
func tinality, much like bic ycles in this day. It is clear and
that women could r ide bic yclists wear ing
legible, making it easier for the reader.. It’s propor tions are balanced and much more symetr ical. And much like the idea
their cur rent trends in fashion.
of women r iding bic ycles, the ideas of this typeface were not yet accepted by popular demand. It will later f lour ish in a later centur y.
2
page number
ladies bic ycles and typography
[ 1890–1900 ]
1900
page number
3
1900 Humber First Grade Freewheel: No. 23 S af e t y , L a d i e s Just as the need for a typeface to be used in newspapers, there became a higher demand for bic ycles to be used as transpor tation. A s car technology increased, technology,
so
did
creating
that
of
more
bic ycle chances
for re-design of the bic ycle. Humber designed a new safety bic ycle for the ladies with a new breaking system that
News Gothic
had evolved away from the pedal-
Designed by Mor r is Fuller Benton, this sans-ser if
break system. Instead of compar ing the
typeface was released in 1908, or inginally designed in
advancements of technology bet ween
a lighter weight tex t. It was then altered with a medium tex t
bic ycle and typeface, we can also see
weight and stood as the replacement for the name News Gothic.
some physical similar ities. Both share a
Similiar to the Franklin Gothic typeface in propor tion and str uc ture, Benton had created a more condesnsed, shallow typeface. It is also much more organic in for m and just subtly changes stroke width. With these components, News Gothic was commonly used in newspaper and magazine publishing, making it available and func tional for those to read.
4
page number
ladies bic ycles and typography
[ 1900–1910 ]
more compac t for m and organic contour.
1910
page number
5
1910
Goudy Old Style This old-style classic typeface was or iginally created by Freder ic Goudy in the year of 1915. Like the ladies Golden Sunbeam, this typeface takes into consideration func tionality of contemporar y typography of the time including balanced, rounded design. With beautiful cur ves and ser ifs, this typeface br ings a
Golden Sunbeam: Design R1, Ladies
new level of typegraphy. This typeface is considered
The Golden Sunbeam is a more refined,
one of the most legible ser if typefaces being used for pr int produc tion. Thus, keeping in mind
or nate, and more expensive version of
classic and cur rent ideas of typeograhy
the nor mal Sunbeam. Even though this
and most impor tantly, funtionality.
bike is pushes towards the more spendy end of the spec tr um, the design still ref lec ts that of the previous, or iginal for m. Like the typeface, Goudy Old Style, this
bic ycle
func tionality,
takes
into
beauty,
consideration and
classic
elements inter t wined to complete an objec t ref lec ting mixed design.
6
page number
ladies bic ycles and typography
[ 1910–1920 ]
1920
page number
7
1920 Centaur Although this typeface was or iginally drawn for the Metropolitan Museum of Ar t as tilting capitals in 1914, it was released to be used by the general public in 1929 af ter the italic and Roman
Renaissance inf luence and the typeface, Eusebius. Even
Humber: The Popular Model No. 6, Ladies
thought this typeface func tions well and is legible,
The Humber bic ycle company designed
this typeface is far too elegant for frequent use.
and made bic ycles for the Royal Family,
lowercase were added to the family. It was designed upon
giving
these
bic ycles
the
ultimate
status of quality. In the manual that came with the bic ycle when purchased it states, “as at trac tive as it is wear ing and ser viceable. Easy and silent r unning and consequently non-fatiging...� Fine details
were
incor porated
into
the
design of this bike, much like the details put into the typeface, Centaur, giving it an elegance. Because these bic ycles were so exclusive they were also far too elegant for frequent use.
8
page number
ladies bic ycles and typography
[ 1920–1930 ]
1930
page number
9
10
page number
ladies bic ycles and typography
[ 1920–1930 ]
Conclusion In Summary, A s we have only sampled from cor relating pat ter ns bet ween typography and ladies bic ycles, we still come to a sense that such dif ferent things have both been ef fec ted by time. Time that has transfor med evolution of technology, pushed change in trends, and ef fec ted the way we see objec ts and read tex t.
page number
11
53, 13, 16, 0
0, 96, 76, 0
COLOPHON This book was made by Anna Linnea in InDesign CS5. The typefaces for this book included the Folks family and Didot. The bicycle illustrations were hand-drawn in Illustrator CS5.
2, 48, 100, 0
0, 83, 100, 0
48, 97, 45, 34
10, 14, 68, 0
Anna Linnea
|
2012