Bodoni

bodoni bodoni

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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.

type founder giambattista bodoni

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monotype matrix

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rigins of the Typeface

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. When he was young, the work of John

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Baskerville served as his ideal; when he opened his first printing office for the Duke of 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.

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type founder firmin didot

bodoni laid over didot. note bodoni’s hairline serif and high contrast of stroke weights. the right legs of both typefaces overshoots below the baseline. the cap height of bodoni is much shorter than that of didot. the shoulder of didot’s r has a slight upwards curve, whereas it remains straight and horizontal with bodoni.

Yet despite these influences, he was not a copyist.

A comparison of Bodoni’s type to Didot’s two designs that on the surface may appear virtually identical is a perfect example. There are distinct similarities in their work, and Bodoni surely studied Didot’s designs very carefully, but a close examination reveals that Bodoni’s weight transitions are more gradual and his serifs still maintain a slight degree of bracketing. There is even hint of “old style” in Bodoni’s work. He followed Didot’s lead,

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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.

bodoni

didot

5 bodoni

bodoni mt

bauer bodoni

bodoni be

examine the differences in contrast of stroke weight of the legs of the a. also note the curved or corner brackets on the serifs.

note the flattened shoulder in bodoni

a and the thin

stroke weight in bauer.

g demonstrates a greater cap-height and countershape size in bauer than mt, and greater still in be than bauer.

the tail of the q is most curved in bauer, but the be straight tail tapers off much more than mt’s straight tail.

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haracteristics of the Typeface

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.

punch and matrix for punchcutting

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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. If used carefully, Bodoni type can create typography that is exceptionally beautiful, even elegant, but not particularly easy to read. 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.

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the bodoni italic b, left, has a much shallower axis than the didot italic, right. bodoni exhibits its characteristic strong thick-and-thin stroke contrast here, as seen in the weight difference between the sides and tops of the bowl, and the ascender and its serif.

m

garamond, baskerville, and bauer bodoni. note the changes in the transitions from old style to modern. bauer bodoni showcases its hairline serifs and right-angle brackets.

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d d bodoni, left, showcases

slight curves on its serifs

that didot, right, does not have. bodoni has a much shorter x-height and ascender than didot.

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omparison

Bodoni was one of the most prolific type designers and considered an arch-romantic. 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. Both have been issued in digital form. Small caps and text figures are essential to all of these designs.

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The typical features of Bodoni revivals are abrupt hairline serifs, ball terminal, vertical axis, small aperture, high contrast and exaggerated modulation. 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. Other favorites are the Bodoni cut by Louis Hoell for the Bauer Foundry, Frankfurt, in 1924, and the Berthold Foundry version, produced in 1930.

bodoni

didot

didot’s more embellished typeface showcases a small spur.

didot’s open apex contrasts with bodoni’s closed point.

didot’s

5 has a deep joint in

compareison to bodoni’s more shallow corner.

didot’s

9 descends far below

the baseline, while conservative bodoni’s barely overshoots it.

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References 1 Philip B. Meggs, A History of Graphic Design (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992), 124.

2 Alexander S. Lawson, Anatomy of a Typeface (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990), 46, 48.

3 Alexander S. Lawson, Anatomy of a Typeface (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990), 46, 49, 50.

4 Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style (Point Roberts, WA: Hartley & Marks, 1992), 217, 218.

Colophon

Bibliography

Alex Berger is a candidate for a BFA in Communication

Haley, Allan. Typographic Milestones. New York: Van Nos-

Design with a concentration in Illustration at Washing-

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ton University in Saint Louis in Missouri. This book was

Lawson, Alexander S. Anatomy of a Typeface. Boston:

created for Typography I during Spring 2014. It is meant

D.R. Godine, 1990. (SC: Z250 L34 1990)

to inform about the typeface Bodoni and related faces

Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style.

through history, description and comparison.

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

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U.S. by Sterling, 1983.

simile a cura de Giovanni Mardersteig, Verona: Editiones

(SC: Z250 J36 1983)

Officinae Bodoni, 1968.

Cleland, T. M. Giambattista Bodoni of Parma. Boston:

(SC: Z232 B66 1788a 4o)

Society of Printers, 1916. (SC: Z232 B66 C5)

Bodoni, Giambattista. Preface to the Manuale Tipograf-

Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefac-

ico of 1818, translated by H. V. Marrot, London: Lion &

es, essays by Carolyn Annand ... [et al.]; edited by Philip

Unicorn Press, 1953.

B. Meggs and Roy McKelvey, New York: RC Publications,

(SC: Z232 B66 1953)

2000.

(A&A: Z250.R45 2000) Bodoni, Giambattista. Manuale Tipografico, 1788. Fac-

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