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ARAMOND creation of a typeface 1
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CLAUDE GARAMONT Born circa 1480, Garamont was a French punch cutter, publisher, and type designer. Typefaces inspired by his designs are still widely used today.
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LIFE Claude Garamont (more commonly know as Claude Garamond) was the first punch cutter to work independently of printing firms. His roman typefaces were designed with such perfection that French printers in the sixteenth century were able to print books of extraordinary legibility and beauty. Garamont is credited, by the sheer quality of his fonts, with a major role in eliminating Gothic styles from compositor’s cases all over Europe, except in Germany. Around 1530, Garamont established his independent type foundry to sell cast type ready to distribute. This was a first step away from the “scholar-publisher-type foundry-printer-bookseller” all in one that began in Mainz some eighty years earlier. The fonts Garamont cut during the 1540’s achieved a mastery of visual form and a
snugness of fit that allowed closer word spacing and a harmony of design between capitals, lowercase, and italic. These typefaces permit books such as Poliphili, printed in 1546, to remain benchmarks of typographic beauty and readability to this day. Over time, the influence of writing as a model diminished in Garamont’s work because typography was evolving into a language of form rooted in the processes of making steel punches, casting metal type and printing instead of imitating forms created by hand gestures with an inked quill on paper. Old age did not treat Garamont kindly, and he was desperately poor when he died at age eightyone. His widow sold his punches and matrices. No doubt this contributed to the wide use of his fonts, which remained a major influence until the late 1700’s.
“His roman typefaces were designed with such perfection that French printers in the sixteenth century were able to print books of extraordinary legibility and beauty.”
Below: Original Garamond punches.
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ORIGINS In 1530 Garamont’s first type is used in an edition of the book Paraphrasis in Elegantiarum Libros Laurentii Vallae by Erasmus. It is based on Aldus Manutius’ type De Aetna, cut in 1455. In 1540, King Francis I commissioned Garamont to cut a Greek type. Garamont’s ensuing Grec du Roi is used by Robert Estienne, a Parisian scholar-printer, in three sizes exclusively
for the printing of Greek books. The Garamond designs of the 1550’s were used in numerous Estienne books, winning praise from many other book printers and gaining widespread acclaim.
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GARALDE OR OLD STYLE A style of 16th century roman type including Garamond, Times New Roman, Bembo, Goudy and Calson.
OO Close up of the Egelnolff -Berner specimen, one of the first published type specimens intended for a large clientele of printers. Made using Garamond punches that were finished by Jacques Sabon.
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The hole in the upper part of the e (called the eye) is quite small.
Old style letterforms are characterized by axis curves that are inclined to the left. Compare the left O to the right, which is a more modern type with a vertical axis. Left: Garamond MT Regular, 90 pt. Right: Bodoni MT Regular, 86 pt
ee
When comparing the left Garalde style and the right Hindi-based style, notice how the left lowercase e has a horizontal bar, and there is notable contrast between thick and thin strokes. Left: Goudy Old Style Regular, 120 pt. Right: Adobe Devanagari Regular, 120 pt.
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Bracketed serifs (serifs with a curved or wedge-like transition into the stem) are also a typical feature of Garalde styles. Notice the lack of brackets on the serifs of the right I. Left: Times New Roman Regular, 95 pt. Right: Neutraface Slab Text Book, 92 pt.
Traits particular to Garamond include the small bowl of the a and small eye of the e, the downward slope of most top serifs, and the long extender. These attributes are fairly consistent among all variations.
a p b h The characteristic small bowl of the lowercase a is highlighted in black.
Long descender (extender that goes below the baseline) on the p.
Angled top serif on the b, which can also be seen on the p (left) and h (right).
Long ascender (extender above the x-height) on the h.
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COMPARISONS Opinion varies regarding the role of Claude Garamont in the development of the range of contemporary typefaces that bear his name. What is accepted is the influence his work had on other typefaces from the late Renaissance to the present. Fonts named Garamond or Garamont are related to the alphabets of Claude Garamont as well as to the work of Jean Jannon (1580–1635 or 1658), much of which was attributed to Garamond. In comparison to the earlier Italian letterforms, Garamond has finer serifs and a generally more elegant image. A typeface based on the work of Jean Jannon was introduced at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900 as “Original Garamond,” whereafter many type foundries began to cast similar types, beginning a wave of revivals that would continue throughout the 20th Century.
Garamond: These a’s are set in the same typeface as the rest of the book. The diagram below shows the cap height, x-height, and baseline for Garamond, and compares the other typefaces to those standards. As seen below, the x height is lower than the other two derivative typefaces. Notice hoe the width of the horizontal bar on the uppercase A is thinner and higher than the other typefaces as well.
x-height
baseline
jjj
Garamond
Bembo
Adobe Garamond
Comparison of the tittles (the dot on the i or j) at 940 pt. The lightest shade is Adobe Garamond, the middle shade is Garamond, and the darkest shade is Bembo. Notice how none are perfect circles, and each have different diameters though they are the same point size.
Though they all have the same derivative style, there are differences between the typefaces, such as the way the stroke ends at the bottom and the thickness of the strokes, how the serifs are angled and how the dots on top compare (see enlarged at left).
Bembo: This typeface is based on the work of Francesco Griffo, who was a contemporary of Claude Garamont. The cap-height is slightly shorter than those of the other two, and the bowl of the lowercase a is shaped slightly differently. Bembo also has much sharper-edged serifs and terminals than the other two typefaces.
Adobe Garamond: This typeface has some elements from each of the other two. It was originally designed because Adobe Systems wanted a slimmer version of Garamond, but simply condensing the typeface didn’t work, so Robert Slimbach redesigned the whole typeface. The result is letterforms that are bit thicker than Garamond, with rounded serifs and smoother strokes.
AaAa Aa
cap height
x-height
width of bar
baseline
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MODERN USES Today Garamond is the most popular typeface for body text in publishing, especially in France. Its versatility, readability and many variations make it an ideal choice of type. It can also be seen is various logos and other highly visible places. Garamond uses less ink in a similar point size than other typefaces such as Times New Roman due to its thinner strokes, which can be a cost-saver for printers.
Right: Garamond will be recognized by many as the typeface used in Dr. Seuss’ picture books.
Above: The classic logo for Tiffany’s, the New York-based jewelry and luxury goods store. Upper Right: The body text of all of the American editions of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is set in Garamond. Lower Right: Clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch uses a variation of Garamond for their logo.
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“The Garamond typeface represents France in its tradition of the dialectic, expressed in the perfect dialogue between strokes and counters, between curves and geometry.” –Françoise Schein
BIBLIOGRAPHY Lawson, Alexander S. Anatomy of a typeface. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990. (SC: Z250 L34 1990) Jaspert, W. Pincus. The Encyclopaedia of Typefaces. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press; New York: Distributed in the U.S. by Sterling, c1983. (SC: Z250 J36 1983) Haley, Allan. Typographic Milestones. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1992. (SC: Z250 A2 H18 1992 4o) Friedl, Friedrich. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type design and Techniques Throughout History. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, c1998. (SC: Z250. A2 F76 1998 4o) Monotype Corporation. Garamond: A Specimen of a Classic Letter Reproduced in Eight Sizes for use on the “Monotype.” London: Lanston Monotype Corporation, 1926. (SC: Z250 M66)
Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Vancouver: Hartley and Marks, 2004. (A&A: Z246 B745 1996 and Vault) Meggs, B. Philip. A History of Graphic Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992. (A&A: Z244.5.M42 1998 and Vault) 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) Images from www.garamond.culture.fr
Above: Original matrices of Garamont’s moyen canon.
Designed by Caroline Dierksheide Typography I Spring 2015 Typeface used: Garamond Cover: 73pt regular and 36pt italic Section headers: 32pt regular Pull quotes: 21/26 italic Body copy: 11/13 regular Captions: 11/13 italic