FHP Monograph by Ciera Earl

LOOKING FOR ROCKWELL AND OTHER SLAB SERIFS

Library of Congress Catalog Number: x000111000 ISBN: 1-000000-xx-0

All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission of the publisher and author except for brief quotations in reviews or critical articles. Published in 2017 by Typography III Typography III produces books related to the history of type design. Printed in the United States of America

Distributed by C.E. Publishers, Baltimore, MD. Cover Image Design Ciera Earl

A MONOGRAPH ABOUT FRANK HINMAN PIERPONT AND HIS TYPEFACE ROCKWELL

CONTENTS

3 TRACING THE DESCENT

5 TYPOGRAPHICAL ATTRIBUTES

15 A HYPOTHETICAL DESIGNER

21 OSTENTATIOUS REMARKS

25 AN INSPIRATION TO OTHERS

ROCKWELL REIMAGINED

37 BIBLIOGRAPHY

33 DISPLAY IS OBSOLETE

Rockwell

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a a a a aaa a a

Understanding the orgins of slab serifs

Tracing the descent of slab-serif styles can be extremely difficult. A trend can arrive in print without any clue as to where it came from. In the instance of the slab serif, they emerged quickly in the early nineteenth century out of the British Industrial Revolution with the idea that like the Industrial Revolution, there needed to be a new way to go about type.i

Being comparatively different from former typefaces like black letter or roman, slab serifs provided a new and more attention-grabbing way of display for advertisements.ii This essay will focus on the characteristics of slab serif typefaces and their histories and evaluate whether typefaces, like Rockwell, can not only be used for body text but as display conventions. We will first explore what it means to

History.com Staff. “Industrial Revolution.” History.com. 2009. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.history.com/ topics/industrial-revolution.

ii.

Tracy, Walter. Letters of credit: a view of type design. Boston: D.R. Godine, 2003.

be a slab serif typeface, as well as explore their derivatives, then assess the influence they have created on art, politics, and society.

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

TRACING THE DESCENT

Section 02. Type Description

Qualities of Rockwell

When thinking about what qualities make Rockwell a slab serif, one has to consider what makes slab serif to begin with. Slab serifs or Egyptians are characterized by thick, block-like serifs that generally have no brackets, minimal variation between the thick and thin of the strokes, large x-heights, and vertical stressiii. Vincent Figgins’s Antique of 1817iv currently dates itself as the first slab serif in history.

FIGURE 1

Dorothea Lange Migrant Mother (1936)

iii.

iv.

“A Brief History of Type - Part 5.” Http://ilovetypography. com/ (web log), June 20, 2008. Accessed February 22, 2017. http://ilovetypography. com/2008/06/20/a-briefhistory-of-type-part-5/. Figgins, Vincent , and Berthold Wolpe. Vincent Figgins: Type Specimens, 1801 and 1815, Reproduced in Facsimile Issue 4 of Publication (Printing Historical Society). Reprint. Printing Historical Society, 1967.

This mechanical style, with thick and rectangular serifs became very popular at the time for display advertising. However, Ruari McLeanv declares that the first Slab or Egyptian serif with the same vertical and horizontal stroke width, was made by an Irishman in 1806. Eleven years before that of Vincent Figgins. Shortly after the production of Figgins’s Antique, many different forms of the slab serif typeface had

Macmillan, Neil. A-Z of type designers. London: Laurence King, 2006. McLean, Ruari. “An Examination of Egyptians.” Alphabet and Images1 (1946).

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

TYPOGRAPHICAL ATTRIBUTES

been constructed. Social reformer Thomas Curson Hansard did not appreciate this boom or this particular type. In the Typographia of 1825, Hansard described that slab-serif and other such display types were: “the outrageous kind of face only adapted for placards, posting-bills, invitations to the wheel of Fortune...Fashion and Fancy commonly frolic from one extreme to another.”vi Because so many typefaces were adapted from slab serifs and type designers found themselves inspired by or reworked by popular types, it became necessary to create a sub- category to this group. Slab serifs are further broken into five sub categories: Antique, Clarendon, Italienne (French Clarendon)Typewriter, and geometric. Rockwell is considered a geometric typeface because it has no brackets and the legs and serifs are constructed with almost no variation in stroke width.vii Composed almost entirely of circles, straight lines, Rockwell

Section 02. Type Description

offers an almost blocky impression while its uppercase letter A consist of a bar at the apex. The deep serifs on the upper T and L emphasize the linear qualities of the typeface, and the lowercase a is a double story while the uppercase G has no spur. The tail of the Q is entirely outside of the bowl, and many of the round letter forms like the upper and lowercase o all form from more of a circle than an ellipse although they all hold the same vertical stress, Rockwell’s tall x-height and short ascenders and descenders typify it completely whereas its strong square serifs characterize it as a slab serif.viii

FIGURE 2 (TOP)

Vincient Figgins Antique typeface

FIGURE 3

Thorowgood and Co. Clarendon typeface

FIGURE 4 (RIGHT) Ciera Earl Slab Serif Comparison

vi.

vii.

Typographia: an historical sketch of the origin and progress of the art of printing; with practical directions for conducting every department in an office: with a description of stereotype and lithography. Illustrated by engravings, biographical notices, and portraits. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://archive.org/stream/ typographiaanhi01hansgoog#page/ n686/mode/2up.pg 686-687(618-617) “Hoefler & Co.” Sentinel Fonts: History | Hoefler & Co. Accessed February 22, 2017. https://www. typography.com/fonts/sentinel/history/.

viii.

“The Monotype: How it Works [etc].” The Monotype: How it Works [etc]. Accessed February 14, 2017. https://archive.org/stream/ MonotypeHowItWorksEtc1957/ monotype-how-it-works- etc1957#page/n11/mode/2up.

Vertical stress

Low contrast

Tall x-height

E eG g K k Strong bracketed serifs

Vertical stress

Short descenders & ascenders

Minimal contrast

Tall x-height

EeGg K k Strong squared serifs

Short descenders & ascenders

After the release of Rockwell, French writer and typographer Maximillian Vox forever placed himself in design history with the creation of the typeface classification system called ATypI.ix This system classifies Rockwell as Modern and categorized as a Mechanistic because this group evokes the mechanical aspect of the Industrial Revolution, also because they all share similar characteristics of the slab serif typefaces However, there are many characteristics that they do not share that make them individualistic to their respective type families. For example, while Clarendon and Rockwell are both mechanical slab serifs, the serifs on Clarendon connect to some of the letter forms like traditional serifs would. Like the Uppercase E in Rockwell has unbracketed serifs that are blunt and straight edged in and Clarendon’s serifs are bracketed. With that being said, Rockwell is blockier and more geometric than Clarendon, which is more round and curvy. Another distinguishing feature of the typeface is the lack of a serif on

THE TYPE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM T H E V O X- AT Y P I C L A S S I F I C AT I O N S Y S T E M

CLASSICAL

H U M A N I ST Also known as: Humanistic, Humanes, or Venetian Humanist typefaces represent the handwriting within renaissance manuscripts. Humanes include the first Roman typefaces created by Venetian printers (such as Nicolas Jenson) during the 15th century. Characteristics: • Low contrast between strokes • Heavy and short bracketed serifs • Slanted serifs on ascenders • The lowercase ‘e’ features a diagonal cross stroke Examples include: Centaur, Cloister, Jenson

MODERN

DIDONE Also known as: Modern First created in the late 18th century, didones are named after type-founders Didot and Bodoni, masters of this style. These typefaces provided the First French Empire with a new letterforms. The contrast between the thick and thin strokes are dramatic and the designs look completely different to any other typeface that had come before. Characteristics: • Very strong contrast between thick and thin strokes • Vertical axis for curved strokes • Very little to no bracketing on serifs • Terminals often have “ball” shapes

Examples include: Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum

MODERN: LINEAR

N E O - G R OT E S Q U E

Section 02. Type Description

Also known as: Transitionals Based on the earlier grotesque typefaces, the neo-grotesques category contains some of the most famous sans serif designs. Developing on the grotesque designs, the letterforms are much more refined and simplified. There is less variation in stroke weight and the lowercase g is now a single story. Characteristics: • Less variation between thick and thin strokes than in Grotesques • Single story lowercase g • No spur on the uppercase G Examples include: Bell Gothic, DIN 1451, Helvetica, Univers

CALLIGRAPHIC

G LY P H I C Also known as: Incised, or Incise Glyphic typefaces are based on engravings or chiselings of letterforms within materials such as stone or metal. Because of this, they have small triangular shaped serifs or flared terminals. These typefaces particularly focus on the uppercase characters, and many of which don’t contain any lowercase letters altogether. Characteristics: • Minimal contrast between thick and thin strokes • Vertical axis for curved strokes • A tapering effect at the terminals or triangular shaped serifs Examples include: Albertus, Copperplate Gothic, Trajan

CALLIGRAPHIC

B L AC K L E TT E R Also known as: Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura Based on the medieval scribe hands written with broad-nibbed pens, blackletter types were first used by Gutenberg. They were used to print body text until eventually Humanist typefaces took over with the invention of movable type in the early 20th Century. Examples include: Fracktur, Schwabacher, Textur

A A A A A A A A A A A A あ

A hge

CLASSICAL

GA R A L D E

Also known as: Aldine

The garaldes are named after typeface designer Claude Garamond and printer and publisher Aldus Manutius. In the mid 16th century, under the rein of King Francis I, garaldes were used to support the official grammar and orthography used across France. Characteristics: • Stronger contrast between strokes • Slanted axis • Finer proportions than those of the Humanist category Examples include: Bembo, Garamond, Sabon

A h ge

h ge

hg e

h ge

TRANSITIONAL

In the mid 18th century, the printer and type designer John Baskerville established transitional typefaces. These typefaces take inspiration from both old style and neoclassical type designs, and use characteristics from both of these styles. Baskerville’s developments with calendered paper and printing methods, opened up opportunities to create typefaces that maintained finer strokes and shapes. Characteristics: • Contrast is more distinctive • Vertical axis on the strokes and inclined axis for curved strokes • Bracketed serifs and slanted serifs on ascenders Examples include: Baskerville, Perpetua, Times New Roman

MODERN

MODERN: LINEAR

M E C H A N I ST I C

G R OT E S Q U E

Also known as: Mechanical, Slab Serif, or Mécanes

Originating in the 19th century, this category contains early sans serifs, many of which become commercially popular. The grotesques feature many awkward characteristics and quirks, including an odd distribution of line thicknesses on curved letterforms. A double story lowercase g, a spur on the uppercase G and a curled leg on the uppercase R are also common characteristics.

The design of mechanistic typefaces coincides with the Industrial Revolution at the start of the 19th century. This mechanical style, with thick and rectangular serifs became very popular at the time for display advertising. In the Thibaudeau classification system these Mechanicals are named Egyptiennes.

hge

CLASSICAL

Also known as: Realist, Réales, or Baroque

Characteristics: • Low contrast between thick and thin strokes • Heavy strokes with rectangular thick serifs • Very little or no bracketing on serifs Examples include: Clarendon, Egyptienne, Ionic No. 5, Rockwell

h ge

Characteristics: • Noticeable contrast between thick an thin strokes • Vertical axis • The lowercase ‘g’ often is double story or ‘bowl and loop’ • ‘R’ commonly has a curled leg and the ‘G’ usually has a spur Examples include: Headline, Monotype 215, Monotype Grotesque, Grot no. 6

MODERN: LINEAR

GEOMETRIC

H U M A N I ST

Geometric typefaces are created with an equal or almost equal stroke width and are designed using simple geometric forms, which are repeated and used throughout the design. As a result, geometric typefaces are less readable and letters are harder to differentiate from one another.

Humanist typefaces are not inspired by the Grotesque faces of the 19th Century but by earlier classical letterforms. The uppercase of humanist typefaces relate to Roman inscriptional letters and the characteristics of the lowercase are similar to those of Carolingian script. Because of this, humanist typefaces are said to be the most legible and readable of all the sans serif classifications.

Characteristics: • Little to no contrast between the vertical and horizontal strokes • Character shapes are influenced by geometric forms

Examples include: Avenir, ITC Bauhaus, Eurostile, Futura, Harmonia Sans

h ge

Characteristics: • Noticeable contrast between strokes • Proportions and characteristics match serif typefaces and are influenced by calligraphic forms Examples include: Gill Sans, Optima, Tahoma

CALLIGRAPHIC

SCRIPT

GRAPHIC

Also known as: Scriptes

Also known as: Manual, or Manuaires

Scripts represent the formal penmanship and cursive writing, as a result they have strong sloping forms and letterforms can often be connected together. Included in this category are typefaces that imitate copperplate scripts.

By far the broadest type category, these typefaces are not intended to be used for body copy but for display purposes. They often reflect a particular time, period or theme but can also be based on handdrawn designs written with a wide range of writing instruments.

Characteristics: • Appear to be written with a quill • Strong slope • Letters can often be connected together

Examples include: Banco, Klang

Examples include: Francesca, Mistral, Shelley

hge

OTHER

GA E L I C

N O N L AT I N

Also known as: Irish character, Irish type, or Gaelic script

This category includes all non-latin typefaces (regardless of style) for example; Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, etc. As the Vox type classification system is very Latin based, non-latin types are very underrepresented. As a result, it is worth taking some time to discover the other writing systems and their typographic designs and considerations.

Examples include: Ceanannas, Corcaigh, Doire, Duibhlinn

hge

hge hge

hge

CALLIGRAPHIC

Used as early as the 16th Century, these typefaces originated from Irish insular scripts found on medieval manuscripts. Gaelic type was used for mainly setting body text and was used throughout Ireland before falling out of favour in the mid 20th Century. In modern times, Gaelic type is used for decorative purposes, commonly found on pub signs, greeting cards and display advertising.

hge

(DETAIL, RIGHT)

lisa garnerdesign.co.uk

ix.

BAYLE, Jean-Christophe LOUBET DEL. “Classification Vox (ATypI) pour cataloguer des caractères typographiques.” Classification Vox (ATypI) pour cataloguer des caractères typographiques. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://caracteres.typographie. org/classification/vox.html.

the upper case A. The typeface has nearly no thin/thick contrast where the serifs are the same thickness of the other lines. Distinctive qualities are the bar at the apex of the upper case A and Rockwell lack of a spur on the uppercase G, the uppercase J in Clarendon sits on the baseline while it goes past the baseline in Rockwell. The uppercase K extends itself almost evenly from the center of its stem in the Rockwell type while the leg of the Clarendon uppercase K connects itself to its arm. It is easy to see some similarities Clarendon shares with Rockwell. They are bold, containing thick lines in both verticals and serifs, but the boldness in Rockwell differs with its more classical thick and thin contrast. Those classical contrast were more notably put to work in the headlines of many poster during the 1930’s. FIGURE 5

Vox Atypi Classification System

MODERN

MECHANISTIC Also known as: Mechanical, Slab Serif, or Mécanes The design of mechanistic typefaces coincides with the Industrial Revolution at the start of the 19th century. This mechanical style, with thick and rectangular serifs became very popular at the time for display advertising. In the Thibaudeau classifcation system these Mechanicals are named Egyptiennes. Characteristics: •

Low contrast between thick and thin strokes

•

Heavy strokes with rectangular thick serifs

•

Very little or no bracketing on serifs

Examples include: Clarendon, Egyptienne, Ionic No. 5, Rockwell

J klm

Section 02. Type Description

xi.

The 1930’s brought on many political and economic changes for both America and Britain. The Great Depression took the world by storm and many people and businesses found themselves unable to withstand this travesty. With the election of President Roosevelt came the institution of the New Dealx. The New Deal initiative was a variety of programs designed to provide jobs to the unemployed, economic growth, and reform amongst banks and transportation. Many states across America were invited to call to action by way of propaganda posters. It was also during this time that a new art movement arrived in America: Social Realism.xi With a focus

on creating images that encompassed the lower and working class and the politically disenfranchised. Social Realists constructed their pieces on the influence of Daumier, Courbet, and Goya in their worksxii While it was unclear whether or not Rockwell was created for and used during the Great Depression. I believe that type designer Frank Hinman Pierpont was well aware of the effects, he was an American in Britain after all.

History.com Staff. “The Great Depression.” History.com. 2009. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.history.com/ topics/great-depression Theartstory.org Staff “Social Realism “ theartstory.org. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.theartstory.org/ movement-social-realism.html

xii.

“1934: The Art of the New Deal.” Smithsonian.com. June 01, 2009. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www. smithsonianmag.com/artsculture/1934-the-art-of-thenew-deal-132242698/.

15 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

Fig. 11

FIG 6 -Poster recommending eye exams for children, WPA poster,1937 FIG 7 - See America, Welcome to Montana, WPA poster, 1937

Fig. 13

FIG 8 - Bender, Poster for Illinois State Employment Service promoting jobs for women as domestics, 1939 FIG 9 -WPA poster shows shadow of a plane, flying over the outline of Alabama. FIG 10 - Herzog, Poster for Works Progress Administration encouraging laborers to work for America, 1938

Thomas Curson Hansard Typographia of 1825

“...the outrageous kind of face only adapted for placards, posting bills, invitations to the wheel of commonly frolic from one extreme to another.”

FORTUNE... FASHION AND FANCY

FIGURE 10

American Gothic painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

17 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

fig. 12

Section 03. Designer Biography

Frank Hinman Pierpont

Rockwell’s humble beginnings are practically nonexistent, much like its type designer.xiii Frank Hinman Pierpont was born in New Haven, CT on 24 September 1860. His great-great-great grandfather was one of the founders of what is now known as Yale University. In 1880 Pierpont apprenticed, and was trained as an engineer at the Pratt and Whitney company in Hartford. Pratt and Whitney were two

FIGURE 11

Frank Hinman Pierpont, first manager of the Monotype Works in Salfords.

xiii.

Wallis, Lawrence W. “Frank Hinman Pierpont (1860-1937): An unsung pioneer of mechanical typesetting.” The Printing Historical Society36 (1994): 8-14. Accessed February 22, 17.

mechanical engineers that started a machine and tool manufacturing company. After two years he move into the product design department of the company until his apprenticeship was over. It wasn’t until 1885 when Pierpont first came in contact with mechanical typesetting, thus starting his type career. Pierpont joined Albert H. Walker in his endeavor to patent the Paige Compositor.

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

A HYPOTHETICAL DESIGNER

Section 03. Designer Biography

An invention developed by James W. Paige to replace the human typesetter. Pierpont was to prepare drawings of the compositor. It would be almost ten years before he was done with Walkers patents. During this time that he would really start to work with type. In 1894 his continued involvement led him to travel to Berlin where he was persuaded in mechanical typesetting by the Ludlow company. There he vastly improved the machine to include three new patents. At almost forty years old Pierpont embarked on his most prolific part of his career as manager at Lanston Monotype corporation in Surrey, England. He would spend the next thirty-eight years in charge at Monotype. Of his time there he would create thirty-three patents. In the terms of the typeface Pierpont supervised or created, L.W.

Wallis notes that when looking for information about Pierpont the people that he spoke to commented more on his personality more than anything, that he was dominant, over forceful, authoritarian, uncompromising and inflexible. This could be why there is not a lot of information on Pierpont, his dominating personality allowed him to get far in his career only. His discipline and work ethic led him to run the factory with an iron fist. Imprint Old Face, was Monotypesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; first original innovative type design for mechanical composition. Imprint Old Face, which was commissioned by the publishers of the The Imprint, a printing trade periodical published during 1913. It was made to used as body text for the periodical. After Imprint Old Face, came Plantin.

FIGURE 12

Paige Compositor photograph

xiv.

Wallis, Lawrence W. “Frank Hinman Pierpont (1860-1937): An unsung pioneer of mechanical typesetting.” The Printing Historical Society36 (1994): 8-14. Accessed February 22, 17.

by him, most likely without his input or consideration, rubbed him the wrong way and caused him to resent Morrison. Because these events like many things in Pierpont’s life are not documented, one can’t be so sure how these interactions went.Pierpont went on to create and supervise five more typefaces with Rockwell being his last before his retirement in 1936 and ultimately his death in 1937. Morrison was appointed Pierpont’s role at Monotype and could not uphold the standards in which Pierpont set. He was constantly given complaints about his work approach, and it was quickly noted the quality standards of any new manager would not match. Ultimately Morrison left Monotype after the scrutiny was too much to bear.xiv

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

This would be Pierpont’s first contribution to the foundry. It’s very unexpected for the first type to come out of the foundry to be created by an engineer, someone with no artistic background, regardless, it was met with great approval. Plantin characteristically had a large x-height, shortened descenders and ascenders, and strong bracketed serifs. After Plantin’s wide success, Monotype appointed Stanley Morrison as a typographic advisor. This was the beginning of a tumultuous relationship between the two. Ultimately, I believe this tension between the two stemmed from Pierpont’s age and ego--at the time Pierpont was sixty-three years old and had been enjoying a very lucrative career; the thought of someone else coming to something was practically built

Section 04. Challenges and Needs

OSTENTATIOUS REMARKS

Changes to printing and typography

Slab serif woodcut letterpress letters

xv.

Slab serifs in general were initially made as attention grabbing display text. The industrial Revolution produced a lot of commerce, it also brought profound changes to printing and typography in the 19th century. Mass production of consumer goods had major effects on print communication.xv The most prolific being the development of more practical type designs for commercial use. The impact of the Industrial Revolution propelled the printing industry in a new direction, therefore also taking typography with it. The expansion of education meant a new means of communication which internally brought the demand for printed goods of all kinds. Print advertising occurred in these media as an effective way to sell products to many. Unfortunately, because many sold similar items, there need to be a way for sells to shout to their consumers to buy their products over their competitors. Michael Twyman suggest that it can be argued that the need for bolder type is related to what could be described as non-linearity in

graphic design.xvi To this, I find myself agreeing. Trying to create visual hierarchy with one weight in a typeface is impossible, but it does pose a great challenge. Considering the industrial revolution time frame and where we are today in terms of graphic design, I can only look on with wonderment in with the lack of resources that they were still able to communicate. The introduction of the slab serif gave printed communication and necessary idea a way to be seen and heard.

Romano, Frank. “Market Intelligence for Printing and Publishing.” The day the typesetting industry died - WhatTheyThink. December 16, 2011. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://whattheythink. com/articles/55522-day-typesetting-industry-died/.

xvi.

Twyman, Michael. “The bold idea: the use of bold looking types in the 19th century.” Journal of the Printing Historical Society, no. 22 (1993): 107-43. Accessed February 21, 17.

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

FIGURE 13

Section 04. Challenges and Needs

Fig. 21

25 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

FIGURE 14

Poster advertising farm animals, 1865

FIGURE 15

Notice of Shilibeer’s omnibus, 1829 by Howlett & Brimmer

FIGURE 16

Notice of arrangements of the Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, 1887 from the John Johnson Collection

FIGURE 17

Exhibition notice, 1862 from the John Johnson Collection

FIGURE 18

Lottery poster, 1826 by Thorowgood

FIGURE 19

Poster advertising Chippenham Asso., 1836

FIGURE 20

Concert poster, c. 1890 by William Kitchin

FIGURE 21

Diorama notice, c.1827 by G. Schulze

Section 05. Technology

AN INSPIRATION TO OTHERS Rockwell’s connection to modernity

FIGURE 22

‘Monotype’ matrices and matrix case

xvii.

“Designed by Frank Hinman Pierpont, 1934.” Rockwell Specemin. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://www. appstate.edu/~gribblead/rockwell/ rockwellspeceminb.html.

was not the only foundry to produce Rockwell. Some of the others are: Bitstream, ParaType, and SoftMaker. When looking at these other versions of Rockwell I can only notice the slight changes of someone who has been staring at it for months. The one the stuck out to me the most was the way in which the round letterforms are created. Because Rockwell is geometric and the bowls of almost all of the letterforms are circular, it is interesting that the other foundries made them more ovular, like that of the bold Rockwell characters. Also, the last foundry, SoftMaker, the lowercase b lends itself as less of a mono weighted letter.

27 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

Pierpont created the very type matrices used to form his type contributions to Monotype. His deep connection with the type did not start there, but at the start of his career. He was involved with many aspects of the printing and the creation of type that went in the typographxvii that one can say his experience impacted the way in which we experience type today. The impact of technology on printing, paper manufacturing, and mechanical typesetting created a demand for a new style in type design that was compatible with mass-production. Many typefaces have inspired other typefaces. Rockwell initially made by the Monotype Corporation

Section 05. Technology

Bitstream

29 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

ParaType

SoftMaker

The way the curve attaches itself to the leg in the form of the b is not even like in the original version of Rockwell. These subtle changes must occur to avoid potential lawsuits. However, I can’t help but think that they sully the complete idea of Rockwell. With these different ways to retrieve Rockwell one would only wonder if they are the same forms that the type designer had in mind? Unfortunately,

that is one of the harder things to uncover. Because information on Pierpont and Rockwell barely exist, it’s difficult to try to understand what was to come out of this typeface. However, considering Pierpont’s personality of rigidity I don’t think they are because the extra weights only belong because they resemble other letterforms enough but not in its entirety.

FIGURE 23 (LEFT)

Matrix-case layout for Rockwell Regular, Light and Bold

FIGURE 24

Bitstream foundries’ version of Rockwell

FIGURE 25

ParaType foundries’ version of Rockwell

FIGURE 26

SoftMaker foundries’ version of Rockwell

Section 06. Typographical Uses

Today, Rockwell is used in logos on both a small and large scale capacity. Which completely proves that typeface like Rockwell can be used as body text and not only display type. Initially Clarendon was used as the body text in the newspapersxvii while simultaneously being used as display

FIGURE 27

Frank Hinman Pierpont, first manager of the Monotype Work

xviii.

Hutt, Allen (1971). Newspaper Design (2. ed., reprinted. ed.).

type. Companies like Hollywood Records and most recently Malibu Coconut Rum both use the type for integrated parts on their logos. Many companies have “revived” Rockwell, many foundries and designers have also re-imagined Rockwell as well.

31 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

ROCKWELL REIMAGINED

Like: 1982’s Serfia by Adrian Frutiger.xviii He created this type based loosely on his earlier Univers font as well as older slab serif designs. Another redesign would be from 2009’s Museo Slab by the Exljbris foundry.xix Its intended purpose, although there is not much information on it, its to be used on the web, while Rockwell was intended for print. Also 2013’s Klinic Slabxx by Lost Type Co-Op offers similar squared bracketing, the lowercase y arm does not connect to its leg giving a feeling of being unfinished. Lastly 2014’s Choplinxxi by Rene Bieder lends itself more to the slab serif of Vincent Figgins’s Antique than that of Rockwell with its more stretched appearance, and more like the original Fat Face types. However, without Pierpont’s personal decisions on the designs of other weights, Monotype and other foundries were able to produce addition weights in the type family. The use of italics, bolds, extra bold, and

condensed I believe are not what Pierpont would have designed. All of the weights I listed do not follow the geometric characteristic that is Rockwell. The rounded forms are more in the shape of an ellipse than a circle. His other typefaces also lend themselves to a geometric design, one of an engineer. Pierpont created Rockwell two years before his retirement and three before his death. His personality and work ethic would not let him complete a type family in two years with nine different weights. This could have something to do with Rockwell possibly being missed titled. A few sources called Stymie from the Monotype Corporation unfortunately there is no way of knowing whether or not this is true. There is a Stymie typefacexxii that was created in 1931, three years before Pierpont made Rockwell.

“Serifa® Font Family Typeface Story.” Fonts.com. Accessed February 222, 2017. https:// www.fonts.com/font/linotype/ serifa/story. “Museo Slab Fonts by exljbris Font Foundry » Fontspring.” Fontspring. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://www.fontspring. com/fonts/exljbris/museo-slab. “Choplin Font Family.” Fonts. com. Accessed February 22, 2017. https://www.fonts.com/ font/rene-bieder/choplin.

Section 06. Typographical Uses

xix.

xx.

xxi.

xxii.

xxiii.

FIGURE 28 (TOP)

Current logo of Hollywood Records

FIGURE 29

Logo lockup for Malibu Rum

FIGURE 30 (RIGHT)

Body copy of FDR’s quote during the Great depression shown in different typefaces.

Prince, Joe. “Klinic Slab.” Lost Type Co-op | Klinic Slab. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.losttype.com/ font/?name=klinic. No. 790, Stymie Bold, 16 & 21 Point. In Matrix Data, Specimens, & Typography (US). http://www.circuitousroot. com/artifice/letters/press/ noncomptype/typography/ monotype/index.ht ml.-

In FDR's first 100 days he created the New Deal to get America out of the Great Depression. This is one of his quotes:

Let us never forget

Let us never forget Let us never forget

that government

that government is

that government

is ourselves and

ourselves and not an

is ourselves and

not an alien power

not an alien power alien power over us.

over us. The

The ultimate rulers

power over us. The

ultimate rulers of

of our democracy

ultimate rulers of

our democracy are

our democracy

are not a President

our democracy are

not a President

are not a President and senators and

and senators and

congressmen and

and senators and

congressmen

government officials,

congressmen

and government

but the voters of

and government

officials, but the

this country.

officials, but the

voters of

this country.

Serifa Medium

Museo Slab 500

Klinic Slab Medium

Choplin Medium

12/20 FLRR

Let us never forget

not a President

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

not an alien

Section 07. Conclusion

FIGURE 31

Two dust bowl refugees walking pass a billboard the reads: “Next Time Try the Train“

This essay demonstrations how the history of Rockwell, and the history of the slab serif was impacted by the economic boom of the Industrial Revolution and how that created a deep need for printed text. Because slab serifs were regarded as a new trend in terms of how to effectively communicate amongst a large amount of people, its popularity grew significantly during this time. Slab serifs like Clarendon provided

the body text for many books and newspapers that the idea of the slab serif being only display is obsolete. Also it should be noted that newer slab serif type, that is designed and made for the screen will always lend itself to legibility at a smaller scale because it does not take all the work and expense that it went into make type at multiple sizes. Unfortunately, today, I don’t think that there is a huge market for of

Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

A slab serifs historic conclusion

DISPLAY IS OBSOLETE

the slab serif as much as it is for the sans serif. The sans serifs exude a type of modernism that I believe the slab serif could not fully attain. Geometric typefaces came the closest to that. Keith Tamxxiii suggest that the opportunities in which the slab serif could be used have not been seized yet. Because the market for a good sans serif is almost completely encompassing, it would be difficult for the slab serif to make a big enough statement that it would find itself in the trends happening now. Perhaps, one could

Section 00. Introduction

xxiv.

Keithtam.net. 2003. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://keithtam.net/ documents/slabserif.pd

say, that the age of slab serif has been, like nearly all trends before it, carefully discarded and discredited to make way for newer trends and contemporary times’ associated economic and social climates.

He [Frank Hinman Pierpont] was

dominant, over forceful, authoritarian, uncompromising and inflexible Michael Twyman Journal of the Printing Historical Society

"1934: The Art of the New Deal." Smithsonian.com. June 01, 2009. Accessed March 15, 2017. http:// www.smithsonianmag. com/arts-culture/1934the-art-of-the-newdeal-132242698/.

Section 00. Introduction

“A Brief History of Type - Part 5.” Http://ilovetypography.com/ (web log), June 20, 2008. Accessed February 22, 2017. http://ilovetypography. com/2008/06/20/a-briefhistory-of-type-part-5/. Adrian Frutiger - typefaces: the complete works. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2014. "America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s." The Art Institute of Chicago. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.artic. edu/exhibition/america-after-fall-painting-1930s. "American National Biography Online: Douglas, Aaron." American National Biography Online: Douglas, Aaron. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.anb. org/articles/17/17-00233. html. "Archer." Ivanna Lin. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.ivannalin.com/ archer.html.

BAYLE, Jean-Christophe LOUBET DEL. "Classification Vox (ATypI) pour cataloguer des caractères typographiques." Classification Vox (ATypI) pour cataloguer des caractères typographiques. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://caracteres.typographie.org/ classification/vox.html. Bullen, Henry Lewis. “The Typograph and the Monoline Machines.” The Inland Printer. Vol. 73, No. 1 (April, 1924): 65-67. Croydon Central Station. August 1890. London. In Https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Croydon_Central_Station_3.jpg. April 2, 2008. "Designed by Frank Hinman Pierpont, 1934." Rockwell Specemin. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://www.appstate. edu/~gribblead/rockwell/ rockwellspeceminb.html. Design: US Retro Posters | Crestock.com Blog. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.crestock.com/ blog/design/the-evolution-of-propaganda-design-us-retro-posters- 122. aspx. Douglas, Aaron . Aspects

of Negro Life: Panel 4: Song of the Towers Song of the Towers. 1934. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In Artstor.org. http://library. artstor.org/library/#3|search|6|All20Collections3A20negro2031393334|Filtered20Se arch|||type3D3626kw3Dnegro203139333426geoIds3D26clsIds3D26collTypes3D26id3Dall26bD ate3D26e Date3D26dExact3D26prGeoId3D26origKW3D||12|. Eric Forrest. “Rockwell Typeface.” Ericforrestdesign.wordpress. com(web log), January 23, 2014. https://ericforrestdesign.wordpress. com/2014/01/23/rockwell-typeface/. Figgins, Vincent , and Berthold Wolpe. Vincent Figgins: Type Specimens, 1801 and 1815, Reproduced in Facsimile Issue 4 of Publication (Printing Historical Society). Reprint. Printing Historical Society, 1967. GmbH, Info@linotype.com Monotype. "Font Designer – Frank Hinman Pierpont." Frank Hinman Pierpont Linotype Font Designer Gallery. Accessed February 14, 2017. https://www.li-

notype.com/434/frank-hinman-pierpont.html. History.com Staff. "The Great Depression." History.com. 2009. Accessed March 15, 2017. http:// www.history.com/topics/ great-depression. History.com Staff. "Industrial Revolution." History. com. 2009. Accessed March 15, 2017. http:// www.history.com/topics/ industrial-revolution. "Hoefler & Co." Sentinel Fonts: History | Hoefler & Co. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://www.typography.com/fonts/sentinel/ history/. Klingspor Museum, Offenbach, Germany. Accessed February 14, 2017. http:// www.klingspor- museum. de/KlingsporKuenstler/ Schriftdesigner/Pierpont/ FrankHPierpont.pdf. "IBM Selectric and Selectric II Type Fonts." IBM Selectric and Selectric II Type Fonts. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://luc.devroye. org/fonts-44934.html. Macmillan, Neil. A-Z of type designers. London: Laurence King, 2006. McLean, Ruari. "An

Examination of Egyptians." Alphabet and Images1 (1946). Mosley, James. "Review: A Tally of Types." Journal of the Printing Historical Society, no. 3 (2001): 63-67. Monotype Newsletter 83, March 1968: Basle School of Arts and Crafts, ‘monotype’ Barbou, 178th ser. (March 1968). doi:10.1107/ s0108768107031758/ bs5044sup1.cif. "Museo Slab Fonts by exljbris Font Foundry » Fontspring." Fontspring. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://www.fontspring. com/fonts/exljbris/museo-slab. No. 790, Stymie Bold, 16 & 21 Point. In Matrix Data, Specimens, & Typography (US). http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/letters/ press/noncomptype/typography/monotype/index. ht ml. Osterer, Heidrun, Philipp Stamm, and Adrian Frutiger. Prince, Joe. "Klinic Slab." Lost Type Co-op | Klinic Slab. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://www.losttype. com/font/?name=klinic. "Rockwell® Font Family

Typeface Story." Fonts. com. Accessed February 14, 2017. https://www. fonts.com/font/monotype/ rockwell/story.

“Serifa® Font Family Typeface Story.” Fonts. com. Accessed February 222, 2017. https://www. fonts.com/font/linotype/ serifa/story. Tam, Keith. "The 'Revival' of Slab-Serif Typefaces in the Twentieth Century." Keithtam.net. 2003. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://keithtam.net/documents/slabserif.pdf. "The Evolution of Propaganda Design: US Retro Posters." The Evolution of Propaganda "The Monotype: How it Works [etc]." The Monotype: How it Works

Tracy, Walter. Letters of credit: a view of type design. Boston: D.R. Godine, 2003. Twyman, Michael. "The bold idea: the use of bold looking types in the 19th century." Journal of the Printing Historical Society, no. 22 (1993): 107-43. Accessed February 21, 17. "Typographia: an historical sketch of the origin and progress of the art of printing; with practical directions for conducting every department in an office: with a description of stereotype and lithography. Illustrated by engravings, biographical notices, and portraits." Typographia: an

historical sketch of the origin and progress of the art of printing; with practical directions for conducting every department in an office: with a description of stereotype and lithography. Illustrated by engravings, biographical notices, and portraits. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://archive. org/stream/typographiaanhi01hansgoog#page/n686/ mode/2up. pg 686-687(618-617) Wallis, Lawrence W. "Frank Hinman Pierpont (18601937): An unsung pioneer of mechanical typesetting." The Printing Historical Society36 (1994): 8-14. Accessed February 22, 17.

39 Looking for Rockwell and Other Slab Serifs

Romano, Frank. "Market Intelligence for Printing and Publishing." The day the typesetting industry died - WhatTheyThink. December 16, 2011. Accessed February 14, 2017. http://whattheythink.com/ articles/55522-day-typesetting-industry-died/. Suarez, Michael Felix. The Oxford companion to the book. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

[etc]. Accessed February 14, 2017. https://archive. org/stream/MonotypeHowItWorksEtc1957/ monotype-how-it-worksetc-1957#page/n11/ mode/2up. "Thomas CursonHansard junior." UK Parliament. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://www.parliament.uk/ about/living- heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/communicating/ from-the-parliamentarycollections/collections-hansard/thomas-curson-hansard-junior/.

C O L O P H O N Designed, published and handcrafted By Ciera Earl in Balitmore, MD. Primary typefaces used are Avenir by Adrian Frutiger in 1988, released by Linotype GmbH, and Rockwell by Frank Hinman Pierpont in 1934, released by Monotype. Printed on Hammermill 60lb. Cover in Super Bright White, FSC Certified. This single edition, one-of-a-kind book, was bound using perfect binding BFA Typography lll Project University of Maryland, Baltimore County Professor Margaret Re Spring 2017