Gara mond A Biography of the Type Family
“Garamond’s letterforms convey a sense of fluidity and consistency.”
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
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“Garamond, indeed, was the
Origins of the Typeface
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In 1530 Garamond’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 commissions Garamond to cut a Greek type. Garamond’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.
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
The Garamond Type, Roman and Italic, A First Showing. Cloister Press.
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The Letters. 100pt Garamond Regular
first to mate the Roman with a companion italic of sympathetic spirit, and to incline capitals for the letter.�
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
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Characteristics of the Typeface
“ The original Garamond letterforms, as well as many other Roman types of the sixteenth century, are 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,” where after many type foundries began to cast similar types, beginning a wave of revivals that would continue throughout the 20th Century.
Comparison 1. ITC Garamond, Stempel Garamond, and Adobe Garamond.
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The original Garamond letterforms, as well as many other roman types of the 16th century, are classified as Garalde or old style. A horizontal bar on the e, bracketed serifs, axis curves that are inclined to the left, and notable contrast between thick and thin strokes are all typical features of this style. 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.
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
Garamond
cap height
serif
x- height
base line
terminals
apenture
counter
counter
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An analysis of Garamond’s parts. 200 pt Garamond Regular
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classified as Garalde or old style.�
x- height
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Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
Adobe Garaomond
Comparison 2. Original Garamond v. Adobe Garamond in different weights.
cap height
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The bowls between these typefaces also vary, for as one can see in the example to the right, Garamond inhabits one of thinnest counters and thickest bowls. At this size, only the counter of Bodoni is thinner, and only the bowl of Univers is thicker.
Comparison 3- Analysis of Bowls. 55 pt Garamond Regular, Times New Roman Regular, Univers Regular, and Bodoni.
“The fonts Garamond cut during the 1540’s achieved a mastery of Comparison 3- Analysis of Serifs. 355 pt Garamond Regular, Times New Roman Regular, Univers Regular, and Bodoni.
Comparisons to Other Typefaces 8
Opinion varies regarding the role of Claude Garamond 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 Garamond as well as to the work of Jean Jannon (1580–1635 or 1658), much of which was attributed to Garamond.
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
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visual form that allowed closer word spacing, and a harmony of design between capitals, lowercase, and italic.�
In comparison to other typefaces, such as those shown to the right, Garamond inhabits a daintiness that few others contain. Looking at the serifs alone, one notices that the Garamond serif of the letter “b� sits lower than the rest and has a sharper slope at the top of the serif. In addition to this difference, Garamond also has a somewhat thicker stem than the other fonts used here with only Bodoni being thicker.
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
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Garamond 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.
About the Designer 10
Claude Garamond was born ca. 1480 in Paris, France. He 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. Around 1530, Garamond established his independent type foundry to sell to printers cast type ready to distribute in the compositor’s case. 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 roman typefaces by Claude Garamond remain today’s definitive letterforms for reading continuous text. The fonts Garamond cut during the 1540’s achieved a mastery of visual form, a snugness of fit, that allowed closer word spacing, and a harmony of design between capitals, lowercase, and italic. Old age did not treat Garamond kindly, and he was desperately poor when he died at age eighty-one. His widow sold his punches and matrixes. No doubt this contributed to the wide use of his fonts, which remained a major influence until the late 1700’s.
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
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Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family
Lane, John A. (August 2005). “Claude Garamont and his Roman Type”, in Adobe Systems (ed.): Garamond Premier Pro: A Contemporary Adaptation. Adobe Systems, pp. 5-13. Kapr, Albert. Schriftkunst. Geschichte, Anatomie und Schönheit der lateinischen Buchsta ben. Munich, New York, London, Paris 1983. (In German) 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)
DeAndrea Nichols SamFox School of Design Communications Design Lab Garamond Type, 6, 8, 10, 22, 32pt sizes {paper size here} November 23, 2008
Bibliography
Tilley, Arthur. “Humanism under Francis I.” The English Historical Review, Vol. 15, No. 59. (Jul., 1900), pp. 456-478.
Haley, Allan. Typographic Milestones. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1992. (SC: Z250 A2 H18 1992 4o)
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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 Publica tions, 2000. (A&A: Z250.R45 2000)
Garamond, A Biography of a Type Family