Gill Sans
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z “ One
reason for the enduring success of Gill Sans is the fact that each weight reta ins a distinct
A
r thur Eric Rowton Gill was born Februar y 22, 1882 in Brighton, Sussex. He was a Br itish sculptor, typeface designer, stone cutt e r a n d p r i n t m a ke r. H e wa s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e Ar ts and Crafts Movement. He went to school a t C h i c h e s t e r Te c h n i c a l a n d A r t S c h o o l , a n d i n 1900 moved to London to become an architect. He decided against architecture and in 1903 took up calligraphy, letter-cutting and monumental masonr y. He got married in 1904 and moved to a small town where he produced many sculptures. He inspired many people in his c o m mu n i t y t o t a ke p a r t i n t h e a r t s . I n 1 9 2 4 h e m o v e d a g a i n t o Wa l e s , w h e r e h e o p e n e d h i s o w n workshop. In 1925 he designed the Perpetua typeface. This typeface was followed by the Gill Sans typeface which he completed between 1927-1930. The Gill Sans typeface is based of lettering from a friends design for the London Underground. In 1928 he moved to Pigotts, in Buckinghamshire, where he opened up a printing press and lettering workshop. He hired a number of people to work in the shop as apprentices, with many becoming successful duri n g a n d a f t e r w o r k i n g a t G i l l ’s s h o p . O n N o vember 17, 1940, Gill died of lung cancer in a hospital in Uxbridge, Middlesex.
character of its own.
Eric Gill
1930
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tanley Morison, a typeface developer at Monotype, was planning on releasing a new font. He had seen lettering created by Eric Gill that had many similarities that Edward Johnston a British calligrapher used in the sans s e r i f fo n t . M o r i s o n wa n t e d t o m a r ke t a n ew type based off their typefaces and wanted Gill to design it. Gill Sans has a small x-height compared to other typefaces. A decent size x-height is thought to be easier to read, with Gill Sans being an exception from this rule. The characters of the alphabet are based on classic roman letters, not geometric shapes, which w h a t m a ke s i t l e g i b l e . I t h a s m o re c o n t ra s t i n s t ro ke w i d t h s t h a n m o s t s e r i f fo n t s . If using Gill Sans one is able to fit more information in a given space than with other s a n s s e r i f f o n t s . To d a y , d i g i t a l v e r s i o n s a r e available for over two dozen of the original Gill Sans designs. One reason for the enduring success of Gill Sans is the fact that each weight retains a distinct character of its own. T h e l i g h t fo n t , w i t h i t s h e a v i l y ke r n e d ‘ f ’ a n d tall ‘t’, has an open, elegant look. The regular font has a more compact and muscular appearance, with its flat-bottomed ‘d’, flat-topped ‘p’ a n d ‘ q ’ , a n d s h o r t , t r i a n g u l a r - t o p p e d ‘ t .’ T h e bold font tends to ec ho the softer, more open style of the light.
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z !@#$%^&*()? http://www.monotypefonts.com/Library/HiddenGems.asp?show=gillsans
http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/gill-sans/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Gill