Form Counterform* Typography 1 Fall 2015
* Featuring : Baskerville
Futura
Bembo
Gill Sans
Bodoni
Memphis
Iris Lee
Baskerville
John Baskerville : 1754 : England Classified as a transitional typeface,* John Baskerville* sharpened and tapered serifs while also shifting the axis of rounded characters to be more vertically aligned. He succeeded in creating more consistent size and form, making for a popular font in books*
*Baskerville : Bold Italic : 701.53 pt
f
*Ball terminals
f f f
r r r
y y y
s s s
g g g
j j j
k k k
c c c
v v v
*Transitional Typeface: A typeface not quite oldface and not quite modern, transitional typefaces push thicks and thins in their forms moreso than oldfaces, but are too shy to go as far as a modern typeface would. They are most often stressed vertically and end in ball terminals.
g
y
Q *John Baskerville: Born in 1706, Baskerville was a member of
the Royal Society of Arts, where his typefaces were admired by people such as Benjamin Franklin. Other than Baskerville, he also created Mrs Eaves, a typeface named after his wife Sarah Eaves.
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*Notable Books: Books written in Baskerville: Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger; Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontĂŤ; Small Crimes in an Age of Abundance by Matthew Kneale; Wet Apples, White Blood by Naomi Guttman; The Accidental Zionist by Ian Pear.
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Bembo
Francesco Griffo : 1495 : Italy Based on a design cut by Francesco Griffo and named after the poet Pietro Bembo, Bembo was an old style typeface* recreated under the direction of Stanley Morison of the Monotype Corporation* Its revival was a part of an increased interest in renaissance printing.
*Bembo Std : Italic : 1296 pt
Illegible
*Oldstyle Typeface: A typeface designed to move away from blackletter or gothic typestyles, which were frankly too hard to read. It features little variation in thicks and thins, small serifs with slightly concave bases, and small x-heights.
*Monotype Corporation: Based in Woburn, Massachussetts, it is responsible for the Monotype Machine- the first fully mechanical typesetter. It’s subsidaries own some of the most famous typefaces out there, such as Helvetica, ITC Franklin Gothic, Optima, and Times New Roman.
Helvetica ITC Franklin Gothic Optima Times New Roman
Bodoni
Giambattista Bodoni : 1798 : Italy Classified as a modern typeface* Bodoni has many branches* to its family and is most popularly used for displays and headings in fashion-based design*
*Bodoni 72 Oldstyle : Book Italic : 1066.573 pt
*Modern Typeface: Modern or Didone typefacs are recognizeable through hairline serifs that feature a constant width and strong contrast between thicks and thins. Modern typefaces were created in an effort to modernize typefaces such as Baskerville and to show off precision and contrast that was offered in increasingly refined printing technologies.
“About sixty codfish eggs will make a quarter pound of very fizzy jelly.�
H
Thick Thin
*Family Branches: Speaking of extreme thicks and thins, some digital versions of Bodoni that are more optimal for display prove difficult to read, as the thin strokes all but disappear at smaller sizes. (This phenomenon is called “dazzle.”) Therefore, versions of Bodoni have been created specifically to be used as text such as “Bodoni Old Face”, which is optimized for 9 points and ITC Bodoni 12 for 12 points.
*Fashion-Based Design: Logos and products that feature Bodoni: Vogue Magazine, Calvin Klein, Armani Exchange, Elizabeth Arden, and Bazaar Magazine, Guerlain, etc.
K
C
VOGUE
Futura
Paul Renner : 1927 : Italy Classified as a geometric sans-serif typeface* and commonly analogous with the Bauhaus, Futura was designed to not revive designs or follow previous sans-serif typefaces, but to instead create its own outstanding features*
*Futura (T1) : Light Condensed : 1555.2 pt
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*Geometric Sans-serif Typeface: This classification is based on shapes such as near-perfect circles, squares and triangles. Out of all sans-serifs, these are least useful for body text.
C QODG N TUFHLE A YWKXVM
*Outstanding Features: Other than simple geometric forms, Futura also features near-even stroke widths that are low in contrast. The lowercase has tall ascenders which rise above the cap line.
Gill Sans
Eric Gill : 1926 : England Commissioned by Stanley Morison of Monotype, Gill Sans was originally created by Eric Gill* to compete with other sansserif fonts such as Futura and Erbar. Initially designed as an uppercase set, Gill Sans is classified as humanist* and features many unique characteristics*
*Gill Sans : SemiBold Italic : 447.125 pt
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*Eric Gill: Not just a typeface designer, Gill was a man of many talents, including sculpting, printmaking and stonecutting. Also a controversial figure that would later be infamous for his erotic art and sexual behavior that I will not delve into, Gill would eventually be named the highest British award for designers: Royal Designer for Industry.
*Humanist Sans-serif Typeface: Drawing heavier inspiration from serif fonts, Humanist typefaces are more calligraphic and varied as opposed to other sans-serif typefaces. Humanist typefaces are also more commonly legible on screens or at a distance.
p p p p Q Q Q Q
*Unique Characteristics: Gill Sans features ligatures in its rather large f, allowing it to connect with other letters. The lowercase letter p also contains a vestigial calligraphic tail (as seen in the previous spread) that is not seen in the rest of the typeface. In general, Gill Sans lacks the regimented, systematic design, seen in typefaces such as Futura, as it contains many inconsistent font widths, weights and irregularities.
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Memphis
Rudolph Wolf : 1929 : Germany As slab serifs* rose in popularity in the 1800s, Memphis was at the forefront of the trend. Memphis was originally a metal typeface created for Stempel Type Foundary, and is now often used for display. Memphis is inspired by and has inspired* a variety of typefaces.
*Memphis LT Std : Bold : 1296 pt
a
*Slab Serif Typeface: Also known as Egyptian or square
serif, slab serifs are most notable for their thick, block-like serifs. Because of this, slab serifs are most often used in
advertisement or as a display type, but are also popular in the computer sciences due to their neautrality and fixed width.
“Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymphs.”
vs
“Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymphs.”
*Inspiration: Memphis has often been described as the serif version of futura- due to its fixed stroke width and geometric quality. Memphis would also later inspire monospaced typefaces (characterized by all characters taking up the same amount of space) that would be necessitated through the invention of typewriters.