Antique Olive Type Specimen by Jessica Huang

A Type Specimen

W h e r e

L a t e

t h e

S w e e t B i r d s S a n g

NOVEL

Antique Olive

KATE

WILHELM

During a time when designers used typography transparently, and typefaces that were designed to be mechanical and neutral followed one after another, Roger Excoffon decided to conceive a new kind of sans serif. One that would be more humanistic and more idiosyncratic then the likes of Univers and Helvetica. One that embodied a personality that set it apart from the rest of the sans serifs that were much more anonymous in appearance. In 1962, Roger Excoffon released an all new kind of sans serif:

Antique Olive

Antique Olive Type Specimen

L I G h t 13 /18 p t

L I G h t 11/15 p t

L I G h t 1 0 /14 p t

L I G h t 9 /12 p t

Typeface by Roger Excoffon

A n t i q u e O l i v e f e at u r e s a v e r y l a r g e c o u n t e r s pa c e , a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c t h at i s e a s i ly r e c o g n i z a b l e i n l e t t e r s such as "B" and "r".

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Antique Olive Type Specimen

Typeface by Roger Excoffon

Co n d e n s e d b o l d Co n d e n s e d R e g u l a r

15/19 pt

Having been a designer in the midst of the "nouvelle vague" or the French New Wave, Roger Excoffon sought to create a typeface that stood out from the rest. R oman 1 0 / 1 4 p t

12/15 pt

Excoffon designed Antique Olive in response to the increasing demand for sans serif faces following the success of Helvetica and Univers. R O M A N 8 /12 p t

10.5/15 pt

However, not wanting to make just another clean, contemporary, and cliche sans serif, Excoffon made typefaces that contributed a life and exuberance to French advertising and graphic design, a kind of new and surprising personality that the design of the times needed.

Antique Olive

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Sans Serif Sans Serif Sans Serif Sans Serif

T h e r e

n o

UNIVERS

6 5 B O LD

H e l v e t i c a Bo l d

Grotesque bold

Antique Olive bold

i s

t h e r e o n e , t h e

i s

o n ly

w h o l e .

Antique Olive Type Specimen

T h e “ s ” a n d “ o ” a r e t o p h e a v y, G i v i n g t h e m a n u p s i d e - d o w n a n d p l ay f u l c h a r a c t e r .

they need so much

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

There is no individual, there is only the community.

roman

Black

IT A LIC

C O MP A CT

Antique Olive Type Specimen

Antique Olive comes in a variety of weights. ROMAN 15/19 pt

c o m pa c t 8 / 1 2 p t

Light Ro m a n I ta l i c Bo l d Co m p a c t

“The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then,” David said wearily. “But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. The offspring have shorter lives, but more fertile members. This trend continues to the sixth generation, where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again, and then it’s on its way to normalcy steadily.” He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied.

A, A¹, A², A³, A4, and their offspring by sexual reproduction,

Bo l d Co n d e n s e d BL A CK E X TENDED No r d No r d i t a l i c

C O MP A CT 7 / 1 1 p t

a, a¹, a2, a3, a4, There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black, black sleep. “Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out, and the ability to do so is there. Something remembers and heals itself,” he said dreamily. “You’ll be a great man when you publish,” Vlasic said, his hand on David’s shoulder. He then moved to sit next to Walt, to point out some of the details that Walt might miss.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

condensed regular

condesned bold

a1 c o m pa c t

a2 light

a3 roman

i ta l i c

a5 medium

a7 nord

a6 bold

a8 extended

Antique Olive Type Specimen

Antique Olive was made to compete with Univers and Helvetica. bold 15/19 pt

Antique Olive was named after the foundry, Fonderie Olive, where it was born. In France, "antique" was used as an equivalent of the term "sans serif". Antique Olive was a very refined neo-grotesque font with subtleties of stroke width and strikingly broad horizontals. roman 12/16 pt

Among some of Antique Olive’s most distinguished characteristics are its enormous x-height and its well-defined counters, both of which establish legibility and allow for economical line height. Another prominent feature is Antique Olive’s extreme variations in stroke where the curves meet the stems. This contrast shows Excoffon’s more humanistic approach in making his sans serif.

bold ... I ta l i c ... Black ... 28pt

Corn blight ... Wheat rust ...

roman 11/15 pt

There was no clone-six strain. None survived.

BL A CK 1 7 / 1 8 p t

Soybean blight ...

Antique olive has a particularly condensed regular

I ta l i c 1 5 / 1 9 p t

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

condesned bold

EnorMous a 3 a x-Height c o m pa c t

light

c o m pa c t 5 5 / 4 8 p t roman

i ta l i c

extreme a5 a stroke variation where curves meet a 7 a n the stems t bold

extended 42/48 pt

nord

black

extended

If the children lacked the imagination to abstract, to fantasize, to generalize, they had to know it now and try to compensate.

nord 7.5/12 pt

{}

Antique Olive Type Specimen

Have you ever seen what

happens to

a strange Ant

Antique Olive was named after the foundry, Fonderie Olive, where it was born. In France, "antique" was used as an equivalent of the term "sans serif". Antique Olive was a very refined neo-grotesque font contrast where with subtleties of stroke width and the curves extended strikingly broad horizontals. meet stems

when it falls

into another ant colony?

nge .......... Among some of Antique Olive’s most distinguished characteristics are its enormous x-height and its well-defined counters, both of which establish legibility and allow for economical line height. Another prominent feature are Antique Olive’s extreme variations in stroke where the curves meet the stems. This contrast shows Excoffon’s more humanistic approach in mak{ serif. } ~ ¡ ¢ £¤ ¥¦ ing his sans

„†‡

roman 19/33 pt

Corn blight ...

Wheat rust ...

~~~~~``,,////

§ ¨©ª«

•

Soybean blight ... … ‰‹›⁄ ™ F l y !

f l y ! Ł łŒ œŠš

ŸŽ

žƒ

ﬁ ﬂ

Black 16 pt

}

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Antique olive has a particularly I ta l i c 1 5 / 1 9 p t

millions of people, hundreds of millions of people,

EnorMous x-Height Gone,

All gone.

black, light 10/17 pt

Stran Ant... To p h e a v y

abrupt finials

extreme stroke variation where curves meet the stems f l at a p e x

narrow

angled

shoulder

ascender terminal

>>..>....;;; ||\\][[

.. ... .::.. ...

··«» »°º¨¨ ´.. .:

b l a c k , c o m pa c t 1 5 0 p t

¼½...

°-+/ ¶ ª ¬® „†‡

•

Compact / 6pt

™ − If the children lacked the imagi-

À ÁÂ

ÃÄ

ÆÇÈÉÊ

nation to abstract, to fantasize,

ÌÍ

Î Ï

ÐÑ

ÒÓ Ô Õ Ö ×Ø

to generalize, they had to know

it now ð¾ ¿

and try to compensate.

Ł łŒ œŠš

ŸŽ

nord 7.5/12 pt

žƒ

ﬁ

{ }

Antique Olive Type Specimen

Anique Olive was designed to compete with Helvetica and Univers, He sought and found three Celias.

He could no long tell them apart.

Antique Olive was named after the foundry, Fonderie Olive, where it L i g hwas t born. In France, "antique" was used as an equivalent of the term "sans serif". Antique Olive was a very refined neo-grotesque font with subtleties of stroke width and strikingly broad horizontals.

Among some of Antique Olive’s roman most distinguished characteristics are its enormous x-height and its well-defined counters, both of which establish legibility and allow for economical line height. Another prominent feature are Antique Olive’s extreme variations in stroke where the curves meet the stems. bold This contrast shows Excoffon’s more humanistic approach in mak{ serif. } ~ ¡ ¢ £¤ ¥¦ ing his sans

i ta l i c

Corn blight ...

Wheat rust ...

Light 8/13pt

~~~~~``,,////

§ ¨©ª«

Soybean blight f l y ! ... F l y !

There was no clone-six strain.

They were all grown-up Celias

None survived.

now and indistinguishable.

He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him;

no love.

c o m pa c t 8 / 1 3 p t

„†‡

•

… ‰‹›⁄ ™

}

d ger m

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

The “R” has a very wide bowl

Living memories,

that’s what they represented.

Nord / 42pt

He turned away and pondered the future of the boys, all of an age; uncles, fathers, grandfathers, all the same age.

Most often used in Excoffon’s time at a display scale in advertising and some nouvelle vague movie posters, Antique Olive stood out from the rest. He was starting a headache again.

It was not neutral, not transparent, and was not a mere vessel or carrier of meaning, or as Beatrice Warde would have said, not a crystal goblet. Thus, it was not widely accepted for

Compact / 6pt

use outside of France. Light 9/14 pt

™ −

light 6/12 pt

Antique Olive Type Specimen

41/34 pt

Light

Only more recently has it gone through a revival. Antique Olive has been slowly but steadily preferred over fonts such as Helvetica and Univers more and more by those who have come to appreciate its character and have become enamored with its idiosyncrasy.

bold

roman

IT A LIC 1 1 / 1 5 p t

An extended family of widths and weights, Antique Olive can be seen as of late as display

c o m pa c t

type in branding campaigns, on book covers, at film festivals and movie titles, and also as body type in exhibition catalogues and specialized pamphlets. IT A LIC 8 / 1 3 p t

i ta l i c

Antique Olive is â&#x20AC;&#x153;A marvelous piece of work!â&#x20AC;&#x153; Mechanical Anonymous Neutral Transparent Crystal Goblet light 20/20 pt nord 20/20 pt

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

“ They’re all lies! I’m one! I’m an individual! I am one! I’m not an ant!

i ta l i c 2 4 p t

“

Antique Olive Type Specimen

i ta l i c 2 4 p t

refreshing.

light 45/50 pt

bold 100 pt

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

"Why are you smiling like that?"

Due to the variation in stroke width in its curves, especially apparent in the lower case letters "a", "c", "g", and "t", Antique Olive radiates with a humanistic and amicable ambiance. ROMAN 10/15 pt

Antique Olive Type Specimen

“Because I’m happy to be home. I was lonely too,” he said, and it was part of the truth, and the other part he knew he could not explain to her...

Because all the children were different. nord 11/15 pt

i ta l i c 7 0 / 7 0 p t

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

21 roman

roman 8/14 pt

abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«»

Antique Olive shed a new spirit during a time where type design was suffering a lifeless and lackluster comatose. And even though in its

A NTI Q U E OLI V E

conception, it was looked upon as too eccentric, Antique Olive and its charming details have come further into the foreground, most often typecasted as being on the edge and questioning mainstream thinking. Antique Olive: representing the underdogs the world over.

light

i ta l i c

abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«» ab c d e f g hi j klmn o p q r s t u vw x y z abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«»

Antique Olive Type Specimen bold

black

nord

n o r d i ta l i c

abcdefghijklmn o p q r s t uv w x y z abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()«»[]{}«» abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«» ab c d e f g h i j k l m n opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«» abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«»

abcdefghijklmn opqr stuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 !@#$%^&*()«»[]{}«» a b c d ef g h i j k l m n opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 12 3 4 5 678 9 0 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«» abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 12 3 4 5 678 9 0 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«» abcde f g h i j k l m n o p q r st u vw x y z abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()[]{}«»

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Ex t e n d e d

condensed regular

condensed bold

c o m pa c t

And you’re not lonely now?

No.

r o m a n , N O RD 9 p t

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang