ill sans Ty p e S p e c i m e n
Eric Gill
Family
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04 05
Analysis
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Usage
Characteristics
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History
Typographer
CONTENT 08
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TYPOGRAPHER
ERIC GILL
Eric Gill – born 22. 2. 1882 in Brighton, England, died 17. 11. 1940 in Uxbridge, England. He’s a sculptor, graphic artist, type designer. Studied at the Chichester Technical and Art School. His best known type designs were produced by the Monotype corporation, although he also designed type for private presses. His most widely used type Gill Sans, strongly influenced by the London Transport lettering of his teacher Edward Johnston, was the first successful sans type based on the humanist models of the Renaissance. Other of his designs are the intricate Perpetua and Joanna, named after his daughter.
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About Gill Sans Designed by Eric Gill and released by the Monotype Corporation between 1928 and 1930, Gill Sans is based on the typeface Edward Johnston, the innovative British letterer and teacher, designed in 1916 for the signage of the London Underground. Gill’s alphabet is more classical in proportion and contains his signature flared capital R and eyeglass lowercase g. With distinct roots in pen-written letters, Gill Sans is classified as a humanist sans serif, making it very legible and readable in text and display work. The condensed, bold, and display versions are excellent for packaging or posters.
HISTORY 03
Gill Sans Regular Gill Sans Italic Gill Sans Bold Gill Sans Bold Italic Gill Sans Extra Bold Gill Sans Extra Bold Display Gill Sans Ultra Bold Gill Sans Light Gill Sans Light Italic Gill Sans Light Shadowed Gill Sans Shadowed Gill Sans Condensed Gill Sans Bold Condensed Gill Sans Bold Extra Condensed Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed
FAMILY 04
ANALYSIS
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The cross stroke of the lowercase “t” forms a triangle on the left hand side.
r
t
The shoulder of lowercase “r” has a slight variance in stroke weight.
o
o
o
g
The “g” is the only letter that deviates from having a simple descender, ending in a loop and it looks like eyeglasses.
JQ ae
The uppercase “J” and “Q” both have decenders.
The lowercase “a” and “e” both have small counters compared with the rest. 06
CHARACTERISTICS The uppercase of Gill Sans is modelled on the monumental Roman capitals like those found on the Column of Trajan, and the Caslon and Baskerville typefaces. The capital M from Gill Sans is based on the proportions of a square with the middle strokes meeting at the centre of that square. The lowercase t is similar to old-style serifs in its proportion and oblique terminus of the vertical stroke. The italic e is highly calligraphic, and the lowercase p has a vestigial calligraphic tail reminiscent of the italics of Caslon.
o San Serif o Humanist 07
The basic glyph shapes do not look consistent across font weights and widths, especially in Extra Bold and Ultra Bold weights, and Extra Condensed width. However, even in lighter weights, some letters do not look consistent. For example, in letters p and q, the top strokes of counters do not touch the top of the stems in Light, Bold, Heavy fonts, but touch the top of the stems in Book, Medium fonts.
o
USAGE
o
o
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“
The shapes of letters do not derive their beauty from any sensual or sentimental reminiscenes. No one can say that the O’s roundness appeals to us only because it is like that of an apple or of a girl’s breats or of a full moon. Letters are things, not pictures of things.
” -Eric Gill