B Bodoni Giambattista Bodoni
Typeface
Q
The Bodoni typeface is a unique style designed in the 1790s by Giambattista Bodoni. This modern, serif font is recognized as a romantic typeface. Bodoni can be seen as the outcome of a movement initiated by Baskerville in England and extended by the Didot family in France. The entire font family includes Book, Roman, Book Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Poster, Poster Italic, Poster Compressed, and Bold Condensed. There is a very pronounced contrast between thin and thick strokes that make this typeface highly suitable for displays (Poster Bodoni), headlines or logos. The typeface is has a plain, unadorned style with emphasis upon the purity of materials. It emphasizes think lines and refines the thin. The geometric concepts and precise symmetry and contrast are evident. Geomerically Bodoni is based on ovals and rectangles rather than circles and squares like old style fonts. This reiterates its modernism. For example, the tail of a captial ‘q’ is vertical (Q). Over the years a number of foundries created new versions of the typeface. These include Adobe, ITC, and Bauer Bodoni. Interestingly enough, the cupped top serifs on b, h, and l are not parallel to the baseline in some versions of Bodoni. There is usually no middle serif on ‘w’ and the upper bowl of ‘g’ is smaller.
Book
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.?!@%”
aeb k u gfprivz lqtx s1o 7
bold italic
Bodoni Book Typeface
w
italic
8
!
3 95 6
% ~
(
02 @
4
bold
y ?
book
h
a a a a
mN
j
c
Designer
During the 1790s, an Italian named Giambattista Bodoni designed a series of serif typefaces that came to carry his name. Bodoni was born in 1740 in Parma, Italy and was regarded as a successful engraver, type designer, typographer, printer and publisher of the time. He was appointed printer to the court of Parma in 1768. The Bodoni Museum, named for the artisan, was opened in Parma in 1963. Bodoni passed in 1813. Bodoni was meticulous in the design and print quality of his publications, produced under the patronage of the Duke of Parma. But he seems to have been relatively indifferent to the text, as his beautiful editions are marred by numerous typos. Bodoni followed the ideas of John Baskerville, as found in the printing type Baskerville. Bodoni admired his work and studied in detail the designs of French type founders Pierre Simon Fournier and Firmin Didot. Although he drew inspiration from the work of these designers, above all Didot, no doubt Bodoni found his own style for his typefaces, which deservedly gained worldwide acceptance among printers.
Bold
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.?!@%�
Excerpts of the “Manuale Tipografico� by Giambattista Bodoni. It is considered one of the greatest monument ever constructed to the art of printing form metal types.
Utilization
Over the years a number founderies created new versions of the typeface. These include Adobe ITC and Bauer Bodoni. The difference between Bodoni and Bauer Bodoni is very slight. Bodoni as stated before is based more on the shape of a rectangle where Bauer Bodoni takes more of square shape. The Bauer Bodoni font appeared in 1926 with the Bauer font foundry. It was designed by the typeface designer and book binder Heinrich Jost (1889-1949). The Bauer version is more delicate and elegant than many other Bodoni interpretations. It emphasizes the extreme contrast between hairline and main stroke. Bodoni is designed to impress the eye; it’s not for comfortable legibility like sans-serif fonts. This typeface became the expression of the French Revolution. Because of Bodoni’s sophistication and popularity with aristocrats, it needed a fine touch when printing. Only the smoothest paper of the highest quality was used. Bodoni has been used for a wide variety of material ranging from eighteenth century Italian books to 1960s periodicals. It is one of the two typesets that is used by Hilton Hotels for restaurant and bar menu content. To the right are other well known examples of the use of the Bodoni typeface.
Italic
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.?!@%”
Examples of Bodoni used in trademark designs.
Sources 1. Gates D. “Type” Watson-Guptill Publications. 1973 New York, USA. 2. Morrison S. and Day K. “The Typographic Book” University of Chicago Press. 1963. ErneBrown Limited, London. 3. http://www.fontco.com/bodoni.php 4. http://www.rightreading.com/typehead/bodoni.htm 5. http://www.prepressure.com/fonts/interesting/bodoni 6. http://www.ITCfonts.com
B Colophon Brochure design by Laura Durham. Brochure’s measurments are 7"x7". Copy is Bodoni Book typeface is 9/12. The captions are bold, 7.5/9.The cover and overall grid is based on the Bodoni typeface letter design (diagram above.