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Clarendon
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CONTENTS
About the typeface The designer History of the typeface Glyph set Identifying features Comparison and ananalysis Applications References
ABOUT THE TYPEFACE
There is an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary explaining “Clarendon, a thick-faced condensed type, in capital and small letters, made in many sizes” . But Clarendon typeface is lot more than just bold, condensed letters. They were and still are used on several levels of visual communication - as a display typeface, newspaper face, etc. Clarendon is an ionic typeface with truncated and bracketed serifs, a result of the combination of roman and slab serif letterforms. The letters behave as a slab serif typeface with a curve that softens it’s sharp serifs or as a roman face with the ends of the serifs chopped off. This typeface has been believed to have been influenced by the the typeface Double Pica Ionic Caslon, which was introduced in 1844. Though a few letters still owned some slab serif features (like the ‘E’ and ‘F’ have no middle arm, as shown below), most of the typical Clarendon characteristics can be seen.
E Square serifs and equal strokes (Slab serif)
E
Curved and slender serifs (Roman)
E
Truncated serifs and unequal strokes (Ionic)
THE DESIGNER
Clarendon was created by Robert Besley in 1845, when he worked at the Fann Street Foundry in London. He was an English typographer, and the Lord Mayor of London in 1869. Besley joined the Fann Street Foundry in 1838. It also happened to be the home of typographer William Throwgood (creator of Grotesque typeface) Besley also created three other font families, namely Besley Clarendon, Clarendon 617 and Clarendon Semi.
Robert Besley (1794-1876)
HISTORY OF CLARENDON
Clarendon is the first registered typeface. It was patented under Britain’s Ornamnetal Designs Act of 1842. However, the patent expired three years later and the typeface was immediately copied by other foundries. Interestingly, the origins of the name ‘Clarendon’ are not completely clarified. Many authors suggest that the name might refer to the Clarendon Press at Oxford University but the connection is not entirely logical, because during the time of Clarendon’s cutting, there was no type foundry at the Oxford University Press.
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There were certain periods in hitory when this typeface was in the foreground. The typeface evolved over these periods. The nineteenth century was the century of the industrialized society. The growth of advertising printing strongly influenced typeface design. Just within 20 years, letterforms such as fat faces, followed by sans serifs and slab serifs were introduced, and the type founders emphasized on the production of display faces. Among many typeface inventions of this period, the slab serifs (also known as ‘Egyptians’ or ‘Square serifs’) were one of the most interesting developments. In some cases it is difficult to judge whether the type founders produced a typeface with Clarendon-like characteristics or whether the bracketed serifs were just a result of poor printing conditions.
j s Some typefaces that were created few decades earlier were generally not solid, but shared characteristics with the Clarendon model. For example, Two line pica in shade, created by Vincent Figgins in 1815. Some authors also suggest that the Clarendon model was used earlier in the roman architectural relief lettering at the end of the eighteenth century and that this model was later introduced to copper plate engravers in a shaded outline form at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Soon this typeface was introduced in markets outside UK. One of the first continental typefaces based on this model was created by Johann Christoph Bauer from Germany. He decided to make a slightly expanded version that he later issued in the 1850s. It was also introduced in American versions(issued by Bruce and Cincinnati foundries) In France, Clarendon typefaces were usually labelled as ‘Egyptian anglaises’. In 1879, William Page created the French Clarendon, which had exaggerated serifs and strokes.
In the second half of the nineteenth century the speed of newspaper production increased dramatically. The use of stereotype duplicate plates and the development of the rotary press in the 1860s were just some of the more important improvements in the printing industry. The dominant text typefaces in the 1900s in the field of newspaper printing were still the “modern” typefaces of the 1800s. It was only in the 1920s, when mostly American newspaper companies began to collaborate with the manufacturers of type composing machines in order to increase type legibility. After four trials, Mergenthaler Linotype Company finally issued a typeface based on the Clarendon model.
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The period after the second world war saw a great development of advertising. There were not many typefaces cut during this period, and thus this decade is sometimes labelled as a “typographically frustrating period”. The font faces mostly used were Bembo, Baskerville and Monotype Plantin. A few things changed in the 1950s - there were three groups used very frequently, i.e sans serifs, romans and typefaces based in the clarendon model. Almost every major type foundry introduced their version of a Clarendon typeface.
GLYPH SET Clarendon Light
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 .,><:;”?’/+\=-~`!@#$%^&*)(
Clarendon Regular
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 .,><:;”?’/+\=-~`!@#$%^&*)(
Clarendon Black
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 .,><:;”?’/+\=-~`!@#$%^&*)(
FEATURES
Slightly square curves
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Upright stems have parallel edges
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Crossbars are centralised
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Width is slightly expanded
Ascenders are equal in height to cap height
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Contrast between thick and thin strokes is medium
Large x-height
Axis of contrast is vertical
R
Fully rounded ears
a
Horizontal crossbar
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A
Large, defined, hooked stroke Curved leg with a tail
Double storeyed, with a curved tail
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Flat apex
Double storeyed with closed tail
G Vertical spur
Q
Long, elaborate tail
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The height of the numerals is lesser than the cap height, but larger than x-height.
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0 1 2 3 4 Wherever the stroke starts with a curve or ends with one, there is always a ball at the end. Apart from the bracketed serif, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;4â&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the only numeral without any curved strokes.
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;7â&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the only numeral having a serif(vertical) at the beginning of the stroke.
5 6 7 8 9 Contrast between thick and thin strokes is medium, and the curves are smooth. The axis or stress is vertical.
COMPARISON BOOKMAN OLD STYLE
GG QQ TT YY aa gg kk qq rr
Larger counterform, and the serif on top is at an angle
The tail is shorter and is not elaborate
The terminals are at an angle
Larger counterform
Curling tail
Less elaboratly curled ear
Angled serif
Truncated terminal
Curled ear
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CENTURY
GG QQ TT YY aa gg kk qq rr
Larger cap height
Counterform made by the tail is bigger
Width is reduced
Contrast in strokes is more
No curling tail, ear is not so rounded
Less rounded ear, larger counterform
Thinner strokes
Truncated terminal
Elongated and less rounded ear
BLACKOAK STD
GG Q Q TT YY a a gg kk qq rr Smaller counterform, slab serif
Tail creates two almost equal counterforms
Square serifs, low contrast between strokes
Unequal serifs on the diagonals, shorter stem
Smaller counterform
Less elaborate ear, not fully rounded
Serifs not rounded
Fat, truncated terminal
Smooth ear
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IMPRESSUM ROMAN
GG QQ TT YY aa gg kk qq rr Smoother curve
Thinner tail
More pronounced square serif
Unequal strokes
Larger counterforms
Less rounded ear
Thinner serif
Truncated terminal
Wider ear, not very rounded
APPLICATIONS
REFERENCES
www.myfonts.com www.ascenderfonts.com www.fonts.com http://fontzone.net www.azfonts.net www.wikipedia.org www.dafont.com www.idsgn.org www.graphics.com http://ilovetypography.com http://typedia.com www.identifont.com ‘Three chapters in the development of Clarendon/ionic typefaces’ by Mitja ‘Font. The sourcebook’ ‘Typeface : Classic typography for contemporary design’ by Tamye Riggs
Manasi Mankad GDPD Semester 3 Graphic Design 2012-13 Typography GUIDE : Tarun Deep Girdher