ITC Officina sans by Nikhil Pavithran

“I had had enough of the sleek, ‘pretty’ fonts that all the manufacturers were releasing, and the other was that there was a need for a modern correspondence font for laser printers.” This was the reason why Erik Speikermann created the sans serif typeface called Officina. TYPOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT by NIKHIL PAVITHRAN

CONTENTS

• Introduction ........................................................01 • History ...............................................................02 • Designer .............................................................03 • Characteristics .....................................................05 • Applications ........................................................09 • References ..........................................................13

INTRODUCTION

The 1980s saw the introduction of personal computers, computer games, music videos and desktop publishing, as the invention of the laser printer meant that expensive photosensitive paper was no longer needed. The digital revolution meant that new fonts could be designed and trialled quickly and easily, without the great expense and commit ment of hot metal type. ITC Officina had officially been introduced in November 1990 after Erik Speikermann had delivered data as early as 1989. In prepara tion for a TypeBoard Review Meeting on January 21st I had introduced his concept for Officina: “My favourite idea = a correspondence face, on the same lines of think ing as Stone Informal; a face for business correspondence that reads bet ter while taking up less space than Courier or Pica, but still doesn’t look too much like a proper “designed” typeface – because once you’re using a real typeface, the whole page wants to be laid-out, to be designed. A business letter, an estimate, an invoice should be more neutral, not mak ing a comment about its content. So we need something between Courier and American Typewriter, again perhaps both with and without serifs. Also the present versions of Courier and Letter Gothic available for Laser Writers by Adobe and Bitstream are too light to withstand more than one copy stage (ITC Officina).” With both serif and sans serif forms, Officina embodies the ideals of efficient office communication, with styling based on traditional type writers but adapted to modern technology and spaced to offer optimal legibility.

HISTORY

The ITC Officina is a 1989 sans serif font designed by Erik Spiekermann and Just van Rossum . In 1995, Officina family was became their commercial success in cooperation with Ole Schäfer for three ad ditional weights, small caps and old style figures extended. In 1988, Erik Spiekermann proposed to the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) that a new typeface has to be designed for office documents and business correspondence produced on low-resolution (laser-) printers. Thereby Officina started under the working title of ITC Correspondence. Inspired by the typewriter faces Letter Gothic and Courier, Spieker mann began to work on the sans, also with an eye on the font he de signed for the German Post (and later became FF Meta). His friend Gerard Unger offered to help with the seriffed version but had to go further with different projects after the first sketches for the testword “Hamburgefons”. The Sans was the narrow face, like Letter Gothic was the 12-pitch typewriter face (12 characters to an inch), while Courier was the 10-pitch one. In 1989, Just van Rossum assisted in finishing the Sans and together with Spiekermann added the slab serif to the Sans. Unger’s Serif ver sion remains a sketch. URW generated the font-data and added the rounded edges. When the proofs came from ITC in the summer of 1990, Spiekermann first was quite disappointed finding his discreet hanging figures changed into standard ones. Originally, there were just the Regular and Bold weights with their Ital ics. Ole Schäfer added extra weights, some time in the mid-90s while still at college. He then joined Spiekermann’s design studio in Berlin, MetaDesign, where they also worked on various exclusive typefaces for companies and publishers. After its release, the typeface became popular for use in other media as well. Spiekermann introduced additional weights and character options to the original design, which featured only regular and bold weights.

DESIGNER

Erik Spiekermann is a German typographer and designer. He calls him self an information architect. He is equally comfortable and prolific as a writer, graphic and typeface designer, but type is always at the epicenter of this communication dynamo. Born on May 30, 1947 in Stadthagen, Lower Saxony, Spiekermann, even as a child was drawn to the typographic arts. “I had a little print ing press and taught myself to set type when I was twelve,” he recalls. “Years later, when I went to university to study art history, I made a living as a letterpress printer and hot metal typesetter.” In his blog, Spieker blog , he says “I have been suffering from Typomania all my life, a sick ness that is incurable but not lethal. “ After college, Spiekermann spent several years as a freelance graphic designer in London. He returned to Berlin in 1979, where, together with two partners, he founded MetaDesign, Germany’s largest design firm, with offices in Berlin, London and San Francisco. The firm’s proj ects included work for Audi, Skoda, Volkswagen, Lexus, Heidelberg Printing, Berlin Transit, Düsseldorf Airport and many other clients. In 1989 he and his wife, Joan Spiekermann, started FontShop, the first mail-order distributor for digital fonts. FontShop International followed and now publishes the FontFont range of typefaces.

“I have been suffering from Typomania all my life, a sickness that is incurable but not lethal.”

Spiekermann currently holds a professorship at the Academy of Arts in Bremen, is vice president of the German Design council, president of the International Institute of Information Design, president of the International Society of Typographic Designers and a board member of ATypI. His book, Stop Stealing Sheep and find out how type works, first published in 1993, has sold over 150,000 copies and is currently in its second edition. He withdrew from the management of MetaDesign in 2000 to work on a new project: The United Designers Network (UDN), a collaboration of many designers he has worked with over the years. In April 2006, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena awarded Spiekermann an Honorary Doctorship for his contribution to design. His family of typefaces for Deutsche Bahn (German Railways), designed with Christian Schwartz, received a Gold Medal at the German Federal Design Prize in 2006, the highest such award in Germany.

As of January 2007, UDN has been renamed SpiekermannPartners, and as of January 2009 it has been renamed Edenspiekermann. In May 2007 he was the first designer to be elected into the European Design Awards Hall of Fame. Spiekermann has designed many commercial typefaces as well as type faces as part of corporate design programmes. • • • • • • • • • • • •

Berliner Grotesk (original is from 1913, digitization is from 1979) Lo-Type (original is from 1911/14, digitization is from 1980) ITC Officina Sans (1990) ITC Officina Serif (1990) FF Meta (1991–1998) FF Govan (2001) FF Info (2000) Nokia Sans (2002-2011, corporate typeface for Nokia and the de fault UI font for Symbian S60 smartphones) FF Unit (2003) FF Meta Serif (with Christian Schwartz and Kris Sowersby, 2007) FF Unit Slab (with Christian Schwartz and Kris Sowersby, 2009) Fira Sans (designed in collaboration with Carois Type Design for Firefox OS, released in 2013 under the SIL Open Font License)

When it comes to the design of typefaces, Spiekermann sees himself as more of a problem solver than an artist. His process for beginning a new typeface is simple and straightforward. “Identify a problem – like space saving, bad paper, low resolution, on-screen use – then find typefaces that almost work but could be improved,” he explains. “Study them. Note the approaches and failings. Sleep on it, then start sketching without looking at anything else.”

CHARACTERISTICS

ITC Officina is a typeface designed for ultimate readability and legi bility. It is simple and clean with even stroke width. It is a humanist typeface, which is closely related to calligraphy and the movement of the hand. The x-height is similar to the rest of the letters and does not fall below or above the baselines. The font in general does not hang past the baseline and is a generally simple, geometric, and condensed typeface.

AB J K S T ab j k s t

C D E F GHI LMNOPQR U VWX Y Z c d e f ghi l mnopqr u v wxy z

Officina combines the appearence of the typesetter with a modern twist, and since its condensed it allows for economical use of space. The typeface works very well in low resolution devices, such as inkjet printers and the screen. It can not only be used for corporate purposes like memos, drafts etc but also in any other context where one requires a simple and fun looking typeface. One of the most noticeable traits of Officina would be the left-pointing serif on “i” and “j”, which terminates and doesnot extend to the right side.

Detailed view of serif

i j

left-pointing serif

The beautiful tail in the lower case “l” is another notable feature. Co mapring the lower case “y” to the other typefaces, interstingly, the arm rests on the baseline without completely joining the stem. The comparision between lower case “y” of Officina and Calibri are shown below. Detailed view of tail

Detailed view of Resting arm

l y y

curved tail

lowercase letter in Calibri

resting arm

Probably the most prominent feature in the entire typeface, is that the all the letters have rounded edges and the slanted terminals. The lower case “t” has slanted terminals and the noticably only the right termi nal of the horizotal stroke is cut off at an angle.

Detailed view of terminal

d b t

rounded edges and slanted terminals only on the right

rounded edges and slanted terminals

The lowercase “k” is unique because the arm and leg are of the same length and meet the crotch perfectly to form a perfect angle. The low ercase “q” doesnt have a swash tail unlike other typefaces. Whereas the uppercase “Q” is a simple geometric oval-shaped letterform with a very subtle stress and a small tail protruding out towards the right side which extends a bit below thw baseline.

Detailed view of crotch

k q Q crotch making perfect angles no tail

perfect oval shape

The lowercase “g” is one story with a curved ear cut at an angle. But interestingly, the smallercase “a” is two stories with a thick terminal which matches its finial. The uppercase “G” is a simple almost ovalshaped form and spur going inwards.

Detailed view of ear

g a G curved ear

thick terminal

Similar to the lowercase “g”, “p”, “q”, “b” and “d”, all make an almost oval shaped counter space with their bowl and vertical stem. They also have the stroke which reduces as it touches the stem.

gpqbd

The lowercase “x” creates small arrows in the top and bottom counter space and wide ones on the left and right spaces. Whereas the lower case “v” forms a narrow arrow in the counterspace, and lowercase “w” is formed by two compressed “v”s meeting at the apex. In uppercase letters “W” and “M”, stroke width changes to accomodate the outer bend.

Detailed view of corner

xvwWM changing stroke width

The lowercase “o” is a perfect oval shaped letterform with a subtle stress. In lowercase “e”, is almost oval shaped with stroke ending at an angle. The letter “s” both upper and lower case have their strokes almost uniform with it ending at angles on both ends.

o e s S subtle stress

As mentioned earlier, the slanted terminals is a consistent trait in all the letterforms. The uppercase letterforms like “E” and “F”, the termi nals cuts on the arm which is on the right side. In uppercase “T”, has the terminal cutting on the right end and not on the left one. Whereas in uppercase “Z”, the termnal cuts on the leftside. But, uppercase letterfomrs like “I” and “J”, dont have slanted termi nals, they are cut vertically. Same goes for the letterforms “U”, “L”, “H” and “N”, but the lowercase counterparts of these letters have the slanted terminals slanted terminals

E F T Z I JULH no slanted terminals

slanted terminals no slanted terminals

Nul hn ITC Officina Sans is clean but not lifeless, vertical but not crowded and scores high in readability.

APPLICATIONS

• Amazon Logo (1998 -2000) Amazon.com, Inc. is an American international electronic commerce company. It is the world’s largest internet company. Amazon.com used the typeface Offi cina for their logotype during the period 1998 to 2000, when the redesigned the logo to the existing one.

• Endemol Logo Endemol is an international television production and distribution company that is controlled by Apollo Global Management and head quartered in the Netherlands, with around 90 companies in over 30 countries. Endemol uses Officina in its logo.

• Düsseldorf Messe Logo Düsseldorf Messe is a trade fair ground and organizer, based in Düssel dorf, Germany. With a workforce of 1,459 employees worldwide (2006) and a total exhibition space of 306,000 sqm in Düsseldorf,the com pany is one of the largest in the industry. The compay logo uses the typeface Officina.

• Airship Ventures Logo Airship Ventures Inc. was a private company that offered sight-see ing rides (which the company called “flightseeing”) in a 12-passenger Zeppelin NT out of a World War II United States Navy hangar at Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, California. On 2012, the company announced that it was ceasing flight operations due to a lack of longterm sponsorship. The logo Airship Venture is set in ITC Officina Bold.

• WaWa Inc. Website Wawa Inc. is a chain of convenience store/gas stations located along the East Coast of the United States. An image of a goose in flight serves as the Wawa corporate logo. Officina is used ias the display typography on the company website. Headlines, subheads, and navigation are set in the typeface’s bold weight, while the website’s footer and bread crumb trail utilize the book weight.

• The Economist Magazine The Economist is an English-language weekly newspaper owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in offices in London. In 2001, when Speikermann worked on the redesign of the magazine, he set all the text in the Economist’s own typef ace, which Ole Schäfer and himself redesigned for the relaunch. But all the graphs, tables, sidebars and captions are set in ITC Officina Sans for contrast and clar ity.

The client didn’t want to use the typeface on the cover in fairly large sizes saying that it looked “goofy”.Speikermann to felt that Officina’s blunt edges, its explicit pseudo-serifs and oblique terminals were in deed very noticeable in the Bold and Black weights they were using for the cover. Speikermann talks about Officina display, which he designed for the cover title in his blog, he says: “The display version I sketched out had sharp corners, the terminals are not as oblique, and the swings at the top left of the characters have all but gone. This allows the face to be set 11

much more tightly and doesn’t draw too much attention to individual letters.” He continues “Ole Schäfer had already expanded the origin al family of Book and Bold while at college and presented me his designs for com ments and corrections. Out of or collaboration came the extended family with Medium, ExtraBold and Black weights, plus Small Caps and Italics, Old Style figures – the works.” Ole Schäfer did the initial digit al work on the new Officina Display, two years’ exclusive use by that magazine, Erik updated the display family to include a Light version.

The digital work was carr ied out by Christian Schwartz. He then im proved the overall appearance of the Regular, Bold and Black weights and added a new Dingbat font. Officina Display now has the same x-height across all 4 weights. Ascenders, descenders and cap height have also been harmonized.

REFERENCES

Websites:

• ITC officina Sans [Online] Available from: http://www.fonts.com/ font/itc/itc-officina-sans#product_top . [Accesed 28-07-14]. • Research officina Sans and Serif [Online] Available from: http:// jessicamarak.blogspot.in/2009/09/research-officina-sans-serif.html [Accesed 28-07-14]. • ITC officina Sans [Online] Available from: http://typedia.com/ex plore/typeface/itc-officina-sans/ [Accesed 29-07-14]. • Officina Erik Speikermann [Online] Available from: http://ww w.100besttypefaces.com/8_Officina.html [Accesed 29-07-14]. • Erik Speikermann [Online] Available from: https://next.fontshop. com/designers/erik-spiekermann [Accesed 29-07-14]. • ITC Officina Display [Online] Available from: http://spiekermann. com/en/itc-officina-display/ [Accesed 31-07-14]. • Why The Economist is thriving [Online] Available from: http:// spiekermann.com/en/why-the-economist-is-thriving/ [Accesed 31-07-14]. • Why The Economist is thriving [Online] Available from: http:// spiekermann.com/en/why-the-economist-is-thriving/ [Accesed 31-07-14].

Books:

• Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris, 2006. The Fundamentals of Typogra phy, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA