What is Bodoni?
Typography NIRVANA
&
COLUMBIA RECORDS
MAMMA MIA! L ADY
G A GA
VOGUE
This is Bodoni Typography is the style of printed material. The art of typography exists both on a small and large scale. Typography is the basis for the designs found on web pages, billboards, and books, such as the one in your hands. Yes, someone took the time to design each letterforms on this page. Typographers can adjust point size (size of the letterforms, leading (space between lines), and kerning (space between letters) to influence the way text is received by the reader. It is important to understand the relationship between the text you are reading and the way it is designed. Bodoni is a typeface (particular design of type) designed by Giambattista Bodoni in 1798, which is in wide use to this date. Typefaces have their own distinctive styles, such as the familiar bold and italic. Bodoni is a typeface that is wide used in typography that comes in a range of styles. This book explores the question— what is Bodoni?
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Giambattista Bodoni At the age of twenty-eight-year Bodoni was asked to take charge of the Stamperia Reale, the official press of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma. Bodoni accepted and became the private printer to the court. He printed official documents and publications desired by the Duke, in addition to projects conceived and initiated by Bodoni. His initial design influence was Fournier le Jeune, whose foundry supplied type and ornaments to the Stamperia Reale after Bodoni took charge. The
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
quality of Bodoni’s design and printing, even though scholarship and proofreading were sometimes lacking, created a growing international reputation. In 1790, the Vatican invited Bodoni to Rome to establish a press for printing the classics there, but the Duke countered with and offer of expanded facility and a privilege of printing for other clients. Bodoni elected to remain in Parma.
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(above) Bodoni MT at 18 pt. (right) Styles of Bodoni MT at 20 pt.
Bodoni MT Bodoni MT Condensed Bold Bodoni MT Condensed Bold Italic Bodoni MT Black Bodoni MT Black Italic 5
Origins of the Typeface Bodoni was no revolutionary. The modern roman style, which is attributed to him, did not, as many would believe, spring forth as if by magic. While the letters he cut and the books he printed were more refined and of exceptionally higher quality than most of the work originating before or during his lifetime, it would be difficult to classify any of Bodoni’s efforts as fundamentally new. When he was young, the work of John Baskerville served as his ideal; when he opened his first printing office for the Duke of Parma, Bodoni did so with type from Fournier. In later years, the work of his great Parisian competitor, Francois Didot, influenced him dramatically. Bodoni was always, in some manner, dependent on the work of other, bolder contemporaries.
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Bodoni Baskerville Didot (above) Bodoni, Baskerville, and Didot at 14pt. One will find these typefaces are bad for long bodies of text because of their ornamental nature. (right page) A counter is the shape formed by the inside of a letterform’s bowl. A terminal is the end of an indivudual stroke on a letterform.
a a a Bodoni has a smaller counter
Baskerville has a larger counter
Didot has a tear shaped counter
Yet despite these influences, he was not a copyist. A comparison of
There have been countless revivals of Bodoni since it’s initial design
Bodoni’s type to Didot’s two designs that on the surface may appear
in 1798. This book primarily concerns itself with Bodoni MT, although
virtually identical is a perfect example. There are distinct similarities
other variations are still common. Other digital versions include Bodoni
in their work, and Bodoni surely studied Didot’s designs very carefully,
Antiqua, Bodoni Old Face, ITC Bodoni Seventy Two, ITC Bodoni Six,
but a close examination reveals that Bodoni’s weight transitions are
ITC Bodoni Twelve, LTC Bodoni 175, WTC Our Bodoni, Bodoni EF,
more gradual and his serifs still maintain a slight degree of bracketing.
Bodoni Classico, and TC Bodoni. A recent revival of Bodoni is Filosofia
There is even hint of “old style” in Bodoni’s work. He followed Didot’s lead, carefully evaluating the designs of his great competitor, consciously remaining, however, always just slightly behind the radical modernism of his contemporary. Perhaps this explains to some degree the longevity of Bodoni’s type designs. They were radical enough to be considered new and different (to establish for Bodoni an important and influential place in current typographic circles), but not so different that they became the 18th-century versions of fad designs.
a aa (designed by Zuzana Licko). Bodoni has a ball terminal
Baskerville is less curved
Didot is elongated
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HHH bracketed serif
r hairline serif
slab serif
vertical axis
Wait, a what? Before considering Bodoni as a typeface, a common language should be established to discuss it’s characteristics. Typography has it’s own language to describe letterforms. A typeface can have a different style, one aspect is if it is serif or sans serif. Serifs are extensions of the letter at the end of its strokes. There are three kinds of serifs, a bracketed serif, hairline serif, and slab serif. The shapes of the letters are influenced by their modulation. Modulation refers to the predictable thick to thin contrast between strokes. This comes from a designers original drawing with a brush or flat reed pen. A letter has posture, just like a person. Some typefaces are slanted like handwriting. Letters that are 90º to the baseline are considered roman. Letters with a slant are called italic. The white space enclosed by a letterform is called a counter, this is often formed in the form’s bowl. Under standing the anatomy of typography is key to appreciating it.
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stem
slanted axis
terminal
r
g
cap height
x-height
ear
(outside) bowl
(inside) counter
xX aperture
a
spur
Characteristics of the Typeface Few would deny that Bodoni’s typefaces are beautiful; unfortunately,
but a “crystal goblet.” Its hairline serifs, strong thick-and-thin stroke
few would say they are also easy to read. By current standards, his
contrast, and abrupt weight changes cloud the reading process. Bodoni
designs are, in fact, the antithesis of what an easily readable typeface
is no quiet servant to the communication process; it is a design that
should be. Had he known this fact, however, Bodoni would probably
demands attention. Bodoni has been used commercially in advertise-
not have been very upset. His goal was not to create typography to
ments including Mamma Mia!, Nirvana, and Vogue Magazine.
be appreciated by the masses. His books and other printing exercises
If used carefully, Bodoni type can create typography that is excep-
were large regal efforts meant to be looked upon and appreciated
tionally beautiful, even elegant, but not particularly easy to read. If used
as works of art, rather than as mere pieces of communication. The
poorly, Bodoni’s extreme weight contrast and vertical stress can cause
hallmarks of Bodoni’s designs are best appreciated in a bolder style
a typographic effect, “dazzling,” which is visually uninviting and disrup-
or at a larger point size.
tive to the reading process.
Beatrice Warde, an eminent typographic historian, in a famous essay, likened the perfect type to a crystal goblet. Her perfect type is transparent, or invisible, to the reader and allows the content to be enjoyed without coloration or distraction. Bodoni’s type is anything
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Bodoni vertical stress on rounded strokes
exaggerated modulation
round dot
hairline serif without bracketing
small x-height
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Comparison Bodoni was one of the most prolific type designers and considered an arch-romantic. His hundreds of faces embrace considerable variety, and more than 25,000 of his punches are in the Bodoni Museum in Parma. The revivals issued in his name reflect only a tiny part of this legacy, and many are simply parodies of his ideas. The typical features of Bodoni revivals are abrupt hairline serifs, ball terminal, vertical axis, small aperture, high contrast and exaggerated modulation. The ITC Bodoni, digitized in 1994-95 under the direction of Sumner Stone, are the closest of all the revivals to Bodoni’s mature style. (There are three versions, based on 6, 12 and 72 pt originals.) Other favorites are the Bodoni cut by Louis Hoell for the Bauer Foundry, Frankfurt, in 1924, and the Berthold Foundry version, produced in 1930. Both have been issued in digital form. Small caps and text figures are essential to all of these designs.
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Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz (above) Filosofia at 17.5 pt. This typeface was designed in 1996 by Zuzana Licko as a modern revivial of Bodoni’s works. (next page) Giambattista Bodoni, Manuale Tipografico (1818)
References
Bibliography
Philip B. Meggs, A History of Graphic Design (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992), 124.
Haley, Allan. Typographic Milestones. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992. (SC: Z250 A2 H18 1992 4o)
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Alexander S. Lawson, Anatomy of a Typeface (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990), 46, 48.
Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Vancouver: Hartley and Marks,1997. (A&A: Z246 B745 1996 and Vault)
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Alexander S. Lawson, Anatomy of a Typeface (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990), 46, 49, 50.
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Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style (Point Roberts, WA: Hartley & Marks, 1992), 217, 218.
Colophon Text set in Avenir, 9.5pt with 14.7 pt leading. The body text was not set in Bodoni for its illegibility at smaller point sizes. Headers set in Bodoni MT 42 pt and 21 pt. This book was created, designed, and bound by Steph Waldo in April 2014.
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Lawson, Alexander S. Anatomy of a Typeface. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1990. (SC: Z250 L34 1990)
Jaspert, W. Pincus. The Encyclopaedia of Typefaces. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press; New York: Distributed in the U.S. by Sterling, 1983. (SC: Z250 J36 1983) Cleland, T. M. Giambattista Bodoni of Parma. Boston: Society of Printers, 1916. (SC: Z232 B66 C5) Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces, essays by Carolyn Annand ... [et al.]; edited by Philip B. Meggs and Roy McKelvey, New York: RC Publications, 2000.(A&A: Z250.R45 2000) Bodoni, Giambattista. Manuale Tipografico, 1788. Facsimile a cura de Giovanni Mardersteig, Verona: Editiones Officinae Bodoni, 1968. (SC: Z232 B66 1788a 4o) Bodoni, Giambattista. Preface to the Manuale Tipografico of 1818, translated by H. V. Marrot, London: Lion & Unicorn Press, 1953. (SC: Z232 B66 1953) http://www.linotype.com http://www.fonts.com
This is not Bodoni at 72 pt.
aaa
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Both the cover image and this image are Bodoni MT Condensed Bold. This ? is set at 92 pt and the cover is two reflected and mirrored ?s, set at 1296 pt.