TRADE GOTHIC
TRADE
JAC
GOTHIC &
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 . ? ! ( ) , : ; ‘ “ ” - &
TRADE GOTHIC BOLD CONDENSED NO. 20 | TRADE GOTHIC BOLD EXTENDED | TRADE GOTH
CKSON BURKE JACKSON BURKE WAS born in 1908 in San Francisco. Burke was a book designer who worked for Mergenthaler Linotype. He succeeded C.H. Griffith as Director of Typographic Development and held the position from 1948 until 1963. It was in ’48 that Burke designed the Trade Gothic typeface, and continued working on it throught ’60. Besides Trade Gothic, Burke also designed the Aurora typeface or News 706 typeface - the name changes, depending on the source. Besides the introduction of Trade Gothic into the typeface world, Burke was also responsible for other notable achievements: developing fonts for Native American languages, the development of the TeleTypesetting System for magazine use, and the planning and carrying out of the first phase of Linotype Group’s photocomposition library. Burke passed away in ’75.
C
M
Y
K
CMYK is a color model used in color printing. CMYK refers to four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). The colors are printed as small dots, and when each layer of color is combined, the viewer is able to look at the final image that is created.
HIC CONDENSED NO. 18 | TRADE GOTHIC BOLD NO. 2 OBLIQUE | TRADE GOTHIC LIGHT | TRADE
“TRADE GOTHIC this gives
EARTH an
NATURA
The gap between the capital A’s two stems is small. The crossbar in the letter seems very low compared to other typefaces as well as the placement of crossbars in other letterforms like H and stroke intersections on other letters like R or P.
The placement of the diagonal stem on the capital R, as well as the K, produces a quality of sturdiness and strength that is carried throughout the typeface.
GOTHIC BOLD | TRADE GOTHIC EXTENDED | TRADE GOTHIC BOLD NO. 2 | TRADE GO
HY
ALISM TRADE GOTHIC WAS first designed in 1948. Burke continued working on different weight and width combinations of the typeface through 1960. The final count included 3 weights and 3 widths. The Grotesque-classified sans serif typeface was first published by Mergenthaler, and is now published by Linotype. After its initial release, Trade Gothic became a stable in American design — at one point it was seen as a competitor to the beloved Helvetica typeface. Today, it is most often seen in the advertising industry; the condensed weights are popular in newspaper headline design. Trade Gothic is known for not having as many unifying elements within the typeface compared to other sans serif typefaces. It is said that this gives Trade Gothic a earthy naturalism appeal to it — this is often seen in hand drawn typefaces. In 2008, Akira Kobayashi, Linotype’s current Type Director, oversaw the redesign of the typeface, resulting Trade Gothic Next. The main focus of the redesign was to remove the inconsistencies found within Trade Gothic – the various inconsistencies from not having unified elements. It also addressed other elements such as terminal and stroke endings, symbols, and the spacing and kerning of the letters within the typeface. As a result, a more self-harmonious typeface was created for use.
”
appeal to it.
The lowercase L and uppercase i have a nearly identical stroke, making them difficult to tell apart. I & l
This capital S has slanted finishes to the end of its stroke. This occurs in many letterforms, lower and uppercase, but it does not happen universally throughout the different weights of the typeface.
OTHIC NO. 18 OBLIQUE | TRADE GOTHIC REGULAR | TRADE GOTHIC LIGHT OBLIQUE | TRADE
“ LACK OF despite its
UNIFYIN
Trade Gothic
ELEME
Q g
The x-height within Trade Gothic is rather large, compared to the the cap height of the typeface. It would likely be said that this is to make it easier to read the typeface when set as body copy.
The tail on the uppercase Q is distinct in how it is drawn. It definitely possesses a hand drawn touch, as it swoops through the oval stroke, rather than existing as a straight line, like in many sans serif typefaces.
The lowercase g is built as a double story letterform. This is unusual for most sans serif typefaces – they typically use a single story g. This calligraphic touch adds to Trade Gothic’s natural, hand drawn flavor.
GOTHIC BOLD OBLIQUE | TRADE GOTHIC OBLIQUE |TRADE GOTHIC CONDENSED NO. 20 OBLIQUE | TRAD
bd pq
ING
The spurs on b, d, and q, are all identical in how the vertical stroke is slanted where the bowl of the curved stroke meets. However, the spur on the p is different, not containing a slant, giving it a more unique quality.
MENTS
”
I still thought of it as a unified typeface.
WHEN I FIRST looked at Trade Gothic, I didn’t notice anything super interesting. A standard sans serif typeface, if I were quickly looking for a typeface to use in a project, Univers or Helvetica would likely come first as my choice. The more I looked, the more I began to notice some details about Trade Gothic that gave it a more interesting quality than I initially thought. The sturdy structure of the ‘K’ and ‘R’ that comes from the diagonal stem, the quirkiness of the capital Q’s tail compared to other typeface’s capital Q, the tall x-height compared to the cap-height all started to stand out to me. The condensed versions stood out as a great choice to set something in all caps, like setting headlines in a newspaper. Looking through the various weights within the Trade Gothic family, I noticed many of the inconsistencies I had read about between the weights — despite its lack of unifying elements, I still thought of it as a unified typeface. In a way, this lack of unified elements actually unifies it, making it distinctly the Trade Gothic family.
DE GOTHIC BOLD CONDENSED NO. 20 | TRADE GOTHIC BOLD EXTENDED | TRADE GOTHIC
TUCKER
LOVE K
C
A
I