Rockwell a typographic book
The Designer Frank Hinman Pierpont
Rockwell is based off a 1910 typeface called Litho Antique which was created by the Inland Type Foundry in St. Louis, MO (Meaningful Type). This redesign became known as Rockwell, which was released by Monotype Design Studio in 1934 (Meaningful Type). The redesign was overseen by the foundry’s engineering manager Frank Hinman Pierpont (Wikipedia). While manager at Monotype, he supervised typefaces Plantin, Aldine, Revival, and Times New Roman being designed (Fonts.com).
Pierpont was born in New Haven, CT (Linotype Font Designer Gallery). He was originally trained as a
“formidable standards of perfection,
mechanic and engineer in the United States before he moved to Berlin in 1894 to work at Loewe AG, an electronics company (Linotype Font Designer Gallery). Shortly before Pierpoint moved to Berlin, in 1885 the first typesetting machine was invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler. It was known as the Linotype; it could quickly set full lines of type which revolutionized print production process for producing books, posters,
both for men
magazines, and newspapers. By 1896 he was the
and machines”
typesetting machines were made (Linotype Font
director of Typography GmbH in Berlin, a factory where Designer Gallery).
Finally, he moved to England in 1899 where he was the manager at the Monotype Foundry (Linotype Font Designer Gallery). He held this position until the year before he died in 1936. It was said that Pierpoint had “formidable standards of perfection, both for men and machines” and that Rockwell as well as the other typefaces developed under Pierpoint were “considered amongst the most intelligent historical adaptations ever made” (ITCFonts.com). Monotype is now an “international corporation with offices throughout the world and with over 18,000 typefaces available” (The Academic Book of the Future).
Rockwell is classified as a slab serif typeface because of it’s thick, blocky serifs. It’s serifs are constructed of perfectly squared 90 degree angles. Rockwell is geometric and blocky and made of perfect circles and dramatic angles. Because of this, it is almost always used as a display type, never for body copy as it’s even stroke width would make it hard to read at length. Its lowercase letters have a taller x-height, creating a vertical stress on the forms. It has short and stubby ascenders and descenders. It originated from Litho Antique. It was also inspired by popular geometric slab serifs that were created before it, such as Memphis designed by Dr. Rudolf Wolf in 1929, Karnak designed by Robert Hunter Middleton in 1930, Benton typeface designed by the Bauer Type Foundry in 1929, Stymie designed by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Foundry in 1931. In contrast to Litho Antique, Rockwell is more condensed, has a taller x-height, but has the same square slab serifs and a mono stroke weight throughout as Litho Antique did. Slab serifs were most popular during the 19th century when they were invented (Wikipedia). Other slab serifs include Memphis designed in 1929, Courier designed in 1956, and Clarendon
The Classification designed in 1845 (Wikipedia).
a slab serif typeface
Rockwell has inspired a family of similar slab serif typefaces, including ITC Lubalin Graph designed by Linotype in 1974, Museo Slab designed by the Exljbris Foundry in 2009, Archer designed by Hoefler and Frere Jones Foundry in 2001, Klinic Slab designed by Lost Type Co-Op, Serifa designer by Adrian Frutiger in 1967, and finally Choplin designed by MyFonts. com in 2014 (Meaningful Type).
Some of the typeface’s unusual characteristics that make it stand out include the serif on top of the capital A, the circular capital O, the short ascenders and descenders, and the perfectly squared serifs that are the same stroke weight as the letter form. Additionally, the lowercase ‘a’ is two story and the capital ‘q’ has a distinct tail. Some serifs are half and some are full. This means that some serifs extend both to the left and right off the central axis of the character while some serifs extend just to the right or left, which can we seen in lowercase letter ‘m’ ‘l’ ‘h’ ‘a’ and others. The lowercase ‘i’ tittle is a perfect circle.
Cultural Context
Rockwell was informed by early nineteenth century slab serifs that were created by carving wood, called
19th Century
wood type. Craving these letters was a very intricate and challenging process done by hand before the router was invented. Slab serifs, or as they were called during the times Egyptians, entered the 19th century with little resemblance to any other typeface that had been created. They were called Egyptians all because of Napoleon Bonaparte’s, the French military leader and dictator, 1798 trip to Egypt “to defend the trade interests of France and stifle his arch-rival Britain’s interests in the region” when truly his intentions were to expand his empire (Creative Market). He brought along many scholars and scientists as a cover up; and even though his trip to Egypt was ultimately unsuccessful, much knowledge about the county was brought back and “the Western world in Europe and beyond developed a fascination with all things Egyptian” (Creative Market). Home decor and furniture started to be produced that appropriated Egyptian culture. Even though “there was no connection between [slab serifs] and traditional Egyptian writing systems,” they were called Egyptians (Creative Market). This incorrect name classification still exists today.
19th century wood type poster
Predating Rockwell, the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the late eighteenth century, created staple innovations like steam power, the telegraph, and an improved edition of the printing press. While the printing press had been around from some time,
These innovations were made in London by William Koenig and
as it was invented in 1463 by Johannes
Andreas Bauer. In 1814 the first commercial machines were available
Gutenberg, during the Industrial
and were purchased by The London Times newspaper. These new
Revolution advancements were made so
machines printed “1,100 pages an hour, more than four times faster”
it was faster and more efficient.
than the old machines (Age of Revolution). This dramatically cut the labor and production costs.In turn, this democratized reading
The first advancement made it powered
newspapers and books because lower production costs meant lower
by steam, instead of physical labor.
costs for the reader. Previously print publications were expensive
Before, the machine needed to be
and only elites were able to attain them. Because of the new lower
operated by hand. This was a very
cost for the consumer, there were more readers, meaning a bigger
laborious, slow, and physically demanding
audience for advertisers to reach. Also, these innovations freed “the
process for the workers. The second
press from financial dependence on political parties” which in turn to
advancement made was adding rotary
democratized politics (Age of Revolution).
metal cylinders, “which allowed each page to be printed on both sides at the
Mass production was much more feasible because of the lower cost.
same time” (Age of Revolution).
This innovation perhaps was the reason the print and advertising industry dramatically expanded. Because of these blooming industries, bold, attention grabbing display type was in need, not just any body type increased to a larger size. Slab serifs filled this role. They were distinct. They were bold. They were something new. However, they were not completely welcomed with open arms. Printer and social reformer Thomas Curson Hansard wrote in 1825 that slab serifs were “the outrageous kind of face only adapted for placards, posting-bills, invitations to the wheel of Fortune...commonly frolic from one extreme to another” (Wikipedia).
The first known use of a slab serif was woodblock lettering that was
By the twentieth century, the
found in an 1810 London handbill for the lottery, see image to the
typography scene was dominated by
right (Typefoundry). Antique, perhaps the first commercial slab serif,
instead sans serif wood type. Due to
was designed in 1817 by the Vincent Figgins of the Figgins Type
new technologies such as the electric
Foundry in London (Typefoundry). Antique became a type to describe
sign created in 1892 and the neon
any slab serif typeface in both the United States and Britain.
sign created in 1910, wood type died off as these new advancements were
Typefaces of this era, the nineteenth century, were increasingly out-
more dazzling and eye-catching; wood
rageous. Advertisements such as posters were being printed on larg-
type in comparison became lack luster
er printing presses than before, so that meant they could be printed
and not as important.
on larger paper. In the past, hot metal type was used to set type on posters and other printed materials, but it could only be increased
Due to its minimal stroke contrast,
to a given size because it would start to distort. In 1827 Darris Wells
Rockwell was created with the
invented the router, which opened the doors for the mass production
intention to be used as a display
of wood type. Wood was a fantastic alternative to metal because
typeface, like its predecessor was,
it could increase in size and maintain its form. Typefaces became
for posters and headlines alike. It
increasingly flamboyant, creating a “visual arms race” in the streets
was very successful when it was
of both Britain and the United States. John Parry’s, A London Street
first designed, perhaps because it
Scene, from 1840 gives a sense of the prolific type of that era and
was created right after the extremely
how it truly infiltrated visual culture. Type had to compete for onlook-
prolific geometric typeface, Futura,
ers’ attention (Letterform Archive).
was released in 1927. Rockwell “became a mainstay in the next few decades” as it was widely used in this era of Modernism since its geometric forms so closely related to the architecture, art, and design of this time (Meaningful Type). In other words, the aesthetics of Rockwell so closely aligned with the visual culture of the time.
A London Street Scene John Parry, 1840
First known use of slab serif on a 1810 London handbill
By the 1920s, slab serifs were instead influenced by the clarity offered by the geometry and grid-based design of time. Perhaps they were influenced by the Bauhaus Movement, which began While Pierpont was an American, he designed Rockwell while he was manager at the British branch of Monotype in Salfords, England. In 1934 in England they were recovering from the Great Depression, with poverty and unemployment rates
when the school opened in 1919. Some of the most notable Bauhaus artists had distinctive geometric aesthetics in their works such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Herbert Bayer. All of their work includes basic geometric forms (circles, squares, rectangles), lines (The Art Story).
going back down. While this financial disaster
Perhaps 1920s geometric slab serifs were also influenced by the
originated in the United States, it was felt in Britain
art coming out of the Harlem Renaissance movement in this time
as well. Britain was under a constitutional monarchy,
period. Artists such as Jacob Lawerence, Ellis Wilson, and Aaron
as it still is today. In the 1930s, the government was
Douglas created paintings that were colorful, bold, and dominantly
run by a ‘National Government’ party in an effort to
constructed of geometric forms and straight lines, creating a very
respond to the Great Depression. Some arguments
two-dimensional look.
say that it “provided Britain with a degree of stability when it was most needed” (Find My Past). Because in 1934 Germany, Adolf Hitler rose from being the Chancellor of Germany to the infamous dictator, Britian enacted many anti-fascist and anti-extremism acts. Among these acts were the 1934 Incitement to Disaffection Act which “could be used to prosecute anyone advocating revolution or violence” and the 1936 Public Order Act which “banned the wearing of political and paramilitary uniforms” (Find My Past).
Rockwell In Use 1934 – Present
Rockwell continues to be very popular today despite the fact that it’s nearly 85 years old. Rockwell and other slab serifs are still seen today in the contemporary context. While Rockwell is bold and distinct because of it’s geometry, it is a linear and simple typeface that takes on the personality of whatever context it is applied to, making it quite universal. Rockwell is used in a handful of recognizable brands today, including Gatorade G-Series, Burger King, Hollywood Records, Docklands Light Railway, Academic Book of the Future, and Tennent's beer. It made a major appearance at the 1986 World’s Fair in Vancouver, Canada as it was the typeface for all of the informational signage in the area. More recently, in 2016, Monotype released an updated version of the typeface and called it Rockwell Nova.
Tennent’s Beer, founded in Scotland in 1740
Wholesale cotton manufacturer based in London. ‘A’ in bold, ‘EST. 1864’ in bold condensed, the rest in regular Rockwell Std
UK based research project exploring the future of the academic book
Gatorade G Series product line from 2010
Not Your Mother’s haircare product line based in the United States
References “Bauhaus Movement Overview.” The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/bauhaus/. Cunningham, Jonathan. “Rockwell.” Meaningful Type, http://www.meaningfultype.com/rockwell.html. “Font Designer – Frank Hinman Pierpont.” Linotype Font Designer Gallery, https:// www.linotype.com/434/frank-hinman-pierpont.html. “Frank Hinman Pierpont Fonts.” Fonts.com, https://www.fonts.com/browse/designers/frank-hinman-pierpont. “Koenig and Bauer’s Steam Powered Printing Press.” Age of Revolution, https:// ageofrevolution.org/200-object/koenigs-steam-powered-printing-press/. Mosley, James. “Eric Gill & The Cockerel Press.” ITCFonts.com, https://web.archive. org/web/20120729035625/http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/OtherArticles/GillCockerel. htm. “National Government in 1930s BritainNational Government in 1930s Britain.” Find My Past, https://www.findmypast.com/1939register/national-government-1930s-britain. “Rockwell Typeface Story.” Fonts.com, https://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/rockwell/story. “Rockwell Typeface.” The Academic Book of the Future, 27 Feb. 2015, https://academicbookfuture.org/2015/02/19/rockwell-typeface/.
Images A. Holt and Sons LTD. http://www.flickr.com Photo: Stephen Coles. Uploaded to Flickr by Stephen Coles Not Your Mother’s “Shop.” Not Your Mother’s, 2019, https://nymbrands.com/newshop/. First Woodblock Slab Serif “The Nymph and the Grot, an Update.” Typefoundry, http://typefoundry.blogspot.com/2007/01/nymph-andgrot-update.html. “The Academic Book of the Future.” The Academic Book of the Future, https://academicbookfuture.org/.
“Rockwell (Typeface).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Mar. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_(typeface).
Tennent’s Lager. https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ servlet/en/lcbo/european-lager-16023071054/tennents-export-lager-268011#.XdmLPTJKhZI.
Schenker, Marc. “Slab Serifs: History, Types & Inspiring Examples.” Creative Market, 31 Oct. 2017, https://creativemarket.com/blog/slab-serifs.
Gatorade G Series Perform 02 https://www.amazon.com/Gatorade-Perform-Raspberry-Lemonade-Quencher/dp/B009D19C92.
Shields, David. “The Proliferation of 19th- (and 20th-) Century Wood Type and Its Impact on Typographic Norms.” Letterform Archive, 3 Oct. 2017, https://letterformarchive.org/events/the-proliferation-of-19th-and-20th-century-wood-type-and-its-impacton-typo.
19th Century Wood Type Poster. https://supergenericdesignhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/wood-type-posters-then-and-now/
“Slab Serif.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Sept. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Slab_serif.
Colophon
“The Nymph and the Grot, an Update.” Typefoundry, http://typefoundry.blogspot. com/2007/01/nymph-and-grot-update.html.
Written and Designed by Maddie Fox Printed at Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design University of Michigan- Ann Arbor December 2019 Adobe InDesign 2020 Rockwell Std by Monotype Univers by Linotype
Colophon & Bibliography
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