TYPEFACE
101 a typeface guide for the designer's soul
a collaboration project by the students from Art 338 California Polytechnic State University
06 Akzidenz Grotesk 18 Bickham Script 30 Adobe Caslon 40 Centaur 52 Clarendon
TA BLE O F CONT ENT S .
v
64 Copperplate 75 Futura 93 Eurostile 101 Helvetica Neue 109 ITC American Typewriter
Typography, An Introduction.
What is typography? Why does it matter? How does it impact our lives? The Merriam-Webster definition of “typography” is: “the work of producing printed pages from written material” or “the style, arrangement, or appearance of printed letters on a page.” How those letters, words, and sentences are styled and arranged affects how they are perceived. Good typography clarifies content, establishes hierarchy, and presents information in a manner that makes it easier to read, and, therefore, to understand. Good typography is good communication: it can start a dialog or advance an idea or make a difference in the world. Typography is also intertwined with our daily lives—we encounter type in everything from the products we buy, the signage around us, the books we read, the news we consume, and the directions we follow. Typography can be beautiful, functional, persuasive, and inviting. It can also fail, especially when there is a disconnect between how the type looks and what the text says. This book is a celebration of typography and typeface design. It is also a creative collaboration among students in Art 338: Typography II at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, during winter quarter 2018. Each student in the class researched a different typeface and contributed the pages in this book that describe and showcase their assigned typeface. The final design reflects the many talents of the students who brought this project to life. Charmaine Martinez, Professor of Design at California Polytechnic State University and Type Enthusiast
AKZIDEN 6
NZ GROTESK. 7
8
Designed by
Dieter Rams Braun RT 20 in 1961 Braun Atelier 3 in1962 Braun Studio 1000 hi-fi system in 1965 Braun ET 55 pocket calculator in 1981
Many fonts and typefaces are created from one’s imagination, but later become obsolete or just forgotten, but Akzidenz Grotesk is the real original san serif typeface. Akzidenz Grotesk is an all purpose print media typeface commonly used in advertisements, tickets, and signs. It first appeared in 1898 on an advertisement. This san serif typeface, designed by H. Berthold Berlin & Bauer & Co Stuttgart, was derived from Ferdinand Theinhardt cut Royal Grotesk Light.The intention was to use it as a commercial typeface. Akzidenz Grotesk was extensively used in the art movements, De Stijl, Bauhaus, Dada, but largely used by the Swiss designers of the International typographic style. This is the Berthold foundry’s most celebrated family of typefaces, referred to as the “mother” of all sans serifs due to the influence it has on all san serifs throughout it’s 50 years.
Akzidenz Grotesk medium on the cover of Die “klassische” Grotesk
Akzidenz Grotesk | 9
HISTORY OF THE TYPEFACE Ferdinand Theinhardt, born in 1820 and passed away in 1906, was a specialist in cutting hieroglyphs. Luc Devroye claims in his article that Theinhardt created Royal Grotesk Light out of metal in Germany, released in 1898. Some people claim Akzidenz Grotesk is derived from this font. Theinhardt, who owned the Berlin-based foundry, also designed Al Deutsch, Schmale magere Grotesk, Enge fette Grotesk, and Fette Grotesk. There is some argument of what typeface Akzidenz Grotesk is formed from, due to the many Grotesk typefaces Theinhardt had cut. In 1885, the foundry Ferd Theinhardt Schriftgiesserei in Berlin was acquired by brothers Mosig and Oskar Mommen who later sold it to the Berthold foundry in 1908.
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Berthold in 1954 published Akzidenz Grotesk Mager (light), but was still referred to as Royal Grotesk. The name originated from Akzidenz Schrift, defined as job increase in point size, but that information wasn’t showcased because of marketing reasons.according to Tyophile.com the additions of weights with not much resemblance except in the name. Also happened about that time in the 1950s, Günter Gerhard Lange unified the different inconsistencies in the typefaces and expanded them with bolder weights, a larger character set, and a new condensed variation. In 1957 Helvetica was designed to compete with Akzidenz Grotesk. In 1963. AG Medium Italic was added with AG ExtraBold following in 1996, and AG Italic in 1967. AG Extra Bold Condensed & Italic, and AG Super, were added in 1968. Lange also helped Berthold complete the AG series, which included AG light italic, Super Italic, light condensed, condensed, medium condensed, Extra Bold italic, light extended italic, extended italic, and medium extended italic. More recently, in 2006, Berthold released Akzidenz Grotesk Next, redesigned by Bernd Möllenstädt and Dieter Hofrichter, to finally provide a fully unified version.
Cicero Akzidenz Grotesk bold made from plakadur.
Akzidenz Grotesk | 11
BIOGRAPHY OF THE DESIGNER Founded in Berlin about 1859 by Hermann Berthold. By 1918 the H. Berthod typefoundy, known for crafting quality typefaces, became the largest foundry in the world with offices in Stuttgart, St. Petersburg, Leipzig, Riga, Budapest, and Vienna. In the 1960s, the foundry revealed it’s first keyboard phototypesetting called Diatronic. Accourding to Identifont he servedf in the second world war, and came home to Germany with the loss of a lower limb. He than launched his typographic career, attended master courses at the Academy of Graphic Arts, and also studied the Book Trade in Leipzig. Some basics he studied were calligraphy, typesetting, printing, drawing, etching, and lithography, with professors Georg Belwe and Hans Theo Richter. Balancing teaching and freelancing, Lange gained many skills to be hired by his first major client, H. Berthold type foundry, where he was promoted to artistic director from 1961 to 1990. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, describes him as a communicator and teacher, his name is associated with designing classic fonts such as Akzidenz-Grotesk, Berthold Bodoni Old Face, and Imago.The Berthold foundry allowed three designers to created extensions of this typeface; Gayaneh Bagdasaryan Panayiotis Haratzopoulos, and Vladimir Yefimov.
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A close up of the bottom left corner of the type specimen poster. Designed by Jenny Fox
Images of GĂźnter Gerhard Lange teaching.
Akzidenz Grotesk | 13
VISUAL ANALYSIS In this typeface family there are multiple inconsistencies throughout the different weights due to the various incorporated styles from the diverse foundries H. Berthold had acquired. The 1890’s version of Akzidenz Grotesk is similar to the mechanical structure of other Neo-Grotesque typefaces. Akzidenz Grotesk contains characteristics of pendrawn typefaces, due to the slight contrast of the thick and thin variations in strokes. Some identifying characteristics are; tail of the Q has a short tail that does not pass through into the counter. Letter J does not descend below baseline. The G has no spur and has a right-angled bar at the base, similar to Helvetica. While the lower case g contains no lower ball. The middle of the letter M descends all the way to the baseline. The dots on both i and j are square in nature and the lower part of i is just a straight line. The lowercase a is a double-story. The R has a straight leg and lacks a tail which can be seen in Helvetica. The terminals on S and C are diagonal.
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Ascender
X - Height
Cap Height
Baseline
Descender
When compared to Helvetica, Akzidenz has less width of strokes in most letters except C, G, O, and Q, which contain a more geometric shape. Both have a right angle bar at the base of the G, but in Akzidenz the G does not have a rounded off square tail like Helvetica’s letter R, and the letter J points horizontally. With a small x-height, this becomes more appealing to readers when used in continuous text.
Akzidenz Grotesk | 15
1
2 3 16
1. The font used for the film title Dunkirk in 2017.
2. Designed by Micaela Frakes-Zieger for Archery Tag in 2018
3. Designed by Stephen Coles for De Typografie van GĂŠrard Ifert poster in 1962
4. Designed by BLT
4
Communications, Ignition, and Dominic Smith for the movie Zero Dark Thirty in 2012
5.
Designed by
Blackletter for Somewhere Else by Lydia Loveless in 2014
5
Akzidenz Grotesk | 17
BICK 18
KHAM SCRIPT. 19
Bick Scrip 20
kham pt IN TRO DUCT ION
Bickham Script is a flowing, formal script typeface that is intended primarily for use as display type. It was designed by Richard Lipton in 1997 and was inspired by the lettering of 18th century writing masters, especially the engraving and penmanship work of George Bickham. This ornate script typeface brings a signature flourish to invitations, menus, annual reports, logos, and packaging. With hundreds of ligatures and substitute forms in addition to its range of weights, Bickham Script’s personality can range from poised to extravagant.
Bickham Script | 21
History TH E CR E AT I O N O F B ICKHAM
Bickham Script was based on English round hand, which is a style of handwriting that developed in the 18th century, primarily in Great Britain. This incredibly ornate lettering style was in fact developed for practical commerce; useful for everyday mercantile documents such as contracts, bills of sale, and accountants’ ledgers. (Berry, “A History”). The most famous collection of this flourishing English handwriting was The Universal Penman. This was the work of the calligrapher and engraver, George Bickham the Elder, who had the best calligraphers of his time provide their handwriting to be engraved, published, and sold as a series. The round-hand scripts displayed in The Universal Penman feature many flamboyant flourishes and decorative extensions.
When type designer, Richard Lipton, found a copy of the George Bickham’s The Universal Penman in a Harvard Square bookstore, he was struck by its seductive and intensely romantic rhythms. He sat with it for a while, hypnotized, wondering, “how such marks could have been made by mere mortals” (Berry, “Creating Bickham”). He purchased the book, kept it in his studio, and came back to it in 1994, when he began working on a digital font inspired by English round hand. Rather than directly copy the examples in The Universal Penman, Lipton wanted to create a typeface that would embody the spirit of those pages while still working as a practical digital font. After nearly two years of intermittent work, his script typeface, Bickham Script, was fin-
An example of English round hand on an 18th century bill of sale.
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Engraving work by George Bickham in The Universal Penman.
ished and it was then released by Adobe in 1997. It was originally released as a multiple-master font with a single axis: weight, from light to bold. Lipton says the original version, “…included two sets of caps, 43 alternate lowercase characters, 27 beginning, 19 ending, and 18 ornaments, presented in three weights with eight separate fonts” (Berry, “Creating Bickham”). This gave users a large variety of different forms to use. However, after its release, very few designers were actually taking advantage of the font’s alternate forms and were basically using it out of the box.
TH E GR OW T H O F BICKHAM In 2002, Lipton returned to The Universal Penman in search of potential alternate forms when Adobe asked if he could expand Bickham Script to take advantage of the recently developed OpenType font
format. An OpenType font can contain more than 65,000 different glyphs and it automatically substitutes alternate characters or discretionary ligature. This means all of the glyphs in one weight of Bickham Script could be contained in a single font file, making it easier for designers to set varying, elegant text. OpenType also supported contextual rules to determine which alternate characters should be used where. The new OpenType version was released in 2003 as Bickham Script Std. Since 2004, Lipton has worked closely with Adobe’s principal designer, Robert Slimbach, to create a complete set of more elaborately swashed glyphs as well as language support for other languages. In 2016, the fonts were extended to include Cyrillic and Greek support in the latest Bickham Script Pro 3.
Bickham Script | 23
Richard Lipton 24
d n
T HE TYPE DESIGN ER Richard Lipton began his lettering journey while studying art and design at Harpur College, where he was exposed to a dramatic piece of calligraphy that ignited his passion for letterforms (RISD). He graduated in 1975 and immediately began doing freelance calligraphy, sign painting, and graphic design in Syracuse. In 1977, Lipton established a calligraphy studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts which ended up being a rich and fertile environment for his interests (MyFonts). In 1983, he took a job at Bitstream, an innovative digital type foundry in Boston. While he was there, Lipton was introduced to digital type production and spent a great deal of time digitizing existing typefaces and expanding typeface libraries. He helped make Bitstream’s type library one of the most respected in the industry. After leaving Bitstream in 1991 with a mind full of ideas for new type designs, Lipton got a Mac, learned how to design original typefaces on Fontographer, and began selling them through the Font Bureau. Lipton is currently a senior designer at Font Bureau and on faculty at Rhode Island School of Design where he teaches both type design and calligraphy.
Bickham Script | 25
Visual Analysis A CLOSER LOOK
Lipton’s Bickham Script, has brought the unparalleled lettering of the 18th century writing masters to the computers of today’s designers. Bickham Script is characterized by flowing loops and flourishes with graceful, rhythmic strokes. Due to its expressive and gestural calligraphic characters, Bickham Script should almost entirely be used for display purposes as headers and subheaders. The more formal characters of Bickham Script can be used for introductory paragraphs in certain circumstances. It is an excellent typeface for formal, elegant designs, especially those reminiscent of its origin, English round hand.
Bickham Script comes with a huge selection of swash and alternate characters enabling a plain vanilla setting to be easily transformed into an elegant,
highly embellished showing, previously attainable only from the skillful hands of a master calligrapher (Strizver 36). The OpenType technology will, in a sense, behave like a calligrapher as it is programmed to choose specific glyphs, given their context in a word or sentence, that will be visually appropriate. Its large number of OpenType features, including discretionary ligatures, swashes, superscripts, stylistic alternates, and cast-sensitive glyph connectors, makes it highly customizable and yet easy to use. As one types, substitutions are made dynamically as the context changes. Not only do varied ligatures appear, but subtle changes to glyph exit and entry strokes ensure an attractive, flowing text both between letters and at word beginnings and endings.
y y y y y y y y �y y y Various alternatives for every letter offer stylistic variety or optimal forms for specific placements.
26
sAlchemy consistent 35 – 40% angled stroke
teardrop terminal
Flourish
Compare to:
1
3
large loops in ascenders and descenders
thick-to-thin stroke contrast mimics a soft nib pen
small x-height with long ascenders and descenders
alternative characters feature downand-return strokes
Flourish
2
Flourish Flourish 4
1.
Bickham Script Pro 3
2.
Zapfino
3.
Shelley Script LT Std
4.
Snell Roundhand LT Std
y y yy y y y y y y y y Bickham Script | 27
Gallery B I C KHA M I N U SE
Bickham Script is considered to be one of the most well-crafted and customizable script typeface which might explain why is it used so commonly. It is an excellent typeface for elegant logos, menus, invitations, annual reports, packaging, and designs reminiscent of its origin in English round hand.
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1
3
2
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5
6
8
9
7
1 – 3. Various wine bottle labels. 4.
Stella Artois Cidre packaging.
5.
Slingshot Coffee Co.'s cold brew packaging.
6.
State Department invitation.
7.
A wedding invitation.
8.
The primary logo and store signage for Ball and Buck.
9.
The primary logo and signage for the restaurant, Sylvain.
Bickham Script | 29
ADO 30
OBE CASLON. 31
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP Q NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGH ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFVW
When In Doubt,
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !@#$%&?
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW 32
VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR QRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLM HIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD VWXYZABCDEFVWXYZABCDEF WXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS
Use Caslon. Adobe Caslon was created by Carol Twombly and
well. It is considered a relatively safe and reliable font
released by Adobe Systems in 1990. This typeface is
that is valued for its legibility and varying applica-
a revival of the Caslon font, which was invented by
tions. Adobe Caslon maintains the classic “old world”
William Caslon in 1722. Adobe Caslon is a versatile
look that is characteristic of the original Caslon
serif typeface that can be used for a variety of pur-
typeface. For this reason, it is ideal for classy, old
poses. Clear legibility, varying weight, and varying
style, or professional work. Adobe Caslon is not
tension are characteristics of Adobe Caslon which
typically used to convey humorous, modern, or
led to its popularity. This typeface is commonly used
futuristic designs.
for body text because of its easy readability, which also makes it ideal for titles, headers, and captions as
WXYZ 1234567890
?
YZ 1234567890
WXYZ 1234567890
WXYZ 1234567890
Caslon | 33
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP Q NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW ADOBE CASLON NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFVWX
HISTORY OF
Adobe Caslon is a revival of the Caslon typeface, which was created by English gunsmith and typeface designer William Caslon in 1772. The original Caslon typeface is characterized by short ascenders and descenders, bracketed serifs, moderately high contrast, and robust texture. Caslon quickly became a popular typeface and was regarded as superior over contemporary Dutch fonts used in English literature. Due to the advancements in typesetting in the 19th century, existing typefaces had to be adapted to work with new typesetting technology. This led to the creation of many different Caslon typefaces with
In 1990, Carol Twombly studied William Caslon’s work and created a revival of the typeface which was adapted for modern print and web publishing. Adobe Caslon Pro was released by Adobe Systems and quickly became very popular as a clean and legible font. It is still one of the most widely used typefaces among designers today. 34
W XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR QRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLM Designer Bio: JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDE WXYZABCDEFVWXYZABCDEFG Carol Twombly CAROL TWOMBLY XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST
DESIGNER BIO:
Carol Twombly is a graphic designer and the creator of the Adobe Caslon font. Twombly was born on June 13th, 1959 in Concord, Massachusetts. She grew up in New England where she experimented with different mediums of art and initially chose to pursue sculpture. She switched her interest to graphic design when she attended the Rhode Island School of Art. After graduating, Twombly worked in a Boston design studio before joining a digital typography program which was newly formed at Stanford University. She studied computer science and typographic design for two years at Stanford and earned a Masters of Science degree. She continued working for the Bigelow and Holmes studio for four years, which led her to entering and winning her first international type design contest. Twombly began working for Adobe Systems in 1988 as a full-time type designer in the Adobe Originals program. She worked over eleven years with Adobe and designed many of the popular text and display typefaces used today. Her designs include Trajan, Charlemagne, Lithos, Viva, Nueva, and many other successful typefaces. She received the Charles Peignot award in 1994 for outstanding contributions to type design, making her the first woman and second American to receive the award. Today, she lives in the Sierra foothills and explores other non-computer based arts such as weaving, natural sculpture, and silk painting.
Caslon | 35
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP Q ADOBE CASLON NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFVWX
VISUAL ANALYSIS Adobe Caslon is a serif font that is very popular due to its easy readability. It is based off the original Caslon font designed by William Caslon, which is classified as an old style serif. One identifying characteristic of Adobe Caslon are the slanted serifs on the capitol letters E, F, T, and Z. These slants are much more dramatic than other old style serifs, and less noticeable in the letters C and G. The serifs in Adobe Caslon are also slightly bracketed so they flow smoothly into the main strokes of each character, which makes it more gentle to read. Carol Twombly’s redesign of William Caslon’s font maintains many aspects of the original old style serif designed in the 1700’s. Adobe Caslon features old style serif characteristics such as minimal stroke variation, small x height, bracketed serifs with cupped bases, and angled serifs on lower case ascenders. However, Adobe Caslon is clearly refined for both print and web use in the modern era.
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W XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR QRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLM JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDE WXYZABCDEFVWXYZABCDEFG XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST
S
Caslon | 37
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW ADOBE CASLON NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFVWX
GA
Biography for Tal Leming which utilizies
Poster combining Adobe Caslon with different
Adobe Caslon as body text.
Album cover for The Baroque Inevitable which uses the fonts Baby Teeth, Futura, and Caslon.
sans serif typefaces.
Poster using different sizes and styles of Adobe Caslon
Poster
Adobe
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP Q 38
WXYZABCDEFVWXYZABCDEFG XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST
ALLERY
Poster for Adobe Caslon which shows different styles and ltterforms used as a graphic element.
using different sizes and styles of Caslon and special characters.
Caslon was used in the first reprints of the Declaration of Independence and is still being used today.
Poster for Adobe Caslon showing various styles and use as a graphic element.
Poster using Adobe Caslon as a graphic element.
W XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR QRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLM Caslon | 39
40
CENTAUR. 41
42
CENTAUR
was designed by Bruce Rogers for the Metropolitan Museum in 1914. It was released by Monotype in 1929. It was modeled after letters cut by the fifteenth-century printer Nicolas Jenson. The typeface belongs to the humanist style of old-style designs. Centaur has a widely acclaimed beauty of line and proportion since its release. Centaur is a often used for books, and can be used well for shorter text as well (Wikipedia).
Centaur | 43
44
BIO BRUCE ROGERS
was an American typographer and type designer, named one of the greatest book designers of the twentieth century. He was known for his “classical� design, rejecting modernism, never using asymmetrical arrangements, rarely using sans serif type faces, always utilizing more roman faces such as Caslon and his own typeface, Centaur. Before working as a typographer Rogers worked as an artist for the Indianapolis News and as office boy for a railroad (Christianson). After seeing several Kelmscott Press editions, he dicovered his interest in producing fine books. He moved to Boston, at the time, a center of publishing. There, he freelanced for L. Prang and Co. His books now bring in high sums at auction.
awfe A K iBg Centaur | 45
HISTORY THIS typeface was originally made for titling
capitals in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rogers, with some time expanded it, adding lower case, for his 1915 limited edition of Maurice de Guérin’s The Centaur. For the original release, matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by American Type Founders. The Monotype Corporation later commissioned Rogers to release it for the general market. Rogers hired calligrapher Frederic Warde, to create an italic type design to pair with Centaur. Warde’s design had the separate name Arrighi, which appears in some earlier specimens.(Wikipedia) Centaur and Arrighi are identified separately in the type books. Centaur at large print size and Arrighi at text size. The completed family was released for general use in 1929, showing up in Monotype’s specimen booklet.
46
MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM THE MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM MMMMMM
MET Centaur | 47
X W S
48
w e XafAK W B i g S
ANALYSIS CENTAUR
is a humanist serif typeface.It shows some of the irregularities because it is an earlier typeface compared to later versions. The horizontal stroke of the ‘e’ is tilted, not exactly horizontal as came to be the normal in print. The dots of the i and j are very visibly shifted to the right, a feature of Jenson’s original design. On the other hand, while based on study of Jenson’s work, Centaur is a more loose version, more slender (especially in the serifs) than Jenson’s original. It also modernizes Jenson’s two-way serifs on the top of the ‘M’ in favour of one-way serifs. (Revolvy)
afe A K iBg Centaur | 49
IN USE
Like a Virgin, Madonna
50
London Symphany by Vaughan Williams, Chandos
Centaur, myfonts.com
Centaur | 51
C 52
CLARENDON. 53
CLAR 54
INTRODUCTION Clarendon is a subcategory of its own, falling within the larger Grotesque Slab group (Seddon, 120); it was modeled after Egyptian typefaces but used bracketed serifs instead of Egyptian square serifs as a part of creating a condensed type that could be used in body type. Today, we remember Clarendon as the wood type that marked the late 19th century Britain and U.S. It is the font of the typical Victorian-era poster look and the “WANTED” or “DEAD OR ALIVE” wanted posters from the Wild West (Challand). It can be seen for company logos like Wells Fargo or Sony, the trail directions in national parks, or even children’s blocks. Clarendon’s characteristics include “low thick-to-thin stroke contrast, vertical stress, square bracketed serifs, round ball terminals, horizontal crossbar on the lowercase ’e’” (McCormick). Modern Clarendon typeface was designed by Hertmann Eidenbenz and was released by Monotype sitnce 1935; and much like the original Besley’s Clarendon, Clarendon today still maintains its distinctive bulbous termianls, square bracketed slabs, and heavy weight (Challand).
RENDON Clarendon | 55
HISTORY
Robert Besley invented Cla
It was modeled after Egyptian typefaces but use serifs instead of Egyptian square serifs as a part condensed type that could be used in body typ registered in Britain in 1845 under the new Orn Act of 1842, becoming the first patented typefa Clarendon represented one of the first typeface was used instead of italics as a means of indicat (Meggs, 87) and its useness was affirmed by the popularity following its release. But with a paten of three years, the typeface design was soon co foundries. Later, Besley inherited Fann Street Fo renamed Besley & Co.); an expanded version of released which became “popular in the printing display face... and [for its] pleasing proportions as a model for Clarendon’s revival.
Clarendon was one of the most heavilty plagiari during the late 18th and 19th centuries and it g subcategory of slab- or square-serif typefaces w serifs. Its two most influential versions (and still were Haas Clarendon and Craw Clarendon. Haa
56
arendon in 1845
ed bracketed t of creating a pe. Clarendon was namental Designs ace.At its time, es whose “boldface ting emphasis” e immense nt protection opied by other oundry (which he f Clarendon was g business as a s” (90) and served
ized typeface grew to be a with bracketed viable today) as Clarendon was
revised by Hermann Eidenbenz in 1951 for the Haas’sche foundry in Basel Switzerland; a lightwev 1962. Craw Clarendon was created by Freeman Craw in 1955 as a commision for American Type Foundesr (ATF). Its lightweight (Craw vwwClarendon Book) was released the following year and Craw Clarendon Condensed in 1960. Critics of Craw Clarendon pointed out that there’s too much excess in the shoulder and (Meggs, 90). Italics for Clarendon wasn’t issued until 1955-1958 by the Nebiolo Foundry in Italy. Invented by Aldo Novarese, Egizio becomes the first Clarendon series with a typeface and when it was first introduced at the Milan Fair in 1953, Egizio offered Clarendon in medium, medium italic, bold, bold italics and condensed letters. In the 1980s, the rise of digital technology` featured New Century Schoolbook as the only square-serif font. Belizio, which was based on Egizio, was developed by David Berlow who recalled that digital type needed an alternative “Clarendon feel that was as far away from Centry Schoolbook as possible” (Meggs. 90). Today, typefaces that fall under the Clarendon subcategory includes Consort, Fortune, Playbill, Rosewood, and Volta.
Clarendon | 57
DESIGN & FO
Fann
Fann Stree Robert Tho death, the Thorowgoo to coin the a san-serif succeeded went on to Besley was 1842 (Fann type found until it clos original ma on to the S foundry; la as Consort (Devroye). active unti Fann Stree Museum in
Robe
He started Foundry in and renam patented h Clarendon commerica he was una text. 58
NER & OUNDRY
n Street Foundry
et Foundry was established by orne in London in 1794. After his e business was bought by William od, the first of his contemporaries e word “Grotesque” to describe typeface. Thorowgood was d by Robert Besley in 1838 who o create Clarendon in 1845. s followed by Charles Reed in n Street Foundry, “MyFonts”). The dry passed several more hands sed in 1906 but its designs and atrices and punches were passed Sheffield-based Stephenson Blake ater the foundry reissud Clarendon t, a narrower width Clarendon Stephenson Blake foundry stayed il 2005; the metal type from et Foundry was donated to Type n London (MacMillian, Krandall).
ert Besley
d working at the Fann Street n 1826 which he took over 1838 med to Besley & Co. Besley his first typeface in 1845; n brought Besley immense al success but much to his dismay, able to protect the copyrighted Clarendon | 59
R
VISUAL
Typog
upturned
60
tall x-height ball terminal
Unlike its precursor, Clarendon has type, italics and headlines alike. Lik serifs but with added softness from the difference in width between the (Cunningham). Numerals are old fas the same height as the uppercase l
Clarendon is distinctive by its bulbo and its upturned foot in lowercase usually have narrow counters with s features shorter ascender and desc
K
stepped leg
M
flat juntion of M flat junction of
ANALYSISIS
R
Bracketed serifs
graphy short ascenders & descenders
low contrast
“a far more balanced use between body ke other slab serifs it has strong squared m the curved brackets and has a low contrast, e thicker and thinner parts of the letterform� shioned and they all sit along the baseline at letterforms.
ous terminals in lowercase letters like a, e, y; a and t and uppercase Q and R. Clarendons small aperatures (in C, E, and G); the face cender proportions and a taller x-height.
W
M sits at baseline
W includes a serif
Q
swash creates a second counter
Clarendon | 61
Sony logo on a camera
US Wanted poster, 1865
National park signage
Wells F 62
Children's blocks
a
SAGE
Tonka logo
Rolex logo
Fargo logo Clarendon | 63
CO 64
OPPERPLATE. 65
HISTORY Copperplate was designed by Frederic W. Goudy and released by the American Type Founders foundry in 1903. It was intended to be used only for headings and displays, which is why Goudy constructed Copperplate of only capital letters and small caps. It was originally called Copperplate Gothic—“gothic” indicating a sans serif typeface—but has characteristics of both serif and sans serif typefaces. Its tiny serifs were meant to be reminiscent of engravings in copperplate, hence its name (Linotype). Copperplate was popular in the mid-twentieth century for business contexts such as stationery and business cards. While the original typeface was designed by Frederic W. Goudy, multiple weights were designed by Clarence C. Marder of American Type Founders.
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ABC NOP ab nop 1
CDEFGHIJKLM PQRSTUVWXYZ bcdefghijklm pqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 (&$.,!?^) Copperplate | 67
FREDERIC W.
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GOUDY Frederic W. Goudy was born on March 8, 1865 in Bloomington, Illinois. He was a self-taught American printer and typographer who designed over 100 typefaces; among those were Goudy Oldstyle and Copperplate, notably some of his more popular typeface designs. At the start of his career, Goudy was faced with solving many issues that challenged type designers, “…such as how to design “…first used for Goudy’s own account type that is fresh yet part of the continuum of its creation in Typologia,” (Carter, 49) and how one designs for the masses and one of the best books on type design ever maintains artistic individuality” (Heller written. This typeface served as a welland Fili, 16). In 1895, with Lauren fitting end to Goudy’s astounding career. Hooper, Goudy set up the Camelot Press He died in 1947 and “…kept his place as in Chicago, Illinois. There, he designed one of the first and most original of the his first typeface, Camelot, which he new age of type designers who emerged sold to a Boston printer for $10. In 1903, with the new century” (Carter, 50). Goudy started the Village Press in Park Ridge, Illinois with his wife Bertha and In 1892, American Type Founders was Will Ransom. After moving the Village founded from 23 prominent independent Press a few times, first to Massachusetts type foundries in the United States as a then to New York City, Goudy finally set result of the looming threat of automated it down permanently in Marlboro, New mechanical typesetting. Although York, where it unfortunately burned American Type Founders was founded on down in 1939 (“Frederic W. Goudy”). defending traditional quality, the foundry still marketed itself as being involved and After a career full of ups and downs, bad interested in new technology. Since ATF typeface designs and good ones, Goudy was made up of 23 different foundries took on one more major type design with varying styles, it was a challenge to project. The project was “…originally decide which designs to keep and which commissioned as a proprietary face by to leave behind. ATF took this challenge the University of California Press at the as an opportunity to redesign some end of 1937…” (Carter, 49). Fortunately, typefaces and create new ones. Some Goudy had already finished and sent out notable developments by ATF include: the master patterns when his workshop Century Schoolbook, Franklin Gothic, was destroyed in a fire. He overcame this Hobo, and of course, Copperplate (Berry, setback, however, and the typeface was “American Type Founders”). Copperplate | 69
5 8&
Oh my Goudy BPR LE
70
While the serifs are subtle and just barely noticeable in the alphabet, they are a bit overused in its numerals and symbols. Whereas most “5” numerals set in a serif typeface would only have two serifs, Copperplate has three serifs.
The shape of the ampersand is also unusual because it closely resembles the shape of the number 8.
The x-height of the small caps in Copperplate is typical of the average lowercase characters in other typefaces, however, the thickness of the horizontal stroke in the small caps remains the same as the capital letter (Halff, “Tuesday Typeface”).
One unique characteristic of Copperplate is that some of its letters appear horizontally overstretched. Their counters are longer and wider than average.
VISUAL ANALYSIS Goudy’s typeface designs were “…individual, always recognisable, with characteristics which can sometimes become irritating” (Carter, 47). Copperplate, often imitated, was one of the most unique of Goudy’s typefaces. The typeface family does not include variations such as italic, is wider than it is tall, and because the typeface is set in capital letters and small caps, it would not be beneficial in large bodies of text. Instead, Copperplate’s main strengths lie in headlines and displays, such as storefronts, business signs, and elegant stationery.
“…individual, always recognisable, with characteristics which can sometimes become irritating” Copperplate | 71
COPPERPLATE IN THE REAL WORLD
1 2
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3
4 1 Copperplate used in the logo for 2007 Disney 2
3 4 5
5
& Pixar film Ratatouille. Copperplate, with its elegant small caps, is often seen in restaurant logos. Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen uses the typeface throughout their menu. The unique serifs seen on Copperplate’s number 5 is featured on the Golden State Warriors jersey. Copperplate is used for both the logo and numbers of the Golden State Warriors. Copperplate as seen in the press material for the 2003 film Seabiscuit. Copperplate | 73
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FUTURA. 75
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Futura is a Geometric sans serif typeface designed by Paul Renner in 1927. Geometric shapes were used as the basis, as they became representative of the dominating visual elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919–1933. The geometric forms include near-perfected circles, triangles, and squares.
Futura fought on both sides of World War II. American printers, designers, and advertisers largely embraced Futura and new ideas about modernism.
The typeface is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast. Futura was designed for the old German Bauer foundry, which was a prominent German manufacturer of metal type. Although it isn’t the longest-serving geometric sans serif typeface, Futura is arguably the most successful as it has become an extremely popular typeface for countless corporate logos, commercial products, films and advertisements for years.
Beware of Dog sign, in Futura, in Bolton Hill, Baltimore, 2016.
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History of Futura 78
The Geometric Futura is a sans typeface designed by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. It is based on geometric shapes which became prominent visual elements in the Bauhaus design style of 1919-1933 (Burke 14). Futura was commercially released in 1927– 1930 and it became a cornerstone of the “New Typography” classified as Geometrical Modernism. The key words “form follows function” were regarded as the epitome. Careful reasoning, furthermore, compelled all the character shapes to their “utmost functional simplicity” (Burke 35). It has been brought to the attention by many that Ferdinand Kramer, a colleague of Paul Renner, may have influenced the creation of Futura (Thomas 84). The German language similarly played a critical role in the evolution of it. Renner took the German language into consideration and was inspired by the Bauhaus design philosophy which stated “that a modern typeface should express modern models rather than be a restoration of previous design” (Burke 26). When Paul Renner designed Futura in Germany in 1927, he wanted it to be new and modern, rather than a revival (or redesign) of an old font. He believed that this typeface should look and feel modern, Futura still manages that more than 85 years later. Efficiency, forwardness, and modernism are reflected in Futura’s sharp forms.
Initially, The Bauer Foundry of Frankfurt issued Futura in six weights, including a condensed version in three weights and an inline version (Burke 29). However, The Bauer Type Foundry had to re-evaluate Renner’s original designs to develop a smoother look while still maintaining his initial geometric forms. Since Renner’s typeface family provided the right typographical tool for the professional designer, it ended up becoming a popular choice for text and display composition.
The Bauer Type Foundry.
When the first man landed on the moon in 1969, Futura was engraved onto the stainless steel plaque that was attached to the lunar module, and rumor has it that it was selected for the interstellar mission because of Stanley Kubrick’s affinity for it. He had used it in 2001 A Space Odyssey, which was released one year prior (Miller). Due to its increasing popularity and growth, Futura has paved the way to the development of many other geometric sans serif typefaces, such as Avenir, Kabel, and Twentieth Century (Leonard 40).
NASA employed Futura quite often, including in the patch for the first successful moon-landing mission, Apollo 11, in 1969.
Early test prints of Futura, 1924–25.
Futura | 79
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Futura was used extensively in advertising for the 1968 film 2OO1: A Space Odyssey, but sparingly in the film itself.
Oblique (1939); Futura Light Condensed (1950); and Futura Kräftig (1954)—meaning, “Futura Strong,” effectively a weight somewhere between Semibold and Bold (Douglas 34).
The type family grew with additional styles available for sale: a set of decorative geometric shapes called Futura Schmuck (1927), followed quickly by Futura Bold (1928) (Douglas 34). Gaining a sense of popularity and commercial success, the family ended up expanding to include additional weights such as: Futura Black (1929), followed by Futuras Semibold, Semibold Oblique, Light Oblique, Medium Oblique, Semibold Condensed, and Bold Condensed (1930); Futura Book and Futura Inline (1932); Futura Display (1932); Futura Bold Oblique (1937); Futura Book
Futura Display (1932) is a bold headline typeface based on a rounded rectangular geometry, but unlike the other weights, it has no circular shapes (Douglas 35). In the 1950s Renner created another condensed typeface similar to Futura Display that included italics and various weights. It was released under various names, as Bauer Topic (in the United States and United Kingdom), Vox (Spain), Zénith (France), and Steile Futura (Germany), demonstrating that the name Futura was, above all else, a marketing tool (Douglas 35).
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Futura | 83
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Comparison of commercially available digital iterations of Futura in Medium weight at 32 points (right) and at 625 points.
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Paul Renner 1878–1956 86
Paul Friedrich August Renner was born on August 9, 1878 in Wernigerode in the Harz region, a part of SaxonyAnhalt, which at that time fell within the kingdom of Prussia (Leonard 80). His father was an Evangelical theologian, who became court chaplain to the Earl of Stolberg in Wernigerode. Renner attended a Gymnasium, a secondary school where one studied the humanities Portrait of Paul Renner.
(Leonard 80). Renner chose to study art after the Gymnasium, attending several academies, and finally completing his training in Munich in 1900. He was brought up to have a very German sense of leadership, of duty and responsibility (Leonard 82). He, however, disliked the emergence of abstract art and was not fond of modern culture and its many forms, such as jazz, cinema, and dancing. Yet he still admired the functionalist strain in modernism (Leonard 94). In 1910, Renner became a member of the Deutsher Wekbund, which was a group of artists who worked to heighten standards of design and public taste (Leonard 98).
Renner was set out to influence culture by designing, writing and teaching (Burke 20). Instead of focusing his career on easel painting, Renner decided to explore the field of applied art in which he would try to bring high cultural standards to material objects for use—typefaces and books (Leonard 108). On this matter, he often referenced Goethe in his teachings, whom he regarded as a
modern person: “we should direct our view outwards, away from ourselves, into the world, not into the distance, but onto those things that are neat, within a hand’s reach” (Burke 38). Renner revered education and was always acquainted with the works of the great figures in German philosophy and literature such as Kant, Goethe, Schiller, and Nietzsche (Burke 38).
Herbert Bayer used Futura extensively in his work before and after emigrating from Germany prior to World War II in 1938.
Comparison of geometric typefaces by Herbert Bayer, Josef Albers, and Kurt Schwitters with Futura in Klimschs Jahrbuch, 1928.
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He made a thorough study of philosophy and its methods. However, later in 1908 and onwards, he wrote extensively about typography and design (Burke 41). He created a new set of guidelines for good book design.
“The Meaning of Hitler’s Greeting,” designed by John Heartfield.
He was very fond of fellow German typographer Jan Tschichold and participated numerously in heated ideological and artistic debates of that time (Burke 49). Even before 1932, Renner made his opposition to the Nazis very clear, notably in his pamphlet “Kulturbolschewismus” (Cultural Bolshevism) (Burke 62). Unfortunately, he was arrested and discharged from his post in Munich in 1933, and was later exiled from the country.
Supplementary leaflet in the first Futura portfolio, designed by Heinrich Jost.
Designed by Scott Liao.
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Futura | 89
Visual Analysis
Futura’s alphabet is typified by efficiency and clarity. Each stroke seems to “reject the history and typography wholesale” (Thomas 56); there aren’t any “serifs, flourishes, no real contrasting weight between strokes” (Leonard 95). It portrays more compressed letterforms and a heavier capital, giving the typeface a more classic feel. The ascenders of the small letters are taller than the capitals, which make the capitals look lighter.
Futura Black type specimen
Futura has greater differences between weights than many current type families. Compare Light to Bold to Black of Bauer Futura as published in The Typesetters’ Book (Das Buch des Setzers), 1936.
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MU Bauer Futura Medium, 30-point type at 200 percent. Note how the overshoots visually compensate for the thinning strokes.
The geometric forms and near-even weight strokes are “most visible in the almost perfectly round stroke of the o, which is nonetheless slightly ovoid” (Thomas 60). While designing Futura, Renner steered clear of the decorative, “eliminating nonessential elements” (Burke 113). The lowercase has tall ascenders, which is rise above the capline. On the other hand, the uppercase characters in Futura present portions similar to those of classical Roman capitals (Miller). Letters, such as the a, b and d are made from similarly circular bowls. Letter terminals finish cleanly and abruptly. Yet despite bold design choices, Futura still manages to “carry a warmth with it” (Burke 115). The portions are well balanced, particularly in the lower case.
The circular derivation of some Futura’s lowercase letterforms gives them a pleasing quality, with the x-height and the letter width being similar. The curve of the lowercase u or the descender on the g are softly seductive in contrast to angular w and u’s straight descender. Even though Futura is considered a geometric typeface, it is still one of the most harmonious and graceful san serifs ever made. At first glance, almost all the letters in the 1927 Futura look like strict compass-andruler formations (Douglas 33). In the first two weights, Light and Medium, the roman capitals form familiar shapes: a circular O, a sharp triangular M and A, an R made from a half-circle and straight lines, a T that is two straight lines, and a half-circle D (Douglas 33). The letters “seem precise, with mechanical monolinear strokes and little variation” (Douglas 33). And yet, at its heart, Futura is not only geometric. The letters E, F, L, and P reveal “the classical double-square proportions essential to the entire typeface” (Douglas 33). The result combines the avant-garde concern with line, shape, and form to millennial-old typographic traditions (Douglas 33).
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EUROSTILE. 93
l o v e s ’ e Eurostil 1
2 3
Microgramma and Eurostile were both released originally for handset metal type (Fonts.com). Microgramma was originally intended strictly for display sizes. It was a real “Titling Design,” meaning its capital letters go all the way to the edge of the top of a lead sort (Linotype). Microgramma remained popular for nearly a decade until Aldo Novarese began to create the missing lowercase letters, which led to the release of Eurostile in 1962 under the Nebiolo type foundry (Linotype). “To the original five cuts (regular, bold, condensed, extended, 94
and bold extended), he added bold condensed and compact variants, and thus Eurostile became part of the design landscape in the 1960s (Shaw 98). As Eurostile gained traction, it was later interpreted as a font for phototypesetting, dry transfer letterings and finally as digital fonts (Fonts.com). During the 1980s, Linotype worked with Adobe to usher Eurostile into the era of PostScript fonts (Linotype). Microsoft included Eurostile in its own Microsoft Office software products. The typeface also has a large presence in several video games, films
lution
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1. Back to the Future display 2. 1960s perpetual calendar (1960) 3. Dark Star (1974) movie poster 4. 1997 Honda Civic dashboard, designed by Honda
(especially those in science fiction), and sports channels for displaying information (Fonts.com). Eurostile has also been widely used on technology, product design, automobiles, and music packaging. While Eurostile remained the first choice among graphic designers for use in headlines, it slowly faded into relative insignificance. Univers, Helvetica, and Avant Garde Gothic picked up where Eurostile left off (Linotype). However, in the past decade, foundries such as Linotype, Monotype, and ITC have taken on forgotten typefaces to create a fresh and
improved version of the family. Linotype’s Type Director, Akira Kobayashi, studied the Eurostile fonts and noticed several flaws and inconsistencies imposed by metal typefounding (Linotype). Kobayashi created Eurostile Next to resolve these issues, creating drawings more fluid and true to the original 1960s spirit (Linotype). Eurostile Next also contains a rethinking of Eurostile’s accents and special characters, capable of reaching a broader audience across the globe.
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The life of Aldo Novarese Many of his typefaces draw inspiration from the time, their surrounding, and trends in art and technology...
Aldo Novarese at his design studio in the 1960s
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Aldo Novarese was born in 1920 in Pontestura, a small town of the Piedmont region of Northern Italy (Kupferschmid). By eleven years of age, he attended the vocational school for printing, Scuola Artieri Stampatori, learning about graphic and printing techniques (Kupferschmid). From 1933 to 1936, Novarese continued his education at the Scuola Tipografica Giuseppe VigliardiParavia, under Alessandro Butti focusing on typography and type design. This led him to join the Nebiolo foundry in 1936 as an apprentice draftsman (Kupferschmid). Novarese and Butti worked closely together to create typefaces such as Landi, Normandia, Fluidum, and Microgramma. However, Novarese’s career came to a halt in 1939, when he was imprisoned for participating in protests against the Second World War (Kupferschmid). He also protested against his call to military service and was spared being condemned to hard labor since he had won a gold medal in Ludi Juveniles, a celebration of Facist culture, sport, and art (Kupferschmid). Novarese later joined the partisan resistance when Italy was divided between the German occupation and the American-led liberation (Kupferschmid). Novarese had returned to Nebiolo for work after the war. While the company was not in great shape in the post-WWII era, the Nebiolo fonts began gaining popularity outside of Italy (Kupferschmid). By 1952, Novarese had rose to become Nebiolo’s art director. He held the position for the next twenty-three years, creating typefaces such as Cigno, Ritmo, Garaldus, and Egizio. (Kupferschmid). As Novarese gained success, he began to teach type design and interact with other European type designers. This led him to form a friendship with influential French typographer Maximillien Vox, who created the Vox system
of classifying typefaces (Kupferschmid). According to Kupferschmid, in 1957, Novarese proposed his own typeface classification system, but never reached the same influence as Vox’s. By the end of the 1950s, Nebiolo did not have a contemporary, versatile sans serif family in their catalog. Nebiolo created Eurostile as one of the answers to this demand (Kupferschmid). Despite the success of Eurostile, Novarese did not cease his experimentation with creating more sansserifs, especially with the possibilities of the new phototypesetting technology on the horizon (Kupferschmid). “Considering the huge investment required for the development of a new type family in the days of metal type, the typefaces had to meet the expectations of the market as well as the manufacturer” (Kupferschmid). As a result, there was an apparent downswing during the mid 1970s of Nebiolo’s casting business, with Novarese’s Stop (1971) being the last successful new typeface. Nebiolo closed its doors, ceasing all production of type in 1975 (Kupferschmid). Despite the closure, Novarese continued his career as a freelance typeface designer, drawing a huge variety of typefaces for twenty more years (Kupferschmid). According to Kupferschmid, many of Novarese’s typefaces are available digitally, but most of his phototype fonts were never digitized and sank into obscurity when the commissioning companies closed. Many of his typefaces, “draw inspiration from the time, their surrounding, and trends in art and technology—so much so that some did not age well and became hard to use after a while without evoking a certain period or style” (Kupferschmid). Aldo Novarese died in September of 1995 in Turin.
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What’s so uniqu about Eurostile A visual analysis In an edited version of an original article by Aldo Novarese, Novarese states a close observation of the letters will reveal a compactness, a geometrical gracefulness which does not fatigue the eye, but on the contrary, attracts inattentive eyes to its uncommon characteristics. According to researchers from MIT, Eurostile’s, “design looks technical and industrial, while the characters themselves are boxlike in appearance.” The letters are, “decorative and, when set, give a general impression of a pleasing horizontal ornament”(Novarese). As Novarese puts it, “its outline is already familiar and unconsciously present.” Whenever we look at modern buildings we get the impression of countless letters ‘H’ assembled together (Novarese). “The square shape with the narrow curved angles is a typical architectural expression of our times, much as the round arc was of the Roman period, which produced the inscriptional characters of the ogive arch of the Gothic style, which produced the medieval faces” (Novarese). One of the obvious attributes of Eurostile is that it is square in design. Many of the letters
resemble the form of being traced around a 70s style television screen (Chahine, Reimer, and Dobres 33). There is also a symmetry and mathematical quality to the design (Linotype). Aside from the squared off curves, Eurostile has a large x-height and adds distinction from the crowd of other sans serif typefaces. Some of the more distinguishing letters of Eurostile can be found in the ‘Ks’ which have diagonals that do not touch the stem (Linotype). The lowercase ‘t’ has a long cross bar on the right, along with a tail that curves back to a vertical orientation. Its cross bar is similar to that of the lowercase ‘f’. The ‘A’, ‘M’, ‘N’, ‘V’ and ‘W’ all have flat apexes and the ‘Q’ has the distinction of having the tail longer within the counter than on the outside (Linotype). The lowercase a is of the traditional two-storied variety found in 19th century grotesques and most roman types (Linotype). The ‘g’ is a single storied design, similar to the likes of Helvetica or Frutiger.
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ueEurostile in use e? 5
6
4
2
3 1. Diagonals do not touch stem of ‘K’ 2. Long cross bar with tail curving to vertical orientation 3. Similar cross bar as lowercase ‘t’ 4. Apexes are all flat 5. Tail in ‘Q’ is longer within counter than outside 6. Single storied design
Eurostile | 99
HELV 100
VETICA NEUE. 101
histor Helvetica Neue is a digitized version of the original Helvetica (Wikipedia). Helvetica was originally released by the Hass Foundry in 1957 (Wikipedia). It was released around the same time as Folio and Univers (Shaw, 24). Though it appeared first, it became the most popular and widely used out of the three (Shaw, 25). Helvetica became the go-to typeface for many corporations and businesses (Shaw, 26). It was a much cleaner and more legible display type than its predecessors (Wikipedia). Helvetica highlighted the Swiss and German styles and became their trademark. According to Shaw, one of the reasons the typeface became so exceedingly popular was due partly to its name (Shaw, 25). The original name “Neue Haas Grotesk” was nixed due to its complexity (Shaw, 25). Stempel’s manager suggested “Helvetica” to emphasize the Swiss style as it was the Latin name for Switzerland (Shaw, 25). However, dude to copyright issues and fear of foreigners 102 | Typeface 101
mispronouncing the name they added the ‘c’ to make “Helvetica” (Shaw, 25). Helvetica Neue came almost 25 years later. The name clearly references Helvetica’s original name “Neue Haas Grotesk”. Helvetica Neue refurbished and cleaned up the original version. The newer typeface had increased legibility, clarity, unity and standardization.
ry
It also became digitalized to meet the demands of an increasing digital world (Wikipedia). Helvetica Neue appears to be almost as popular and commonly used as Helvetica. It is especially notable in Apple’s iOS 7 (Molla). Though some designers utilize the typeface for many projects (logos, clothing, advertising copy) it can be difficult to
Image 1: A drawing for phototype production in the Linotype archives.
read at smaller sizes due to its uniformity (Molla). It also lacks character and uniqueness to some, but compensates with functionality. D. Stempel AG type foundry developed linotype typefaces on continental Europe (Linotype Design Studio). Hermann Zapf would employ up to 50 designers at the studio under his direction (Linotype Design Studio). Linotype Design Studio later bought D. Stempel AG and its location moved to an area just outside of Frankfurt Germany (Linotype Design Studio). There were other Linotype studios in the UK and New York. The UK studio focused on non-Latin typefaces under Walter Tracy and Fiona Ross (Linotype Design Studio). The entire staff would often collaborate on multiple projects so that “attribution to single persons is therefore not possible” (Linotype Design Studio).
Image 2: Eduard Hoffmann’s notebook of Neue Haas Grotesk and Helvetica.
Helvetica Neue | 103
O i be
104 | Typeface 101
Almost perfect oval for both upper and lowercase ‘o’. The tittle of the ‘i’ is almost a perfect square.
Low weight contrast making small text hard to read. The weight from the left side of the bowl is barely different from the of the rest of the letter form. The terminal cuts of the letter forms are horizontal cut offs.
Helvetica Neue is very similar to Helvetica. There is more unity with the heights and widths as well as “heavier punctuation marks and increased spacing in the numbers” (Wikipedia).There are seven total weights including thin, light, regular, bold, bold condensed, black and black con-densed. The typeface is very uniform with some of the letter forms appearing the same such as ‘I’ and ‘l’. It is clearly a sans-serif with neutral personality. The ‘o’ is almost a perfect oval and the tittle of the lowercase ‘i’ is a perfect rectangle. The ‘e’ and ‘c’ are also almost perfect ovals as well. This is unlike Helvetica where these letter forms appear to be perfect circles and squares. The terminal of the lowercase ‘a’ ends straight down while Helvetica’s ‘a’ has a terminal that swoops up. There is an
extremely low weight contrast that makes the letter forms appear extremely uniform. This is adequate for display type, but not so much for large amounts of small text. The typeface also utilizes horizontal terminal cuts unlike Akzidenz Grotesk, which uses diagonal cuts (Silvertant). Its large x-height was, at the time, uncommon due to the long history of serif typefaces with small x-heights before it (Silvertant). There is a certain rigidity to the typeface that is partly due to the ascenders aligning with the cap height (Silvertant). The intensely closed apertures also limit legibility, but highlight what Helvetica and Helvetica Neue were designed for (Silvertant). This philosophy was to design a typeface that was not like anything anyone else had made before. Helvetica Neue | 105
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Top left: Target Logo in Helvetica Neue. Top right: Tori Amos album cover in Helvetica Neue Bold. Bottom left: Firestone website using Helvetica Neue Bold. Center Left: Subway book cover in Helvetica Neue Bold. Center Right: More Life by Drake album cover using Helvetica Neue on the top. Bottom center: Watch series based on Helvetica Neue. Bottom right: I-phone IOS 7 interface using Helvetica Neue Light.
ITC AMERICAN 108
N TYPEWRIER. 109
c it 110
c
OVERVIEW ITC American Typewriter is a slab serif typeface created in 1974 by Joel Kaden and Tony Stan for the International Typeface Corporation. The typeface is based on the slab serif style commonly seen when using a typewriter. However, unlike most fonts and type most commonly found in association with typewriters, it is a proportional design and the characters do not all have the same width. ITC American Typewriter is often used to suggest an old-fashioned or industrial aesthetic and has a bit of a quirky inconsistency.
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abc THE STORY
American Typewriter was originally issued in 1974 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the typewriter’s invention. The typeface was developed by Joel Kaden and Tony Stan, and was meant to appear similar to the text created by the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, which was invented in the 1860s. Christopher Latham Sholes’s machine was the first to use a QWERTY keyboard, which is designed as such because common letter combinations are spaced out to avoid jamming. His invention was initially not received warmly by the public due to its high cost. (Kuhn) Though it looks similar to that of a typewriter, the ITC American
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Typewriter typeface is a bit easier to read. It has a proportional design, meaning its characters don’t all have the same width like that of an original typewriter. The design goal was to create a typeface that retained the unmistakable look of typewriter type, while overcoming its inherent flaws of legibility and poor readability in text settings. Over the years, American Typewriter has only undergone slight changes. All of its letters look the same as the original release except for the characters &, $, R and e, which have since had some design adjustments. (Cottom)
THE CREATORS ITC American Typewriter was created by typographers Joel Kaden and Tony Stan for the type foundry International Typeface Corporation. Tony Stan was born 1917 and died 1988. He created the following fonts: ITC American Typewriter, ITC Garamond, ITC Cheltenham, ITC Century and ITC Berkely Old Style. Joel Kaden was an American designer and worked with Herb Lubalin and ITC. The International Typeface Corporation was a type manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin, and Edward Rondthaler. The company was one of the world’s first type foundries to have no history in the production of metal type. Type designers Joel Kaden and Tony Stan
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VISUAL ANALYSIS The first being the serifs. Rather than the perfectly square or rectangular serifs of typefaces like Clarendon, ITC American Typewriter displays more of a squashed, organic shaped serif with a slight dip in the middle, resembling a bone. The corners of the serif are rounded, but not symmetrical. The second characteristic is the teardrop terminal evident in the lowercase a, c, f, the ear of the g, j, r, and y. The terminals also contain a rounded tail (think of it as if the tail made a u-turn and proceeded straight ahead). Also, the letterforms have rounded vertexes, versus a flat or square vertex seen in other serifs (and sans serifs as well). There are no sharp corners in any letterform in There are many distinct and specific ITC American Typewriter. All vertexes, characteristics that set ITC American terminals, and serifs are very rounded and Typewriter apart from other slab serifs. organic shapes. ITC American Typewriter can first be identified for its unique style, and its resemblence to a typewriter's font. Though it looks similar to that of a typewriter, the American Typewriter typeface is a bit easier to read. It has a proportional design, meaning its characters don’t all have the same width like that of an original typewriter. (Cottom) The typeface comes with six different weight options: regular, light, bold, condensed regular, condensed light and condensed bold. All of those styles also come as italics. American Typewriter is often used to suggest an old-fashioned or industrial image.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
abcdefghijklmn 114
A a
rounded vertex
rounded, squashed, bone-shaped serif
teardrop terminal
rounded tail/terminal
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
nopqrstuvwxyz ITC American Typewriter | 115
ITC American Typewriter ITC American Typewriter Light
ITC American Typewriter ITC American Typewriter Regular
ITC American Typewriter ITC American Typewriter Bold
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ITC American Typewriter ITC American Typewriter Condensed Light
ITC American Typewriter ITC American Typewriter Condensed Regular
ITC American Typewriter
ITC American Typewriter Condensed Bold
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APPLICATIONS ITC American Typewriter is a decorative slab serif typeface created in 1974. It is commonly used for logos and titles, as it is not legible enough to use as body text. Perhaps ITC American Typewriter is most recognized usage is found in the "I Love New York" logo, designed by Milton Glaser for New York State Department of Economic Development in 1977 and has since gone on to appear in many other large cities in the United States including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.
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1. I Love New York designed by Milton Glaser for New York State Department of Economic Development in 1977 2. Patti Smith's Pissing In A River album cover in 1976, designer unknown 3. Packaging for La Granja de la Abuela Pilar designed by Nueve Estudio in 2016 4. Packaging rebrand for Dorset Cereals designed by Big Fish Studios in 2005
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Helvetica Neue
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American Typewriter Suzie Katz “American Typewriter.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Feb. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ American_Typewriter. mohawkconnects.com/ feltandwire/2010/03/16/itc-americantypewriter-my-type-of-type/. Accessed 20 February 2018. Cottom, Tessa. The History of American Typewriter Typeface. 15 Sept. 2016, tesscottomabj. wordpress.com/2016/09/15/the-history-ofamerican-typewriter-typeface/. ITC. “ITC American Typewriter™ Font Family Typeface Story.” Fonts.com, Fonts.com, www. fonts.com/font/itc/itc-americantypewriter/story. Accessed 21 February 2018. Kuhn, Alyson. “ITC American Typewriter: My Type of Type.” Felt & Wire, 16 Mar. 2010, www. mohawkconnects.com/ feltandwire/2010/03/16/itc-americantypewriter-my-type-of-type/. Accessed 20 February 2018. “Tony Stan Fonts - Fonts.com.” Fonts.com, www. fonts.com/browse/designers/tony-stan. Accessed 20 February 2018.
COLOPHON
Typesetted by Weeteng Goh
using Avenir
.