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The Field Guide to Typography

THE FIELD GUIDE TO

TYPEFACES IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

THE FIELD GUIDE TO TYPOGRAPHY

TYPEFACES IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

PETER DAWSON

PRESTEL · · To my parents, John and Evelyn Dawson

Published in North America by Prestel, a member of Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH

Prestel 900 , Suite 603 New York, NY 10003 Tel.: +1 212 995 2720 Fax: +1 212 995 2733 E-mail: [email protected] www.prestel.com

© 2013 by Quid Publishing

Book design and layout: Peter Dawson, Louise Evans www.gradedesign.com

All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval , or otherwise without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dawson, Peter, 1969– The field guide to typography : typefaces in the urban landscape / Peter Dawson. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-3-7913-4839-1 1. . 2. and type-founding. I. Title. NK3600.D19 2013 686.2’21—dc23 2013011573

Printed in by Hung Hing CONTENTS_

Foreword: Stephen Coles 8 DESIGNER PROFILE: Rudy Vanderlans, Zuzana Licko 56 Introduction 10 62 How to Use This Book 14 64 The Anatomy of Type 16 66 Glossary 17 Foundry Wilson 68 Classification Types 20 Friz Quadrata 70 72 74 THE FIELD GUIDE_ Goudy 76 Granjon 78 Guardian Egyptian 82 22 ITC Lubalin Graph 84 86 24 88 ITC American 26 Slab 90 Antwerp 28 DESIGNER PROFILE: Jason Castle 92 30 98 32 100 36 102 38 106 40 Shàngó Gothic 108 PMN Caecilia 44 110 Calvert 46 112 50 114 Century 52 Wile 116 54 SANS SERIF 118 Gothic 208 FF Meta 210 Aktiv Grotesk 120 212 Akzidenz Grotesk 122 Neutraface 214 FS Albert 126 New Rail 216 128 ITC Officina Sans 218 ITC Avant Garde Gothic 132 220 136 Rotis Sans Serif 222 Bath 138 224 ITC 140 VAG Rounded 226 DESIGNER PROFILE: Wayne Thompson 142 228 148 Bliss 150 Chalet 154 DISPLAY 230 Channel 4 156 DIN 1451 / FF DIN 158 Aachen 232 160 Agency Gothic 234 FF Fago 162 Amelia 236 Fedra Sans 164 Arnold Böcklin 238 Fenland 168 240 Foundry Sterling 170 A2 Beckett 244 174 ITC Benguiat 246 176 DESIGNER PROFILE: Henrik Kubel 248 180 FF Blur 254 186 Bodoni Poster 256 188 Bottleneck 258 192 Broadway 260 Interstate 196 262 DESIGNER PROFILE: Freda Sack 198 Foundry Fabriek 264 204 Foundry Flek/Plek 266 206 Futura Black 270 Gill Sans Kayo 272 336 Glaser Stencil 274 ITC Edwardian Script 338 Foundry Gridnik 278 Fette 340 Headline 2012 280 Gigi 344 Kade Letter Fabriek 282 Kuenstler Script 346 Kakaw 286 Macmillan Headline 348 Knockout 288 Old English 350 DESIGNER PROFILE: Jason Smith 290 Owned 352 LCD 296 ITC Machine 298 Mahou 300 SYMBOLS & 354 302 Namco 304 Carta 356 OCR-B 306 Kakaw Dingbats 358 Princetown 308 DESIGNER PROFILE: Frida Larios 360 Pump 310 FF Netto Icons 366 Rosewood 312 368 Architype Stedelijk 314 ITC 370 Stencil 316 FF ThreeSix 318 FF Trixie 320 Further Reading 372 Umbra 322 Useful Websites 373 Zebrawood 324 Index 374 Picture Credits 380 Acknowledgements 382 SCRIPT 326 About the Author 384

Balloon 328 Bickley Script 330 Bruno 332 Brush Script 334 8_9 FOREWORD of thenatural world,like birds, plants,insects, orclouds.Or environment and ourselves.Theseeverydaythings can beparts full ofvariety, andintrigue,cluesthatshed lightonour surrounds usisusually consideredmundane,butit isactually else: afascinationwitheverydaythings. Theordinarystuffthat behavior ofbirdsthatinterestedme most.Itwassomething Some ofourlistswouldbemuchlonger thanothers.) if designerskeptalifelistofallthe typefacesthey’veeverused. they’ve everseen—isanessentialcompanion.(Itcouldbeinteresting every birdwatcher’s life;the“lifelist”—arecordofeveryspecies that distinguishdifferentbreeds.Documentationisalsopartof with identification,classification,anatomy, andminutedetails They areacuteobservers(ofcourse),buttheyalsopreoccupied 12 consisted ofacoupledozengray-hairedladiesandme,the The regularattendanceatourlocalAudubonSocietymeetings from rescuedmagpiestothezoo’s prizedAndeancondor. species. Ivolunteeredatanaviary, caringforeverywingedthing, playing ball,Iwasscouringmyneighborhoodforuncommon route. Asayoungboy, Iwasabirdwatcher. Whilemypeerswere .Myroadtofontdomtraveledamorecircuitous , orsimplyapenchantforthemostbasicelementof channels, beitwritingandlanguage,orletteringartslike Type enthusiastsacquiretheiroddpassionthroughvarious STEPHEN COLES FOREWORD_ -year-old blondkidinthecorner. Later, Ilearnedthatitwasn’t so muchthebiologyor Birders, itturnsout,havealotincommonwithtypegeeks. typographica.org online resourcesfontsinuse.com, he nowpublishesthe acclaimed Franciscoasacreative director, . Aftersixyears atFontShop typographer livinginOaklandand Stephen Colesisawriterand them mostarethethingsthatpeopleignore. typographic knowledge—candiscoverthatwhatfascinates defining characteristics,anyone—eventhosewithoutmuch of typefacesinthewild,alongwiththeirnaturalhistoriesand I carriedonmybirdingtrips.Oncearmedwithphotographs omnipresent aspectofeverydaydesignistype. guardrail onaroadway. Andperhapsthemostelementaland most peopledon’t consider—doorknobs,silverware,the they canbepartofthemanmadeworld,designedworldthat Peter Dawson’s and a tribute to and atribute to Field Guide isnotunlikethetrustybooks magazine. a regularcontributor to The GeometryofType Stephen isauthorof thebook organizations ontype selection. com. Heconsultswithvarious modernism, midcenturymodernist. andis Print

Birds and typefaces live parallel lives. While many people take these omnipresent denizens of our environment for granted, there are others who can’t help but observe, 1 classify, and identify them. If you picked up this book, you are likely one of these obsessed few. Welcome. KEY_ 2 1 Clarendon 2 Akzidenz Grotesk 3 3 4 Helvetica 5 Century Expanded 4 6 FB Garamond Display 7 ITC 8

5

6

7

8 10_11 INTRODUCTION and categories,isnowwellover all-time high.Thenumberoffontsavailable,inallstyles interest andenthusiasminallthingstypographicalisatan are nowstyledinsuchanarrayofdifferingtypefacesthat we wantandneedtoread(andonoccasiondon’t wishtoread) online, orsurroundingusinthebuiltenvironment.Thewords confronted withavastarrayofmessages,betheyprinted, the waysinwhichwecommunicate,areincreasingly enthusiast andthegeneralpublicalike. heard amongdesignprofessionals,thebuddingtypographic What isthattypeface?Thisacommonandrecurringquestion INTRODUCTION_ and Extra Bold—oftenwith Condensedand Extendedvariants These includeLight, Roman,andBold—orevenExtra Light of ourever-expanding typographic world. countries. Taken asawhole,itiscomprehensivecelebration they havehadonpeople,organizations, communities,andeven their design,thestoriesofdevelopment, andtheimpact day-to-day lives.Thebookwillalso explainthethinkingbehind and notsofamiliar—typefacesthat weseearoundusinour In thisbook,Ihopetohelpthe“spotter”identifyfamiliar— context toover and identifyingonetypefacefromanother, canbebewildering. day. Thetaskofnavigating thisoceanofletterforms,separating As modernsocietyandtechnologyreinventsexpands Each typefacehas varyingpermutations,knownas . The FieldGuidetoTypography 125 typefacescommonlyusedandseentoday. 150,000 identifiesandprovides , andrisingbythe computer, whichrevolutionizedandexpandedthewaytype DTP (desktoppublishing)andtheadventofMacintosh (Optical CharacterRecognition)typefaces.The the earlydigitalexperimentationstartingin mid-fifteenth century, andon totheadventofcomputerand invention ofmovabletypewiththeGutenbergPressin from theearliestletterformscarvedinstone,throughto of otherfactors.Keytomanyaretechnologicaldevelopments, created centuriesagobyourRomanancestors. references, withthemajoritybornfromprinciplesandforms been createdfromorinfluencedby, orarerevivalsof,historical appearance. Manyofthetypefacedesignsweseetodayhave our understanding,providingstrongcluestotheirdesignand picture. Sowheredowebegin? overall “classifications”oftypefaces.Itisavastandcomplex thrown intothemix.Andthat’s beforewe’vediscussedthe Their appearancehasalsobeeninfluencedbyawidevariety A basicappreciationoftheoriginstypefacescanaid OPPOSITE context for themessage. clear communication butalso of typefaceprovides notonly of messagesandthe rightchoice confronted withavast array Square, where visitorsare : New York’s Times 1960 1980 s withOCR s broughtus

12_13 INTRODUCTION could be drawn and created. Innovations in presses, Today, many companies and charities commission bespoke, manufacturing, and the mixing of have also played contemporary typefaces to reflect their personality and brand a major part in type evolution. As has moved on, to the consumer. so have the abilities and skills required to design a typeface. Despite the diverse of history, design, and application, The parameters dictated by the medium allowed for a wider one constant that we will always come across—since the dawn freedom of creative expression and opportunity for designers. of our recognized letterforms—is the passion (and often Within the design community, trends have certainly played frustration!), love, and skill that go into a ’s development. their part in innovating , either through creative The creation of a typeface family for a specific task requires an experimentation or by happy accident. Additionally, art understanding of a great number of issues. A designer who is movements have provided inspiration and been a driving force. asked to create a typeface that has to work on both an airplane Along with the Art Deco and Art Nouveau movements, the livery and on a handheld PDA—or, even grander, a typeface for German Bauhaus School pioneered and rationalized modernism use on an entire national road ’s signage system—faces in all areas of design including type design and typography. an even greater challenge. To explore this aspect of typefaces, The International Typographic Style, more commonly known the book includes interviews with some of the world’s as the Swiss Style, emerged in the 1950s and still has great type designers, sharing their insights into this highly skilled and influence to this day. exhaustive craft. Finally, let’s not forget instances of a designer answering a The selection of typefaces included within the book was, of client’s brief to deliver a typeface for a specific function. Through course, much deliberated upon and subject to several limitations. the ages, commercial organizations large and small have relied There are plenty of “designer favorites,” but a more varied on the printed word to communicate their products, message, collection—old and new, common and uncommon—has been and/or services to a wider market. This, too, has contributed chosen in order to reflect the diversity of our rich typographic to the development of typeface design. One example is the bold world. Within the Serif section alone, we have long-established and heavy “” and Wooden Block types (now known as classics from the fifteenth century alongside a number of less Egyptian or typefaces) produced for use in posters well-known contemporary designs. As the decades pass, these and flyers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. will also become iconic as their employment becomes more widespread. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all here—the much loved as well as the equally loathed. And just as typefaces communicate messages to us in a literal sense, so all of the : OPPOSITE The number of fonts typefaces shown here have their own stories to tell. that are now available, in all styles and categories, is well over 150,000, and rising by the day. 14_15 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK The typefacesaredividedintofivecategoriesforeasyreference— HOW TO USETHISBOOK_ The FieldGuidetoTypography on onetypefaceandprovidesbudding“font-spotters”with objects wecomeintocontactwith. with real world. all theinformationtheyneedtobeablerecognizeitin as acrossreferencetosimilar-looking typefaces. photographic Lightly basedontraditionalfieldguides,eachspreadfocusses features, anda“Nottobeconfusedwith”elementthatacts typefaces found inourmodernurbanenvironmentandontheday-to-day Serif, SansDisplay, Script andSymbols,Dingbats— sub-categories inthesidetab.Eachspreadprovides — classic andcontemporary, commonandunusual examples, ashorthistory, keyidentification isacollectionofover 125

— 1 4 4 TYPEFACE PROFILES 7 5 5 6 6 2 2 3

Side tabprovidestypefacename The nameofthetypeface, Sidebar headingsinclude: A shorthistoryofthetypeface, Photographic representations Photograph captionprovides “FieldFacts”featurebox and categoryforeasynavigation. along withthedesigner/s, and “Nottobeconfusedwith.” designer andtypeface. of information. of thetypefaceinuse. relevant, andyearofdesign. providing little-knownnuggets Category, Classification, foundry itoriginatedfrom,if useful additionalinformation. its design,andcommonuses. Distinguishing Marks, Highlighted featuresinclude 1 4 4 TYPEFACE 5 5 6 6 COMPARISONS 2 2 3 Key glyphsofbothtypefaces referencetolocatefull Overview ofthetwotypefaces Color codingforside Color-coded keyindicating explainingthevariation differences indesign. are overlaidtohighlightthe distinguishing comparison distinguishing comparison spread fromtypefaceprofiles. typeface profile. typeface design. including abriefhistory. in aletterform’s structure. tab a lters, 2 HELVETICA

1 4 6FIELD FACTS_ 7

In 2007, Helvetica became the only typeface to become a movie star. The self-titled film, directed by Gary Hustwit and released to international acclaim, celebrated Helvetica’s 50th anniversary with commentary by leading graphic designers from all over the world about the phenomenon that also led to Helvetica being voted number one in FontShop ’s 3 “Best Fonts of All Time.” · 5 SANS SERIF

15_195

3 6

1 4

5 2 THE ANATOMY OF TYPE_

Apex Bowl Serif Arm Eye Hook or Arch Ear

Terminal THE ANATOMY OF TYPE/GLOSSARY THE ANATOMY

Aperture Link

Horizontal stroke Bracket Diagonal stroke Leg Bowl Tail or Crossbar

Loop

Spine Horizontal stroke Stroke contrast /Extender

Cap height width

Stroke x-height axis or Stress

Baseline

Spur Stem or Vertical stroke

Tail /Extender 16_17 GLOSSARY_ Contrast Egyptian The difference between the Serif typeface with low stroke thick and thin strokes of a contrast and large, heavy, character. squared serifs.

Antiqua Capital (Cap) height Cursive English Serif types with calligraphic The height of capital letters Type reminiscent of, or Calligraphic, connecting script. Old Style letterforms. from the to the imitating, handwritten Often elaborate and having capital’s top. letterforms. a degree of refinement over Ball other Script typefaces. A circular form at the end of Character a stroke. Used to describe any A Serif family that possesses Expanded individual letter, number, very high stroke contrast with A font with an “expanded” Bitmap mark, or unbracketed serifs. character set containing Character or form defined by within a typeface. nonaligning numerals, pixels set within a grid. , and other characters. Color (typographic) Nonalphabetical typeface The density of tone seen when consisting of symbols, shapes, Extended A form of heavy calligraphic a block of text is set on a page. or other pictorial elements. A typeface whereby the script employing broad- Usually referred to in shades letterforms are “stretched” nibbed strokes. Seen from of gray. Display type on the horizontal axis with the onward. Typefaces designed for title or wider character widths than Condensed headline applications rather the Regular. Bold Typeface design with a than for reading texts. A heavier variation of the narrow character width. Family Regular weight of a typeface. Drop shadow Generic description of a Constructivist Offset replication of letterform collection of fonts of varying Calligraphy Twentieth-century art and positioned behind character weights and styles sharing a Letterforms written by hand architectural movement. to provide the impression of common design approach (with a writing implement). Major influence on Bauhaus. three dimensions. and construction features.

Fat Face Humanist Light Monospaced Bold Serif typefaces. A classification of typefaces A reference term for a weight Typeface where each character Appearance of letterforms based on calligraphic of type with thinner strokes. occupies the same amount of GLOSSARY close to Moderns/Didones letterforms with moderate space regardless of its width. but heavily exaggerated. stroke contrast; can be applied Lining figures Commonly seen in typefaces to both Serif and Sans Serif. Numeral characters of based around . common size and position on Decorative typographic the baseline (also “Regular”). Nonaligning figures ornament, often a flower Design feature where corners Numeric characters of varying or botanical symbol. and elements of letterforms Litho(graphic) printing height and position on the are removed to allow for the Printing onto paper from baseline. Also referred to as Font spread of ink when printed. etched metal plates. “Old Style” numerals. A collection in a digital file (or a set of metal types) of all the Italic Minuscule Oblique letterforms, punctuation marks, A sloped, script version of a The small or lower-case letters Slanted Roman letterforms; numerals, and font metrics of Roman typeface; a bespoke of the alphabet based on not to be confused with italic. a single typeface design and design incorporating distinctive hand-drawn letterforms weight (e.. Light, Bold). and individual letterforms. from the seventh century. OCR Optical Character Recognition. Fraktur Junction Modern Type to be scanned and read A form of decorative Black at which the end of A classification of Serif by machine. letter type. one stroke in a letter meets typefaces with high stroke another stroke. contrast and vertical stress. Old Style Glyph A classification for Serif types A single character, mark Monoline that appear with low stroke or icon. The quality of one letter being A letterform’s stroke having contrast, an angled stress and recognizable from another. a constant width. Seen mainly angled serifs. Grotesque in a number of Sans Serifs. From the German grotesk; OpenType a classification of Sans Serif Two characters joined to form Cross-platform font format by 18_19 typefaces. one letterform—e.g. “fi.” and Adobe. Photo-composition Punch/Punchcutter Slab Serif Tabular figures Prior to digital , A steel die faced with an Typefaces where serifs are Numbers that share a typefaces existed on glass individual letter in relief “squared” and equal (or common width so when negatives and were exposed to hand-carved in. This die close) to the stroke weight. employed in columns they can light-sensitive paper by shining was then “punched” into a be aligned to be easily read. light through them to create softer metal with other Slope hard copy versions. Also punches to create Oblique simulated Roman Thicks and thins referred to as “cold type.” and form printing blocks. letterforms, not to be A term to describe the contrast confused with italic. in the stroke of a letterform. Point Readability A standard The definition of being able to Titling of measure equal roughly to read and absorb typeset text Capital designed letterforms, A style of typeface designed 1/72 of an (0.351 mm). when composed. but with a height roughly that for large settings, typically of lower-case letters. lighter, with finer details. PostScript Regular Adobe’s page description A classification term for a Stress Transitional programming language that standard weight of typeface. The direction of a letterform’s A group of typefaces that allowed for vector-based stroke contrast, either vertical bridge the distance between layouts and typefaces to Roman or angled. Old Style and Modern Serifs. be accurately rendered. Now Regular, upright style of letter. largely replaced by OpenType. Stroke Typeface Running text The line that forms the The aesthetic design of a font Proportional figures Continuous typeset , letterform. possessing a collection of Numbers with spacing based as seen in textbooks. all the character elements on their individual character Style that share the same design widths for better readability Sans Serif Reference terms that can be characteristics. within running text. A typeface with no serifs. applied to the varieties of the same typeface, such as Light, Weight Semi-bold Roman, etc. Definition for the lightness A weight of type. Lighter than or thickness of the letter Bold, heavier than Medium. form’s design. 20_21 CLASSIFICATION TYPES “Art Nouveau” typesto“Futuristic” and“Distressed.” fonts. “Ornamented/Novelty” fontscomeinmany guises,from of textandareprimarily createdtoworkasheadline andtitling they aredeemed unsuitable foremploymentwithlarger extents these particulartypefacesarepositioned withinthissectionas characteristics aresharedwiththe SerifandSanstypes,but Within the when comparedagainsteachother. greatly varyandwithinthebookyouwillseehowtheydiffer Serif). FromthesecoreSeriftypes,thevariationsindesigncan ending (bracketedserif)orarectangular, squared-offform(Slab complete thestrokesatterminalswithaflared,pronounced clear, withtheSeriftypefacesallpossessing“serifs”which The keydistinctionbetween of theletterforms’makeup. differentiation doexistthatdrilldownfurtherintothenuances Typography of howthetypeshavebeenclassifiedwithin dictates howtheyareclassified.Oppositethereisanoverview and printingdevelopmenttheirdistinctivevisualappearance been created.Invariably, theperiodoftheircreationwithintype the designcommunityofreferencingvariousstylesthathave classification thereisarecognizedagreementofunderstandingin Although thereisno“official”systeminplacefortypeface CLASSIFICATION TYPES_ Display , althoughalternativeandmoreexactingmethodsof classsificationsthereareanumber whose Serif and Sans Serif The FieldGuideto isevidently Transitional Slab Serif/Egyptian Roman Inscribed Old Style Inscribed Humanist Slab Geometric Slab Modern/Didone SERIF [p. [p. 40 [p. ] [p. [p. 24 [p. 112 ] 74 [p. ] ] 32 54 ] ] [p. [p. 44 ] 84 ] SANS SERIF DISPLAY SCRIPT

[p. 132] [p. 254] [p. 334] Geometric Amorphous Brush Script

[p. 174] [p.256] [p. 330] Gothic Modern/Didone English Round Hand

[p. 192] [p. 262] [p. 338] Grotesque Old Style French Round Hand

[p. 150] [p. 238] [p. 336] Humanist Ornamented/Novelty (Art Nouveau) Handwriting

[p. 232] [p. 340] Slab Serif/Egyptian Blackletter (Fraktur)

[p. 240] Square Gothic

[p. 316] Stencil

[p. 324] Tuscan 22_23 SERIF SECTION ONE SECTION ONE

Serif

OPPOSITE: Century (see p. 52) in use as retailer branding for designer shop Forma 5, London, UK. 24_25 SERIF · INSCRIBED ALBERTUS and dust jackets. and dustjackets. designed wellover by whichtimeitwas estimatedhehad right upuntilhisretirementin worked atFaberandfrom Albertus’s designer BertholdWolpe FIELD

FACTS 1,500 _ bookcovers 1975 1941 ,

Wolpe diedin Victoria &Albert(V&A)Museum. Wolpe’s workwasheldatLondon’s In 1980 , aretrospective 1989 , attheageof show of 84 . Albertus

BERTHOLD WOLPE · MONOTYPE · 1932–1940

CATEGORY: Serif Named for the thirteenth-century German philosopher and CLASSIFICATION: Inscribed theologian Albertus Magnus, Albertus was inspired by letterforms COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany that had been carved into bronze. DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Bold simple strokes with Commissioned by of the Monotype Corporation subtle, minimal flaring , German typographer and type designer Berthold terminals; asymmetrical Wolpe initially began designing Albertus as titling capitals in crossbar on “E” and “F”; 1932, launching in 1935. Over time, the typeface evolved, with descender on upper-case “” a lower-case Roman set being added, followed by an italic and FURTHER SIGHTINGS: The a lighter weight in later years. The family was completed in Bitstream foundry version is 1940. An extremely popular typeface due to its ease of use and referred to as Flareserif 821 strong legibility, Albertus is often used for display purposes on NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: items such as book covers, packaging, and signage systems. Friz Quadrata (p. 70); Optima (p. 220) originally started out as an apprentice metal engraver at the Klingspor foundry in Offenbach (later a strong influence on Albertus’s visual aesthetic). He then went on to study at Offenbach’s Kunstgewerbeschule (school of arts and crafts) before moving to England in 1935. When World War II broke out, he was sent, along with many other German nationals living in Britain, to an internment camp in . He returned in 1941 and joined the production department of book publisher Faber and Faber. As well as designing several other typefaces, it was there that he established his reputation as a leading book OPPOSITE: Albertus employed on street signage within the “City of jacket designer of the time, employing Albertus and hand-lettering London” district. in many of his cover designs. 26_27 SERIF · SLAB SERIF ITC digital fontthatisnowastandard onallPCoperatingsystems. photocomposition machines.Only laterwasitproducedasthe Never createdtobeformattedfor metaltype,itsfirstusewasin increasing itsreadability. allowed thetypefacetoworkmuchbetterintextsettings, employing astandardspaceforallcharacters—afeaturethat that varyinwidthlikeaconventionaltexttypefaceratherthan proportionally broke a the classicalappearanceoftypewriterletterforms,nonetheless The briefwastocreateatypefacefamilythat,whileemulating 1974 It waslaunchedby the friendlinessandimmediacyofitspresentation. host ofdifferentapplications.Itssuccesscanbeattributedto American Typewriter has,sinceitsrelease,beenusedinawhole or employedinamorevaried,contemporarymanner, ITC digital age.Whetherusedtoformattheclassicbusinessletter to thoseearlyletter-writing machines,thepredecessorstoour With atouchofnostalgia,ITCAmericanTypewriter isatribute ITC AmericanTypewriter JOEL KADEN/TONY STAN · tocelebratethe way from their monospaced appearance to create a way fromtheirmonospacedappearancetocreatea spaced font.Thismeantcreatingletterforms International Typeface Corporation 100 th anniversaryoftheofficetypewriter. ITC · 1974 ( ITC ) in retailers, UK “I loveNY”;Budgensfood OfficeMax; DorsetCereals; OPPOSITE NOT FURTHER DISTINGUISHING COUNTRY CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY products. expertise andrange ofbusiness to communicatetheir areaof their logotypeisan ideal choice American Typewriter Bold OfficeMax, theuseof (p. Clarendon (p. of typewriterletterforms and terminals,appearance Pronounced roundedserifs 64

TO );

: BE

ForUSretailer

SIGHTINGS OF : Serif

CONFUSED

ORIGIN : SlabSerif 54

MARKS ); Courier : : USA ITC

WITH : as : FIELD FACTS_

The design of American Typewriter a spur and, with the help of an amateur was based on the typewriter patent inventor, Carlos Glidden, and fellow by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1868. Samuel W. Soule, he developed A newspaper publisher and a politician the patent of the typewriter. In 1873, in Wisconsin, USA, he initially tried they approached the Remington Arms to develop a typesetting machine Company (then E. Remington & Sons) following a strike by compositors at who purchased the patent from them. his . His early attempts were in fact to create a numbering machine that could index the pages of a book. His successful efforts acted as 28_29 SERIF · CONTEMPORARY SERIF ANTWERP Royal Mail,andPenguin Press, Tate Modern, portfolio ofworkfor thelikesof result oftheirextensiveaward-winning designer ScottWilliams in which heco-foundedwithfellow based designstudioA2/SW/HK, Henrik KubelisapartnerinLondon- FIELD

FACTS Wallpaper* _ magazine, 2000 . Asa over thepreviousdecade. had createdforclient-basedprojects specially craftedtypefacesA2/SW/HK license andsellthewiderangeof in they embarkedoncreatingA2-TYPE 2010 . Thefoundrywassetupto Antwerp

HENRIK KUBEL · A2-TYPE · 2011

CATEGORY: Serif A contemporary design inspired by sixteenth-century typefaces, CLASSIFICATION: this recent family of text typefaces was inspired by the many Contemporary Serif archives of type on display in the Plantin-Moretus Museum, COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Antwerp, Belgium. Belgium/UK DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Large In 2010, Danish graphic designer Henrik Kubel was awarded x-height; large counters on the prestigious three-year artist and designer working grant from lower case “a” and “e”; The Danish Art Foundation. As part of his grant and his studies increased angle of italic at at the Expert Class Type Design course at the Plantin Institute of 19º; pronounced ink traps; Typography, Kubel developed the concept and design of Antwerp open counter on upper-case over a ten-month period, applying the many years of type design “P”; pronounced ear on experience he had gained while designing bespoke typefaces for double-story “g” commercial graphic design projects. FURTHER SIGHTINGS: Ideal for applications where authority He worked traditionally, creating sketches from his and elegance are both required research before transferring to a digital medium (using Fontlab NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: software) to complete the design. Antwerp encompasses many Plantin (p. 100) of the qualities of Dutch typography of the early period but with a larger x-height than its ancestors to aid legibility and reflect twentieth-century aesthetics and requirements.

The resulting typeface, with its broad range of weights (Light, Regular, Medium, Semibold, and Bold, all with italic styles), is particularly elegant and warmer than some of its contemporaries, OPPOSITE: A2-TYPE promotional design for their sixteenth-century making it ideal for use in print and on-screen reading applications. influenced typeface, Antwerp. 30_31 SERIF · GEOMETRIC SLAB ARCHER and approachable. Serif designisnot onlyhard-workingandlegible,but alsowarm with themathematicalpurityofa geometric approach,theSlab serifs, tocreateanoteof“honesty” withinthedesign.Married drawn fromtypewriterfaces,such asballterminalsandslab Hoefler &Frere-Jones’s innovativedesignincorporates details as credibleandstraightforward. into thesubjectmatterandconveyingMarthaStewartbrand had tobeoneofinnocenceandfriendliness,invitingthereader hierarchies ofinformation.Inaddition,thetypeface’s appearance typographic variationtocreatedifferentiationbetweenthemany which requireatypefacethatisflexibleandpossessesenough and diagramstocalendars,readingtexts,headlines,allof such as modern editorialandpublishingrequirements.Inamagazine typeface wascommissionedtomeettheextensivedemandsof Eminent NewYork typefoundry accessible toneofpresentation. quality, makingitidealfortextsthatrequirealighterand combines thegeometryofaSlabdesignwithsofter, humanist Martha Stewart’s Created exclusivelyforcookeryandinteriordesignguru HOEFLER &FRERE-JONES· Archer Living , thecontentishighlyvaried,rangingfromtables Living magazine,thiselegantSlabSerif 2008 Hoefler &Frere-Jones’s

Archer

Fargo; QuakerOats in Sydney, Australia;Wells Central Parkdevelopment for Business Francisco Chronicle Geometric Slab OPPOSITE NOT FURTHER DISTINGUISHING COUNTRY CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY The Craft BeerCo.,UK. identity, andassignage,for Rockwell (p. ITC LubalinGraph(p. ; lowx-height “A”; longascenders;short serif onapexofupper-case counters; horizontalslab “p,” “”;open,rounded slab serifondescendersof “f,” “g,”“j,”“,” and“y”; terminals onlower-case “a,”

TO

: BE

Archerusedinthe

SIGHTINGS OF : Serif

CONFUSED

magazine; ORIGIN 102 :

MARKS ) : : USA San ;

WITH Passion : Ball 84 : ); FIELD FACTS_

Slab Serifs derived from early wood-carved type, which was employed for the printing of large display types. Due to the difficulties of carving wood and of attempting to convey the intricate shapes of Serif type, the typefaces that were cut in this medium possessed “slab serifs,” squared off serifs close to the stroke weight in thickness.

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