Historical Classifications Printing process – Manuel Typesetting: The first printing press with moveable type was invented in 1440 in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg. Paper was handmade and printing technology was still primitive. The first typefaces are modeled after calligraphic manuscripts of dense, dark handwriting called Blackletter. Popular during the Middle Ages, Blackletter Blackletter was heavy and hard to read because of the numerous ligatures (characters that combine two or more letters into a single form). 1457, Blackletter inspired 3 color printing. 1) Type Classification Humanist/Old Style – (1495- 1725) Replaces Blackletter with lighter, more open forms like the scripts of the Italian humanist writers. In 1470 (during the Renaissance), typographer, Nicolas Jenson developed the first Roman typeface in Venice. Humanist/Old Style Garamond: France, 1617 Humanist or Old Style letterforms demonstrate relatively thick strokes that are fairly consistent in size and contain heavily bracketed serifs (bracket - curved area that connects the serif to the main stroke). Ex. Jenson, Kennerley, Centaur, Stempel Schneidler, Verona, Lutetia, Jersey, Lynton, Bembo, Calisto, Garamond, Goudy Old Style, Granjon, Janson, Palatino, Sabon, Weiss Origins of the Serif – One theory is that outlines for Roman letters were first painted onto stone. The stone carver followed the brush marks, which flared at stroke ends and Humanist/Old Style corners. A second theory is that serifs were First Roman typeface devised to neaten the ends of lines as they by Nicolas Jenson were chiseled into stone. Italic letters are introduced in Italy in 1501 as a standalone typeface, modeled after a more casual style of handwriting. Italic letters saved space and therefore were first used in the creation of inexpensive, small format books that required a more condensed type. Humanist/Old Style 1478, Page from Plutarch’s Lives of Famous Men. Printed in Venice by Nicholas Jenson. Humanist/Old Style Italic 1557, Book of poetry in italic. Printed in Lyon, France. 2) Type Classification Transitional – (1692 - 1780) Influenced by the Baroque period, and developed during the Age of Enlightenment, transitional type shows a departure from the desire to mimic handwriting and embraces the mechanical precision Transitional allowed by the printing press. Letterforms Baskerville: England, 1757 demonstrate a greater refinement in proportion, contrast between thick and thin strokes and serifs become more polished and sharp. Jacques Jaugeon designed the first Transitional style typeface, the King’s Roman (romain du roi), commissioned by Louis XIV for the Imprimerie Royale in 1692. Transitional bridged the gap between Humanist/Old Style and Modern serif typefaces. Printing process - Technological advances allow for smoother paper, better printing The typographer Jacques Jaugeon presses and improved ink. designed King Louis XIV’s royal typface on a finely meshed grid to Ex. Baskerville, Bookman, Cheltenham, perfect proportions. Clearface, Fournier, Joanna, Slimbach 1762, The Book of Common Prayer printed by John Baskerville 3) Type Classification Modern – (1780 - 1810) Developed during the Age of Enlightenment, Modern type reflects extreme refinement with a high, abrupt contrast between thick and hairline-thin strokes. Letters are straight on a vertical axis Modern and serifs are unbracketed. Bodoni: Italy, 1788 The first Modern typeface is attributed to Frenchman, Firmin Didot in 1784. However, the most influential designer of the time was the prolific Italian type designer, punchcutter and printer Giambattista Bodoni, who created hundreds of typefaces that, at first, were considered radical and abstract. Modern type was also referred to as Didone, a melding of the names Didot and Bodoni. Ex. Bodoni, Didot Modern typeface examples in current-day luxury brand logos. 4) Type Classification Egyptian or Slab Serif – (1815 – 1900) developed in Britain, Egyptian type shows a return to very little contrast between thick and thin strokes, and has a heavy slab-like base. Egyptian or Slab Serif Egyptian type produced the greatest variety in Clarendon: England, 1838 type than any previous century. Bold, Condensed and Extended typefaces were invented to satisfy the needs of advertisers. Egyptian type, by name, is not related to Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Instead, Egyptian culture was popular in Europe after Napoleon’s return from a three-year Egyptian expedition, followed by the 1809 publication of Description de l’Égypt. Printing process - Hot Metal Typesetting: In 1886, the Linotype machine is invented by Otto Mergenthaler. The Linotype’s speed in setting and casting complete lines of type via a keyboard becomes the greatest advancement in print since Gutenburg’s printing press. Ex. Cairo, Century Expanded, Clarendon, Courier, Egyptienne, Karnak, Memphis, Playbill, Rockwell 1865, Slab Serif business signage, Hudson Street, Lower Manhattan. Slab Serif ads were often painted on the sides of building in Manhattan. Many ads can still be found today such as C.O. Bigelow on 6th Ave at 9th Street. 5) Type Classification Sans Serif – Sans Serif type first appeared on the building façades of late 18th century architecture, and was also referred to as “Grotesque” (meaning “carved stone”). The first Sans Serif type published in a type Sans Serif sample book was in England by William Helvetica: Switzerland, 1957 Caslon IV in 1816, and it began to quickly (most widely used typeface) spread over Europe and the United States. Contemporary, streamline and sometimes geometric in appearance, “sans” (meaning “without” in French) reminds us that Sans Serif type contains no projecting serifs at the end of their strokes. Printing process – Desktop Publishing: Linotype and Phototypesetting are replaced by minicomputer-based typesetting software introduced in the 1970s and early 1980s. Ex. Arial, Akzidenz-Grotesk, Frutiger, Futura, Geneva, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Verdana During the mid 20th century, signage on highways, airports, train/bus stations and subways is converted to Sans Serif because of its visual clarity. .