Typefaces and Branding

In the beginning of this class, we observed how different typefaces can create and alter how brands are perceived. For example, the modern, fashion orientated brand like clothing retailer American Apparel utilises the sans-serif typeface Helvetica to attract customers. Helvetica is a generally very plain, clear and timelessly modern typeface developed in conjunction with the International Typographic Style. It’s lack of embellishment creates a sleek aesthetic that reflects positively onto a brand like American Apparel and a customers perception of the items they sell; attracting its intended audience of young people who wish to buy items that follow current trends. In contrast, a much more lively, bold Gill Sans was edited in varying sizes; bright, primary colours and a bold weight to create the playful “Toy Story” film franchise logo which appeals to an adolescent audience; hinting to the audience that the Disney film will be an exciting and entertaining experience without need for any other elements like cartoons.

 

The History of Print Making

Examples of humankind drawing, writing and carving physical language has been discovered in the cave paintings pressed onto walls by Neanderthals or hieroglyphics inscribed on ancient Egyptian tombs and structures – however, it was not until the 3rd century that printing was developed in China as a tool to quickly produce text. Characters would be carved onto stone and covered with a layer of ink before being printed onto early forms of paper and other formats; the oldest surviving example of this process being the Diamond Sutra scroll which is believed to have been printed in 868 AD.  By the 12th century, metal was introduced as the most efficient and durable tool to print text and moveable type had been developed in China.

Johannes Gutenberg 

Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468) was a German “revisionary” inventor, printer and publisher considered to be one of the first individuals to utilise and adapt the printing press for mass production. This made it possible for the first Gutenberg bible to be printed in 1455 – the earliest full-scale work printed in Europe using moveable type. Gutenberg’s invention enabled the mass production of books for the first time and changed the future of publishing. Before Gutenberg, every book (outside of Asia where some printed books had been produced much earlier) had to be copied by hand. Gutenberg’s actions made it possible to speed up the process without sacrificing quality and laid the foundation for the commercial mass production of books, which subsequently meant that books soon became cheaper, and available to a much broader spectrum of society. His invention was incredibly influential on not just type, but also the political powers in Europe as the mass production of bibles weakened the power of the Church who had utilised their monopoly on the biblical text to control the masses. Gutenberg also invented the adjustable mould, allowing an artisan to replicate a given character, establishing the principle of interchangeable parts – the basis of modern mass produced products. The inventors production initiated a boom of printing presses spreading through Europe. In 1455, when the first Gutenberg bible was printed, there was no printing presses and thus, no printed text in Europe; by 1500, over 20 million books had been printed. Printer’s Marks began to be embellished on books during this era. They can be seen as an early form of commercial branding, reflecting the iconic imagery utilising by companies like Apple to mark their products. Terms like uppercase and lowercase also emerged from this early era of mass printing.

Albrecht Dürer

Nuremberg, Germany became the world’s capital of printing during the 15th century due to Gutenberg’s success. From this city during this era, Albrecht Dürer, a German artist, also emerged. Considered to be one of the first international artists and celebrities, Dürer utilised printing to produce several copies of his artwork all signed with his own printer’s mark: a monogram of his name. One of his most iconic works is a book containing illustrations depicting the apocalypse; utilising 15 woodcuts to print the illustrations repeatedly in immense detail.

The Development of Typefaces

Following Gutenberg’s developments with the printing press, typefaces began to emerge gradually. A typeface is a collection of letters and represents shared patterns across the group, like equal letter spacing and a collective inclusion or alternatively, lack of serifs. One of the first typefaces to be developed was in 1470 by Nicholas Jenson. Jenson was inspired by the style of text found on structures in Ancient Rome, creating the serif typeface Roman Type in its image. The typeface was considered to be much more clear than the blackletter typically used at this time. Readability refers to how accessible or how easy it is to read a particular typeface in text and has been considered by typefaces designers throughout history to ensure the functionality of their work. Features like letter spacing, line length and height, paragraph spacing, alignment all must be considered to create a typeface which fulfils its purpose in communicating with the audience.

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Baskerville

Baskerville is a serif typeface designed by John Baskerville in 1754. The designers aim was to perfect the styles of a much older typeface, Caslon; making it more legible, for the time period was experimenting with readability as well as paper and ink manufacturing. Baskerville focused on creating a higher contrast between thick and thin strokes, sharpening serifs, and shifting the axis of round letters to be more vertical. It is typically seen in academic papers due to its classical, formal style.

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Futura 

Futura is a sans-serif typeface based on geometric shapes, designed by German typeface designer Paul Renner in 1927. The typeface is emblematic of the modernist movement thriving in Germany during the 1920s, a time when progressive art movements like The Bauhaus were producing work which pushed for exciting and functional outcomes. The timeless quality Renner strived to create by utilising shape, successfully produced a typeface which has been representative of technological advancement. This was made evident in 1969 when the typeface was used on the inscription of a plaque left by Apollo 11 during the first moon landing.

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Gill Sans

Gill Sans is another Sans-Serif typeface designed by English typeface designer, Eric Gill, and was released in 1928. Gill Sans origins can be traced back to the typeface used for the London Underground in 1913, which was  designed by Gill’s own teacher, Edward Johnson.Gill’s aim was to blend the influences of Johnston, classic serif typefaces and Roman inscriptions such as on Trajan’s Column. This, he hoped, would create a design that looked both cleanly modern and classical at the same time.

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Helvetica

Helvetica is a sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Based on the grotesk sans-serif typeface, Akzidenz-Grotesk, Helvetica was designed with the purpose of creating a legible font which reflected the principles of functionality advocated by the International Typographic Style. It is now one of the most famous typefaces in history, having been used by several iconic companies including Apple and BMW – as well as been used as in Massimo Vignelli’s design of the graphics for the New York subways.

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Times New Roman

Times New Roman is a serif typeface designed by Stanley Morrison in 1929 for The Times newspaper. Having been designed for a newspaper, the typeface is much more narrow than Helvetica or Futura, which were based on bold geometric shapes. The typefaces feature in a daily newspaper led it to quickly became popular among printers of the day. In the decades since, typesetting devices have evolved, but Times New Roman has always been one of the first fonts available on computers and software – which in turn, has only increased its reach. It is currently used as the typeface of the Wikipedia’s logo and

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