Research
I conducted some of my own research into the different styles of typefaces and the history behind the usage of these using “An Essay on Typography book” as well as some Youtube videos and online discoveries. With this I have also recently purchase a book called Basics Design: Typography: 03, from eBay that I will review and use to my benefit with my typeface consideration.
Book: Basics Design: Typography: 03
I found this book while searching for some typography style books that I could purchase second hand on eBay. This is a series of book that were written by Gavin Ambrose a practicing Graphic Designer. This book specifically looks into the the effectiveness of typography and how to produce strong typefaces. The aim of this book is to “impart a comprehensive understanding of typography, to explore its history, theory and practice”.
This doesn’t seem like the type of book that you would read through like a novel I have found it easier to reading through this just by going through chapters that interest me and give me some further insight into typography and how I can use this to bring my work up a level when it comes to choosing and understand typography.
This book includes plenty of imagery of work and diagrams to help explain the basic of type which I loved most as it broke up the content throughout to allow me to understand what I was reading. A chapter on type realisation stood out to me most and the different material and printing techniques that can be considered when rendering type.
Overall I found it a really insightful introduction into typography and brought further into the understanding behind type after Kyle class a few weeks.
The introduction to Serif fonts:
Serifs fonts are fonts that are designed with little strokes called serifs attached to each main part of a letter, giving the letters a traditional and elegant look to them. Serifs are traditionally used to embrace sophistication and commonly used in printing publications such as magazines and newspapers.
I have created a graphic to showcase the different typefaces of serif fonts.
The development of typefaces mostly circulated round the 3 stated above. This was until the 18th Century when William Caslon an English engraver and typefounder from Worcestershire, England created a typeface named Caslon referred to now as ‘Old Style’ a serif letter design. The Caslon typeface was first introduced in 1722 when Calson was working as an engraver for the Government making gunlocks. This typeface was recognized in the printing world as the ‘original english typeface’ and in that period set a new standard for legibility. To increase marketing and sales of Biblical Gospels, London printers requested that Willam Calson create, cut and design a typeface that represented an aribic and orienal style but with traditional English type height. And to do so inspiration was taken from the Dutch Baroque typefaces and cut to be smaller in size and included gentle serids. This led to the design and creation of a typeface that resembled the structure and feel of handwriting with a pen.
This typeface quickly became popular for the quality in structure, elegant appearance and how readable it became in extended paragraphs of text. For this reason the typeface was regularly used for books, newspapers and the popularity of the typeface spread to America and was then used for the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The introduction to Sans-Serif:
Sans-Serif stands for the french word “without serif’ and is a font that doesn’t have decorative lines or serifs at the end of the strokes on letters. Overall this is considered a more clean and modernised font style than serif fonts. San-serif fonts have become traditionally used on computers, smartphones and tablets screens as the font is easier to read.
I have created a graphic that showcases the different typefaces of Sans-serif
William Caslon the fourth, the great grandson of William Caslon the creator of the first serif font back in 1722 redesigned the Caslon typeface. Caslon IV influenced the world of typography in the 19th Century creating his version of the classic Caslon typeface. He did this by removing the famous serifs at the end of each letter that his great grandfather had designed. For this Caslon IV introduced a new development of typeface called the Sans Serif. The typeface was first used in a sample book created by William Caslon IV in 1816 and from then the typeface began to grow in popularity. This new typeface took on a new modern approach from the first design that used the serif letters.
Introduction to Slab-Serifs fonts:
Slab-serif fonts are typefaces that have a distinctive geometric design with thick, blocked and bold serifs. They were first introduced in the 19th Century when the printing in the advertising industry began to blow up. This allowed attention grabbing typefaces to become more popular in the use of poster and billboards adverts.
Examples of slab serif fonts include: Antique, Rockwell, Memphis and American Typewriter.
A punch cutter and British type founder Vincent Figgins from Peckham, England who was supposed to work under William Caslon the third set up his own printing foundry in the 18th Century. Figgins worked as a typefounder for many years and was well respected when it came to the British typeface industry. Within this foundry, Figgins created the first ‘Slab-serif’ typeface called Anique in 1815. The name given to this typeface did not fit the ‘antique’ typeface properties which include heavily bracketed serifs and strong stroke contrast that was commonly found in typefaces such as Garamond. This typeface would later be described as Egypian or Slab-serif typefaces.
Introduction to Geometric Sans-serif:
The Geometric Sans-serif takes strong influence from Bauhaus designers from the 20th Century. These typefaces are Sans-serif fonts using simple geometric shapes such as squares, triangles and semicircles. Traditionally this typeface will be used to portray titles on advertising, posters and commercial branding.
Paul Renner, a German typeface designer created the Futura typeface. This typeface is a Geometric Sans-serif typeface that was created in 1927 during one of the most influential design periods. The Futura design takes visual elements from the Bauhaus design style from 1919-1933 which focused on modernising designs in their simplest forms.
Renner created Futura with simple geometric proportions with no serifs and focused on using squares, semi-circles and triangles to create the shape and structure of each letter. This typeface was later presented by the Bauer Type Foundry in 1928 and they assisted Renner to improve this geographic typeface into a functional type family. This typeface is seen as having an elegant feel because of the long ascender (vertical stroke) on lowercase letters and the Roman design used for uppercase letters.
This typeface became a milestone of creation in the 20th Century and would later on become a main influence on the modern typeface designs. Until the present day the Futura typeface has become a popular typeface to use to promote and brand commercial products, films and advertising.
Introduction to Humanist Sans-Serif:
The Humanist typeface took place during the Renaissance (movement in art between Middle Ages to Modernity) and comes from the Sans Serif family. What makes it different to other Sans Serif fonts would be that they have a variation of line widths. This typeface is a mixture of old typefaces and uses noticeable open contrasting strokes on letters specifically on ‘C’ and ‘S’ letters. The Humanist San Serif typefaces are most commonly known as the typeface that imitates calligraphy and handwritten text. It’s important to note that this font family is also seen as the most legible allowing it to be a favourite to use when designing a website.
This typeface was designed by Eric Gill from West Sussex, England in 1928. Gill was a sculptor, print maker and typeface designer and in 1914 met typographer Stanley Morison which allowed Gill to work alongside the Monotype Corporation. Later in 1928 at this firm a new modern design type was needed to compete with the popular and successful San Serif fonts at the time such as Futura.
It was then that Eric Gill’s letterforms caught Morison’s attention which assigned Eric the job of creating the new font that would later be known as ‘Gill Sans’. Gill Sans included the radical geometric shapes that you would expect to see in the Art Deco movement which took place during the creation. The reason behind its creation was that it could be used as a text face, headlines and for displays. And for this Gill Sans can be recognised as one of the most iconic and well known typefaces still in the modern day.
This typeface is still recognized as the ‘British Helvetica’ and the success of the Gill Sans font can be seen displayed in many ways still to this day around Britain. Such as on the BBC logo or being the main typeface used on the London railways.
With Gill Sans being in the Humanist San Serif family like said above this makes it popular for digital use because of its readability and legibility which allows it to be perfect to use in body texts. Gill Sans was influenced by the Humanist movement during the Renaissance, a period of the rebirth of cultural, political and art.
The Helvetica typeface was created by Max Miedinger, an artist, graphic and typeface designer from Zurich Switzerland. Miedinger was assigned to work at the Haas type foundry in 1956 by Edward Hoffman to design and create a new typeface. In 1957 with the input of Hoffman, Max Miedinger had created his San Serif typeface that would be known as “Helvetica”
Over the years from Max Miedinger’s creation of this typeface it has been adapted to meet the standards of new technologies with selections of weights and proportions which is what has helped with its success in the modern era. Key characteristics about this typeface would be that with the strokes on horizontal or vertical lines and tight letter spacing allowed the typeface to become dense and compact with its appearance. Also the tall X-height on the lettering makes it easier to read from a distance and in smaller sizes. With Helvetica’s unique features and the adaption over the years this allows this typeface to have its modern outlook which is what makes it a smart move to use on many designs. Helvetica is one of the most used Sans Serif typefaces and over the years of its development has become a trademark of the typographic style.
To conclude this shows the movement from how typography has been developed and adjusted throughout the centuries. Each typeface plays a key role in the success of the following font creation. This shows us how our appeal and need of legible text has been created for our needs as readers or as designers. Today’s relationship with typefaces is different in ways to how Johannes Gutenberg the creator of ‘Blackletter’ in 1455 used and seen type. In the 21st century we mostly associate it with the digital world and print. With the growth of the web, the more creative the art of typography has become. The digital world allows typography to be pulled to this new appealing era, allowing web designers to use font and type options to the best of their ability. This then allows typography in a whole to become more visually diverse than it ever has been before. Typography will always play a key component to every area of design and it will only continue to grow with use of the digital era.