TYPEANATOMYSTRUCTURE

PERSONALITY

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Garamond

Baskerville

Didot

Gill Sans

Helvetica

Futura

1Garamond

A old style serif typeface

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Letter a, with its slanted counter, is rounded and non-uniform. This hints towards its calligraphic origins.

Serifs are wedge shaped.

Double story g with a distinctive ear.

Slanted stress to letters—reminiscent of handwriting.

Variation between thick and thin strokes is not very distinct, but greater than in humanist typefaces.

The crossbar of the letter e is horizontal.

GaramondCategory Old Style SerifDate 1530Designer Claude Garamond

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The Ampersand

With the ampersand, however, he allowed himself to head off from type to art. His character provides a clear indication of the form’s origin: on the left side the e, on the right the t. But they are linked by a cradle that begins weightily then thins out, and there are inky globular endings to each end of the crossbar on the t. It betrays strong calligraphic roots, but what distinguishes it is the ascending stroke on the e portion, something that begins in the regular way as a belt across the letter, before ascending freely skywards, resembling the darting tongue of a lizard catching flies. It must have been great fun to sketch; painfully difficult to cut in metal.

Simon Garfield, All That Type (2011)

2Baskerville

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The counters are full and open, except the lowercase e which is relatively tight.

Serifs are finer and sharper than humanistic typefaces.

Uniquely, Baskerville has an open loop on the lowercase letter g.

The axis is more vertical than humanist typefaces.

Thin and thick strokes contrast more heavily than in humanistic typefaces such as Garamond.

BaskervilleCategory Transitional SerifDate 1772Designer John Baskerville

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Transitional

“The term transitional refers to the transition between Old Style and Modern designs. William Baskerville’s typefaces were both, and they were the first typefaces to break with the design tradition of more than 150 years, and Baskerville’s designs directly influenced the work of Fournier, Didot and Bodoni.”

Allen Haley, ABC’s of type (1990)

A bit extra

“Baskerville and his punchcutter John Handy produced a single basic font in several sizes and forms, and it has one attribute that makes it infallibly recognisable and timelessly stunning—the uppercase Q. This has a tail extending well beyond its body width, a great flourish seldom seen beyond calligraphy. The lower–case g is also a classic with its curled ear and its lower bowl left unclosed, as if all the ink was being saved for that Q.”

Simon Garfield, Just my type: a book about fonts (2010)

3Didot

A modern serif typeface

AaSerifs are hairline, in bold contrast with the thickness of the stem.

Serifs are unbracketed.

Exaggerated height of ascenders and descenders lends the characters an ‘architectural grandeur’1.

Stress is vertical.

DidotCategory ModernDate 1875Designer Fermin Didot

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Dazzling “Didot, which was drawn after Bodoni, imitates the engraver’s tool to extreme degress. The light strokes are no more than hairlines, and serifs are devoid of any bracketing. Not only does this create a typeface that is often referred to a sterile and rigid, it also creates one that is exceptionally difficult to use well. The visual effect of dazzling in usually the result of trying to set anything other than very short headlines in Didot.”

Allen Halley, ABC’s of type (1990)

4Gill Sans

A humanist sans serif typeface

AaOne –storeyed lowercase a, with stylised spur.

One of the first sans serif typefaces (following Johnston’s Underground).

Double story letter g, with rounded upper bowl and more flattened lower.

Letters are remarkably legible considering the relatively small x–height. This is because they are based on roman letterforms, rather than geometric shapes.

Appearance of a singular line weight, although there are subtle variations in stroke thickness stemming from calligraphy.

Gill SansCategory Humanist Sans SerifDate 1928Designer Eric Gill

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Gill Sans: Pride of England?“Gill Sans is the Helvetica of England; ubiquitous, utilitarian and yet also quite specific in its ability to point to our notions of time and place. As a graphic designer’s in-joke once put it ‘Q. How do you do British post-war design? A. Set it in Gill Sans and print it in British Racing Green’. As the preferred typeface of British establishments (the Railways, the Church, the BBC and Penguin Books), Gill Sans is part of the British visual heritage just like the Union Jack and the safety pin.”Ben Archer, Eric Gill got it wrong; a re-evaluation of Gill Sans (1997)

5Helvetica

A transitional sans serif typeface

AaUpright letters can be associated with transitional serif typefaces.

Large x–height increases legibility.

Two storied a whose bowl curves gently to meet the stem.

Strong vertical stress.

Letter S has a slightly square appearance.

HelveticaCategory Transitional Sans SerifDate 1957Designer Max Meidinger

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The perfect typeface?“Helvetica delivers a message quickly and efficiently without imposing itself,” said Christian Larsen, curator of the MoMA (50 Years of Helvetica) exhibition. “When reading it, one hardly notices the letter forms, only the meaning, it’s that well-designed. It’s crisp, clean and sharply legible, yet humanized by round, soft strokes. Many type designers have said that they can not improve on it”.Christian Larsen quoted in The New York TimesArticle by Alice Rawsthorn, Helvetica: The little typeface that leaves a big mark (2007)

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6Futura

A geometric sans serif typeface

AaLong ascenders/descenders and relatively small x–height.

Lowercase g has an open tail.

Follows principles of constructivism and uses geometrical shapes–the circle, triangle and square. The o’s are perfect circles.

The peaks of the capital A and M, and the overshoot of the letter v carry a sharp point.

FuturaCategory Geometric Sans SerifDate 1927Designer Paul Renner

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Noble and Pure“With the new Futura, Paul Renner shows a non-historical, constructivist solution, which looks uncommonly noble and pure, it is equally at home in classical and modern uses, and despite its strict design, does not bombard us with doctrine, but falls easily on the eye…So much personal style with so much abstract strenght of form, such fine, human, noble mixture is not something we are used to seeing very often.”Willy Haas quoted in Anatomy of a typeface: Futura.

Abbott Miller, J (2001) | Through thick and think: fashion and type. Available at: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=151&fid=647 [Accessed May 6, 2011].Anatomy of a typeface: Futura | font matters. Available at: http://fontmatters.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/anatomy-of-a-typeface-futura/ [Accessed May 6, 2011].Archer, B. (2007) Typotheque: Eric Gill got it wrong; a re-evaluation of Gill Sans. Available at: http://www.typotheque.com/articles/re-evaluation_of_gill_sans/ [Accessed May 6, 2011].Binns, B. (1989) Better Type, New York: Watson-Guptill.Denastas, A. (2006) Einfuhrung in Die Typographie = An Initiation in Typography = Une Initiation à La Typographie, Zürich: Niggli.Garfield, S.(2010) Just My Type: A Book About Fonts, London: Profile.Haley, A. (1990) ABC’s of Type, London: Lund Humphries.Hart, H. (1983) Hart’s Rules: For Compositors and Readers at the University Press, Oxford 39th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.Jaspert, W.P. (2008) Encyclopaedia of Typefaces 55th anniversary ed., [5th ed.] ed., London: Cassell Illustrated.Lawson, A.S. (1990) Anatomy of a Typeface, Boston, Mass: David R. Godine.

BbBibliography

Lupton, E. (2010) Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students 2nd ed., New York: Princeton Architectural Press.McLean, R. (1992) The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography 1st ed., London: Thames and Hudson.Rawsthorn, A. (2007) Helvetica: The little typeface that leaves a big mark - The New York Times. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/style/30iht-design2.1.5085303.html [Accessed May 6, 2011].Roberts, R. (1966) Typographic Design, by Raymond Roberts, London: Benn.Wheildon, C. (1995) Type & Layout: How Typography and Design Can Get Your Message Across - or Get in the Way, Berkeley, Calif: Strathmoor Press.

References1.Abbott Miller, J (2001) | Through thick and think: fashion and type. Available at: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature php?id=151&fid=647 [Accessed May 6, 2011].

Type ClassificationKate Hyde