Slab Serif / Egyptian

Welcome to the early 1800s and the birth of the Slab Serif, otherwise known as Egyptian, Square Serif, Mechanical or Mécanes. What’s with the name Egyptian? Upon Napoleon’s return from a three year Egyptian expedition and publication in 1809 of Description de l’Égypt, Egypt was all the rage, and it appears that type founders simply used a term that was on everyone’s lips, a term that was in vogue. The nomenclature has absolutely nothing to do with Egyptian Hieroglyph Slab Serifs—because there’s no such thing.

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strength of character

An exceptionally hectic week meant foregoing the usual mid-week post. Hopefully back to normal now, and I can finish the next instalment of the Type History series, Why Type Matters, and more. OK, sit back, relax and enjoy. First up is some beautifully photographed found type. Richard Roche has scoured the Web for the very best found type photos. This stunning shot was taken by David John Earls:

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Questionable Type

First, thanks to Kris Sowersby for his wonderful review of FF Balance. It certainly had me looking at that particular type in a fresh light. Today, we have quite a hefty Sunday Type, so let’s get started. A couple of weeks ago I posted an illustration of ten asterisks. Today, we have the humble question mark.

No one is quite sure how the present form came to be. Some believe that It originated from the Latin abbreviation for question, Qo, where the Q was written above the o. ¶ Continue reading this article »

By Kris Sowersby

The late  Evert Bloemsma created four of the most original, hard-working and forward-thinking typefaces in the history of type design. In order of creation, these are  FF Balance (1993),  FF Cocon (1998/2001),  FF Avance (2000), and  FF Legato (2004), all released under the FontFont label. As good as they all are, I shall be concentrating on his first. 

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In the Beginning

Welcome to this week’s roundup of what’s hot in type. Before I get started, I’m thinking of renaming Sunday Type to something like This Week in Type (a nod to my favourite tech show, This Week in Tech, perhaps). Work commitments sometimes make it difficult to publish every week on a Sunday, so I’m trying to come up with a title that is not day-specific. Perhaps you have some of your own suggestions?

Let’s start with some beautiful lettering in the form of versals or initial capitals. I’m a big fan of them, and Pascal’s article demonstrates how they can be achieved using a little CSS (if only initial capitals were as easy on the web as they are in InDesign).

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Part Four: Modern (Didone)

In the previous installment of this series, we took a closer look at Transitional style typefaces, so-called because they mark a transition from the former Old Style types—epitomized by Baskerville—and the subject of today’s brief history, the Moderns, also known as Didone (the terms Modern and Didone are used synonymously throughout this article).

Baskerville’s types, compared with their Old Style (or Garalde) predecessors, are marked by high contrast between thick and thin strokes, so much so that one commentator declared Baskerville was “blinding the nation.” The Moderns or Didones take this contrast to further extremes (just about as far as one can take them).

The first Modern typeface is attributed to Frenchman Firmin Didot (son of François-Ambroise Didot), and first graced the printed page in 1784. His types were soon followed by the archetypal Didone from Bodoni. The Italian type designer, punchcutter and printer Giambattista Bodoni (what a great name! [1740-1813]) drew his influence from the Romains du Roi (with its flat, unbracketed serifs) and the types of John Baskerville (high contrast), for whom he showed great admiration.

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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Adrian Frutiger turned 80 this week. I’m sure you’d like to join me in wishing him many happy returns. In fact LinoType has a page where you can leave him birthday greetings. I’d like to begin by thanking Stefan for the wonderful interview, and thank all those who read and commented. I’ll be sure to let you know when Stefan releases his next typeface. Perhaps we can have him introduce it to us.  If there’s someone you’d like to see interviewed by iLT, then let me know.

If you like ampersands, then I guess you might like The Ampersand, a web site devoted to…wait for it…

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An Interview With Stefan Hattenbach

Stefan Hattenbach started designing typefaces in 1996. In 2003, he established his own independent foundry and design studio, MAC Rhino Fonts (MRF). Proud A.S. Roma supporter and father of two, Stefan works his magic from a studio in the beautiful city of Stockholm.

What do you love about designing type?

Oh many things. One is the challenge of getting the details to work, but at the same time contribute to the overall style of the typeface.

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The Ten-Gallon Hat

First i would like to thank Mark Otto for iLT’s new menu (the one above the masthead). Thanks also to Hamish who raised the whole issue over at TypeSites. I’m thrilled that iLT readers are contributing in this way, so thanks. In the coming weeks I’ll be making some other minor changes to the site: tidying-up the sidebar, and generally making things easier to find.

Let’s begin with a versal or initial capital. The whole point being that it easily marks where the reader should begin reading. On a busy page, it’s especially useful. There are many forms; here is the mother of all raised or elevated caps courtesy of Circular Magazine from the Typographic Circle.

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Part 5:  Diminuendo, and the Future—by Paul Dean

A TYPOGRAPHIC TRADITION since Roman times, diminuendo is a type arrangement in which a large letter or word leads the eye, gradually, to smaller and smaller words until a standard text size is established. An abbreviated diminuendo is still seen today in the initial cap or large single letter that is sometimes used to lead the reader into a chapter of a book or a section of an article. ¶ Continue reading this article »