Dear class: please, take a look at this link for typeface development from 15th to 19th century!
We had to move fast, so there is plenty to comment about typeface development: from Gutenberg to Jenson to Manutius, Griffo, Caslon, Baskerville, Didot (influenced by Baskerville), and Bodoni. It's a fascinating story of design influenced by climate, language, and culture, and by "culture" I mean religion, politics, ideas, etc. In the end, you could see it as a struggle between north and south, Humanism vs. Conservatism, Protestantism vs. Catholicism, etc.
Erotica, take a look at these works (it's all in Wikipedia)
Here are the graphic design highlights: 1. newspapers, 2. magazines, 3. the advent of "community of interests" (gardening, mechanics, children's books, music printing, postcards), 4. 19th-century posters: fairs, circus, nightlife in general, etc. (this is for next class).
In terms of technological development, we had: the advent of photography and how it changes how a culture sees itself: landscape photography, portraiture, natural science, war reportage, anthropology (Talbot's Pencil of Nature), etc.
In terms of movement, we briefly talked about Romanticism and Victorian design (by the way, forgot to talk about this).
18 comments:
Looking at the developments of typeface, slab serifs caught my attention. At the time of the Industrial Revolution, there became a greater need for promotional material with a typeface that could grab attention, expanding the use of typeface from just books. Characterized by varying terminals, strokes, and boldness, I feel this development opened a door of creativity that elevates the beauty of typeface. The development of slab serif communicated and reflected the new, exciting industrial age that was the product of the Industrial Revolution. The technological advancements of this time also allowed designers to explore different decorations and applications of this typeface, which lead to the development of many of the fonts we still see and use today. Slab serifs achieve a wide range in looks and style, which make these fonts my favorite to use, which sometimes feels like finding the right puzzle piece to complete a project. I also think the grandiose, eye-catching nature of sans serif is still very representative of our current economic and social environment, constantly trying to convince people to buy a product or follow some way of thought.
- Kailyn Hayes
When discussing typefaces from the 15th century to the 19th century, Calson immediately caught my eye. I liked its similarity to handwriting and how it feels like a ‘looser’ type; I’d like to consider it one of the more inviting serifs of the Old Style. It is largely recognized by its strong quality and attractive appearance, much of which was inspired by the imported Dutch Baroque typefaces. Calson’s uptight type features an “M” with straight sides, a “W” with three terminals atop it, an “A” with a concave hollow, and an “a” with a slight ball terminal. Additionally, Calson had designed different versions of letters to be used at different sizes. The larger sizes were designed with more fine detail and a more abrupt contrast in stroke weight. Although his typeface lost popularity during the Transitional Style movement, it was resurfaced during the arts and crafts movement (one of my favorite moments in history) which makes sense regarding the handwriting quality of the Calson type.
-Mary Gorski
When we discussed in class the different typefaces and the many typographers that influenced the 15th century and 19th centuries, the Baskerville font stood out to me. The font style was developed by a printer and typographer named John Baskerville. Baskerville intentionally created the font style to have a similar positioning to the old-style font positioning from Caslon. I overall like the way how Baskerville made his font sharp, easy to read, and its overall constructed form. I also believe that John Baskerville did a great job in achieving his goal when he approached the way to industrial book printing. The contrast of thick and thin strokes in his typeface made it stand out for me and overall would be considered my favorite typeface from the time.
-Joshua Escobedo
The consideration of typefaces and their development is interesting in relation to the study of art history, aesthetics, and the progression of time. One point made in the “Brief History of Typefaces” that stood out to me was the rigid notion that typefaces, or “good typefaces,” should reflect the idealized human figure. This assertion was set forth by Geofrey Tory, and in his discussion of what qualifies as a good typeface, he continues his discussion by mentioning certain qualities such as modesty and chastity. Personally, I find this notion of “high quality typefaces” similar to the traditional idea of high quality art. Furthermore, the progressive alteration of both typography and “traditional art” has changed since the beginning, breaking down the original limitations placed on either medium. Overall, it is evident that while both typography and other forms of art have had preconceived notions of what is good and what is bad (in terms of quality and aesthetics), time and the society has changed to be more broad in its acceptance of aestheticism as a whole.
Divya Srinivasan
In our discussion of typeface it is interesting to me that so much has contributed and manipulated to type over time. One topic we discussed that really stood out to me was the Gutenberg Bible. Doing more of my own research, it really is amazing in the print the patterns and how it was produced. This was the earliest major book printed using mass produced movable metal type in Europe. That is so fascinating to me. The art inside it is so beautiful and delicate, you refuse to believe it was printed. The typeface that was inside was handwritten letter form used in religious work. From our knowledge the name of the typeface used was Textura, Blackletter or Gothic. There are only 48 copies in existence and not all of them are complete."12 are printed on vellum. Only four vellum copies and 12 paper copies are complete. Both copies in the British Library are complete." The last known sale of it was in 1978 which sold for 2.4 million dollars. There is a copy in Austin, Texas. The price of a copy is around 25 to 35 million dollars. Its cool to look at something and analyze it as if you were In that time
Gianna Guirgis
The development of typeface from the 15th to 19th century contains many very intriguing changes. The humanist designer Geoffroy Tory’s letters were inspired by the human body. This way of designing letters with the human body in mind creates a structured and thoughtful typeface. His typeface shows the methodical and extremely detailed thought put into each letter and the emotion, through the use of designing with the quasi-scientific lines. There is a degree of perfectionism that Geoffroy Troy aimed for and this is seen within the typeface. This type of perfectionism is also seen in the engravings made by Louis Simoneau that were commissioned by Louis XIV. It is evident that a strong, structured and thoughtful type were what the Royalty of France wanted to portray themselves as. Being commissioned by royalty, the pressure and intensity of this assignment of the typeface is also seen in the perfection of the type.
- Emily Collins
I found the topic of Romanticism interesting in the last lecture. It was an artistic movement with an emphasis on imagination and emotion, impacting many designs. Romantics redesigned narcissism by embracing individuality and subjectivity. They designed ecology by focusing on nature and closely observing landscapes. They designed nationalism by providing visual imagery that encouraged national identity and pride. These ideas are all displayed in the design of various paintings by romantic artists. One painting in particular is Caspar David Friedrich ‘s Wanderer Above the Sea, a design featuring the love of nature. The romantic movement contrasts greatly with the Victorian movement. While Romantics were idealistic in their design and admiring the beauty of nature, Victorians were very realistic having little faith in nature. Romanticism is emotional whereas Victorianism is deliberate, having very careful design. Both were impactful artistic movements that were the result of a cultural change.
-Robert Bolton
It goes without saying, the advent of the Gutenberg press not only revolutionized the dissemination of the written word, but catalyzed the discipline of graphic design as well. After its creation, the written word was made more accessible, contributed to greater rates of literacy, and created a method by which text could be rapidly produced and therefore demanded in greater quantities. High influxes and relative availability of books led to the desire for specialized typefaces. No longer was there a concern about having enough to read. Instead, the driving force of the burgeoning print industry was a desire to have text that was representative of one’s ideals and virtues while simultaneously being legible. Thus, the art of typography began in earnest. This is not to say that there was no typography before. As we discussed in class, there has been the idea of the emblematic typeface for centuries before the movable printing press. However, after Gutenberg, the diversity and frequency at which typefaces were being developed was unmatched. It’s so fascinating to see how the intersection of technology and text results in an entire industry and creates practical questions about the functionality and aesthetic qualities of type that are still being asked today. I think this also speaks to the intentionality behind the art of typography because in an age of high saturation, artists are forced to not only set themselves apart but also reconcile the long history of the printed word.
- Ricky Durga
As soon as I saw the slides with the different ways of using typography and the beginning of several styles/methods we use to this day, I was very impressed with several things. To begin, the traditional storage of fonts in the cases for both uppercase and lowercase that eventually gave the name to the actually letters themselves. Another aspect that caught my eye was the reason why italics were invented: to be able to have more words written on a single page. That really made me think about design itself, where the form serves a purpose and follows function. What now can be a way of emphasizing a word or providing a different style to something, then used to me a method of communicating more words while saving paper and space on a page.
Also, the beginning of monster letters for advertising, human-based letter forms, and big contrast between thick and thin marks were all moments in the history of typography that are memorable and recognized in the fonts we use and create to this day. Very informative resource for historical ans visual knowledge.
- Roberta Macedo
One aspect of the typeface history that I found particularly interesting was Geoffroy Tory's studies on typeface proportions reflecting the human form. After further research I found that Tory believed that man was God's supreme creation, and with that knowledge, all creations thereafter should reflect the human form. Troy's studies were documented in an illustrated book titled "Champ Fleury" where he used the human form and its proportions to establish a "perfect" letterform and create a harmonious alphabet. I found that Tory was one of many artists and designers that prioritized anthropomorphizing typography. I cant help but wonder if they felt that their letterforms had more of a "soul" than their geometrically contrived counterparts.
-Sarah Stehling
When I learned about the different typefaces and their development from the 15th to 19th century, the Gutenberg Bible and how much he evolved typefaces and printing processes blew my mind. Before Gutenberg, printing was complicated and time-consuming as the type was not considered moveable. However, after Gutenberg’s discovery, you could move letters inside cases to print more of whatever you wanted in a shorter amount of time. On the other hand, the gothic style of the types back in these days make it very difficult for me to read which is why I can also say that my eyes were more pleased with typefaces such as Jenson’s since he mixed the gothic with the new style. This makes the typeface easier to read while somewhat keeping the beauty of the font. Moving on, we see types such as Caslon’s that are upright and portray crisp fluid strokes of a steel pen. In the 18th century, we saw more cursive-looking fonts that were considered Italian hand and were also created using steel pens. Finally, we head into the 19th century and there is a massive increase in advertising causing a shift towards big fonts called monster fonts which are very wide and bold letters than can be read from a distance. In my opinion, the monster fonts are pleasing to look at and are by far the most legible of the font types that I have seen.
-Damien DiTaranto
The idea of Geofroy Tory caught my attention immediately. I truly enjoy the idea of designing elements such as typeface or even architecture based on the proportions of a human body. As people, we design the world surrounding us based on our interests, needs, culture, and ideas. That is why including our physical appearance to that list is logical in my opinion. Human scale is an undeniable part of the designing process in architecture, so why not use it for other things such as typeface. Geofroy Tory mentions the concept of modesty when designing this particular typeface. This brings us back to the point I made earlier, we design based on our culture and time. Modesty was an important concept for an educated person who might enjoy a well-designed typeface in Geofroy's eyes.
One thing that truly caught my eye during the lecture is how scared people were of sudden technological progresses. The fact that the public was convinced it took a demonic ritual to produce photography is hard to believe now. But that brings up a question, should we be more scared of the technological progress nowadays? Now that AI is advancing and brain chips are being introduced no one seems to be scared of it, but maybe we should go back to our instincts and be a little more careful and fearful of the sudden progress technology is making now.
Eva Klovatskiy
After the French Revolution and the Enlightenment in the 18th century, the emerging bourgeoisie advocated Greek classical art and Renaissance art, resulting in a classicist artistic style. The neat and straight lines replaced the arc-shaped characters, and this French aesthetic view influenced the whole of Europe. The most famous French font is Dido's font of the same name, which emphasizes the strong contrast between thick and thin lines, simplicity, coldness and amiability. Dido's artistic style is in line with the spirit of the French Revolution and has practical significance. In Italy, the Bodoni font and Dido also have a strong contrast in thickness and thickness, but they have achieved higher attainments in legibility and harmony, so they are still valued and widely used by various countries today. This is an era when hundreds of flowers bloom on fonts. But I think it is also an era where the winner is king.
-Kai Gao
The development of typeface driven by media and intended use and audience is a fascinating angle by which to view history. Roman uncials on Trajan's column were a form of public typeface differentiated from the uncials found in private inscriptions. The typeface on Trajan's column was dramatic and large but written in a way that was illegible towards the very top due to distance. The typeface existed simply as a gesture of story and power. The private inscriptions on personal monuments and plaques lend themselves to private legibility due to its intended purpose of keeping histories. Likewise the creation and evolution of fonts in the 1800s came with the rise of advertising and poster painting. Typefaces were changed because the purpose for the words had changed. The letters needed to grab attention and stand in contrast to the visual deluge of posters and prints. Thicker serifs and more dramatic large-scale letters commanded the attention needed in an urban space.
-ShelbyQuay Ernst
When looking at typeface development from the 15th to 19th centuries, Bodoni stood out to me. The Bodoni font is a serif typeface that was first designed by Giambattisa Bodoni in the late 18th century (1798). Bodoni was an expert printer and font designer, who ran a printing office under the Duke of Parma. His company’s work in metal casting and printing showcased the quality of his process. He admired the work of a few designers, specifically John Baskerville and Firmin Didot. However, he created his own style. To identify this typeface, one should focus on the contrast between thick and thin strokes, the unbracketed thin serifs, its vertical axis, its horizontal stress, and its small aperture. Today, the Bodoni typeface is still used: it can be seen in the Mama Mia posters and in the Nirvana logo as well.
-Milla Nader
When looking at the development of typeface through the 15th to 19th century, I immediately noticed the monster fonts. It is kind of funny that this is what I chose to wrote about because monster fonts were made to be noticed by the viewer. Monster fonts were created in the 19th century because of the increased demand of advertisements, and the large type caught the eye of the viewers making the advertisements successful. I have seen and used typefaces such as the extra condensed typefaces in order to fit things onto a poster as well as the fat face. I also found it interesting to see how Rob Roy Kelly transformed the square serif to create many types of different serifs like the ones they used on the advertisement posters.
-Sydney Essex
As I was looking at the typeface through the years from the 15th to 19th century there were a few distinctive fonts that captured my attention greatly. Typeface evolution has been slower than other areas of design but looking back over the past 500+ years shows staggering advancements, from the invention of the printing press to variable web fonts. Typeface history has largely been influenced by the availability of technology throughout the centuries, starting with Gutenberg’s press and continuing through digital typography advancements by designers in the 20th and 21st centuries. Gutenberg recognized that being able to mass-produce books quickly and cheaply was a lucrative prospect. He drew on movable type used in East Asia and screw-type presses being used by farmers in Europe to devise the idea for the first printing press. Blackletter typefaces were the original standard for printing, mainly because they mimicked the handwriting style of the time. But as mentioned above, the downside was that they took up considerable space on the page.
In 1470, Nicolas Jenson recognized that simpler letterforms would result in being able to fit more text on a single page, resulting in shorter books with faster setup times. He created the first Roman typeface, based on Blackletter and Italian Humanist lettering.
- Ally Campisi
Although I was not here for the discussion of typeface, one thing I found particularly interesting in the development of typefaces is how they have become much sleeker. For example, Garamond 1976 to 2005. The letters are thinner and less dramatic, a similar trend in most fonts over time. Additionally, as the styles of typeface broaden, we see much more in the extremes. For instance Fat Face is very bold and wide, and extra condensed typefaces in the 19th century are very slim and tall. The adversity is also seen in the tops of the letters, as some typefaces have become completely rounded and casual, whereas others have stayed looking quite Gothic. Designers have focused on creating the perfect font whether that meant forms of perfectionism, anthropomorphism, or using nature as an influence.
Gigi Moynihan
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