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Baskerville 1

Analysing six typefaces

FROMBASKERVILLETOHELVETICA

FROMBASKERVILLETOHELVETICA

FROMBASKERVILLETOHELVETICAAnalysing six typefaces

Cecilia Serafini

From Baskerville to Helvetica6

From Baskerville to HelveticaAnalysing six typefaces

Great Britain, 2013

This book was designed and written by Cecilia Serafini. References can be consulted under References, in the back of the book.Fonts used: Grotesque (Regular, Light and Light Oblique), Baskerville, Bodoni, Centaur, Rockwell, Avant Garde and Helvetica, in all their variations.

7Index

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

Rockwell

Avant Garde

Helvetica

References

5

9

13

17

21

25

29

9Introduction

Baskerville

Baskerville 11

Baskerville typeface takes its name from John Baskerville, an english printer and designer. Starting his carreer as a writing-master in Birmingham, he had established a printing office by 1754 working in editions of Latin poems. He later started working for Cambridge University and was commissioned to produce editions of the Bible. The Baskerville typeface is the result of John Baskervilles intent to improve upon the types of William Caslon. He increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes, making the serifs sharper, and shifted the axis of rounded letters to a more vertical position. The curved strokes are more circular in shape, and the characters became more regular. These changes created a greater consistency in size and form. Baskervilles typeface was the culmination of a larger series of experiments to improve legibility which also included paper making and ink manufacturing. The result was a typeface that reflected his ideals of perfection, where he chose simplicity and quiet refinement.

The epitome of neo-classicism and eighteen-century rationalism in type

Name Year About

Robert Bringhurst

Origin Classification

Variations

Baskerville vs. Caslon

Baskerville (black) and Caslon.

Baskerville 1757

England Transitional

RegularItalicSemiboldSemibold ItalicBoldBold Italic


Main Features

Ascenders & Descenders

Numerals

Details

x b j f g i k y t

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Baskerville is a transitional typeface (transitioning between old style and modern typefaces). These type of faces tend to have a medium contrast between their thick and think strokes and a lower degree of of left-inclined stress than the old style faces. A distinguished feature of transitional typeface is a flat or triangular tip where the diagonal strokes meet, as can be seen in the W. Some special characteristics about Baskerville are the following: the tail on the lowercase g does not close; the swash-like tail of the Q; high crossbar and pointed apex of A; long lower arm of E; a long armed t and a small counter in the lower case e.

There are two classifications. Lining and Old Style. Lining numerals (upper case) are aligned to the baseline and are all of equal height, whereas old style numerals (lower case) do not, which means they can be difficult to read

Baskerville traditionally has lower case numerals. However, an upper case variation is available.

In Baskerville, the ascenders have a stronger balance between the apex and the serifs. Caslons apex, for example, are much pointier and the transition from the apex to the serif is more drastic.

The enclosed or partially enclosed (in this case, for example) lower counter in a Roman, is called a loop. Baskervilles lower case g is one of the most characteristic letters of the family. If there is a need of differentiating similar families, go for the g!

The loop

Centaur

Baskerville

Bodoni

15Bodoni

Bodoni is a typeface designed by Giambattista Bodoni in 1978. Bodoni wanted to follow Baskervilles steps in creating a new style of typefaces, away from the Old Style. To this end, he continued some of Baskervilles ideas, but took them to the extreme. He notably increased the stroke contrast and enlarged the x-height. Bodoni had made some proofs before the final typeface, and those designs are called transitional. However, the Bodoni we know today is a modern typeface. As William Morris states below, some may find Bodoni difficult to read because of the alternating think and thin of its strokes, specially at small point sizes.

Name

Year

About

Origin

Classification

Variations

Bodoni

1798

Italy

Modern

RegularItalicBookBook ItalicBoldBold ItalicBold CondensedBold Condensed ItalicBlackBlack ItalicUltra BoldUltra Bold Italic

The sweltering hideousness of the Bodoni letter, the most illegible type that was ever cut, with its preposterous thicks and thins, has been mostly relegated to works that do not profess anything but the baldest utilitarianism [...]William Morris


As we said before, Bodoni is part of the Modern typefaces group; tyfaces that were these types were designed towards the end of the 18th century and they all share certain characteristics, among others: high contrast between the thick and thin strokes and flat, unbracketed and often thin serif. However, according to the Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography, Bodoni also falls under the category of Didone; in the words of the authors: (from Didot and Bodoni). These types, invented by Didot and perfected by Bodoni, are classified in England by the meaningless term modern. They have vertical shading and hairline serifs, introduced in the middle of the 18th century when improvements in presses and paper-making made such fine lines possible to print.

Bodonis main characteristics are the following: top and bottom serifs on C, vertical and centered tail of Q, unbracketed serifs, a vertical stress (tall x-height), a small upper bowl of g, large ball terminal of c, but most importantly, the high contrast between thick and think strokes.

Bodonis ascenders clearly show the unbracketed thin serif that is so characteristic to the typeface. The tittles are rounded. As for the descenders, the terminal (or tail) of the y and the j are rounded and have a hook like appearance. If we take a look at the y, we can clearly see the difference in thickness between the strokes of the body (within the x-height) and the one in the descender.

Because of its sleekness and thin strokes, Bodoni is usually used for high-fashion magazines such as Vogue.

DidoneMain Features

Main Features

x b j f g i y t

Haute Couture.

Avant Garde

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

19Centaur

The Centaur typeface was designed by american book and type designer Bruce Rogers. History says Rogers felt inspired when he saw a copy of french engraver Nicholas Jensons 1470 Eusebius at the Boston Public Library. Though he was not pleased with his first attempt at creating the typeface, 10 years later, while working in New York City, he created the Centaur typeface for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rogers had only designed the roman alphabet, so when the Monotype foundry decided to release the typeface for commercial use, the italic version was added. It was designed by Frederic Warde, who based his designs on the work of Ludovico degli Arrighi, a 16th century calligrapher.

Name

Year

About

Origin

Classification

Variations

Centaur

1914

United States

Humanist

RegularItalicBoldBold Italic

Gary Munch

For all-time most beautiful face, I nominate Bruce Rogers Centaur. Its not a general-purpose face at all, like the usual Times or Helvetica [...] ; but Centaur lives nobly on a page and yet invites its readers to honor both it and its message with their own intelligence and understanding.


Main Features So, humanist?

Ascenders & Descenders The e

x b j f g i k y t

Off to Cadiz!

According to the Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography, Centaur falls under the category of a Humanist typeface. These typefaces are the ones inspired by 15th century humanistic script, first seen in Venice. Sometimes they can be found under the name Old Style Venetenian. Some of Centaurs main characteristics are: the tail of the upper case J descends below the baseline and points down; the ball of the 9 doesnt close; the bar of the lower case e is diagonal and not horizontal and the serifs on the M are single sided, opposite to the rest of the faces.

As we said before, Centaur is part of what we call the Humanist types. These kind of types appeared during the 15th century (of course, Centaur is inspired by the Humanist typefaces) and got shaped after the forms of italian humanist writers. Because they were inspired by human script, and therefore the tools humans used, they have certain characteristics that are natural to this type or writing: one of the most important being a low contrast between thick and thin strokes. This little variation makes the overall look of the font dark (dense).

Being a Humanist font, Centaurs ascenders of this typeface are distinctively pointy, similar to those of Caslon. Tittles are round. As for the descenders, we can see how the stroke in the tail of the y is notably thinner.

Centaurs e (magenta) vs. Baskervilles: diagonal vs. horizontal.

The italic version brings a special z character.

Rockwell

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

Rockwell

23Rockwell

The original Rockwell was produced by the Inland typefoundry in 1910, which issued it as Litho Antique; American Type Founders revived the face in the 1920s, with Morris Fuller Benton cutting several new weights. The Monotype Corporation produced its version of Rockwell in 1934 and the project was supervised by Frank Hinman Pierpont.

Slab serifs are distinguished by larger, square serifs, which were considered to be bolder than those of their predecessors. There are sub-classifications within the slab serifs, like Clarendon or Typewriter. According to the Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography, slab serifs are types originated in the high flowering of the Industrial Revolution; the large area of their faces made them ideal for decoration, sometimes of the most extravagant kind.

Name

Year

About

Slab Serif

Origin

Classification

Variations

Rockwell

1934

England

Slab Serif

RegularItalicLightLight ItalicBoldBold ItalicExtra BoldCondensedBold Condensed

In Slab serif typefaces, serifs tend to be as thick as the vertical lines themselves and usually have no bracket (curves which connect the serif to the stroke). This is the case of Rockwell, but not of Clarendon, another slab serif and the name of one of the sub-classifications. Clarendon, though sutil, has bracketed serifs.

90 angles in Rockwells slab serifs.

DetailUnbracketed Serif


Rockwell is geometric, its upper- and lowercase O more of a circle than an ellipse. The lowercase a is two-story, somewhat incongruous for a geometrically drawn typeface. Its distinctive characteristics are, among others: a fairly high x-height, short descenders and ascenders; a distinctive bar at the apex of the A and deep serifs in the T and L that helf reinforce the idea of horizontality.

Main Features

x b j f g i y k

Short Ascenders How to spot it

Rockwells (left) ascender line compared with Baskervilles. Rockwell (left) and

Clarendon: both slab serifs, but only Rockwell has got the crossbar on top of the A!

Because of its wide and even strokes, Rockwell works best as a display type.

Bodoni

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

Rockwell

Avant Garde

27Avant Garde

Name

AboutYear

Ed Benguiat

Origin

Classification

Variations

Avant Garde

1970-77 United States

Geometrical Sans Serif

BookBook ObliqueBook CondensedBook Condensed ObliqueExtra LightExtra Light ObliqueExtra Light CondensedExtra Light Condensed ObliqueMediumMedium ObliqueMedium CondensedMedium Condensed ObliqueBoldBold ObliqueBold CondensedBold Condensed ObliqueDemiDemi ObliqueDemi CondensedDemi Condensed Oblique

The only place Avant Garde looks good is in the words Avant Garde

Main Features

According to the Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography, Avant Garde is a geometric sans serif. These are fonts constructed on geometrical shapes and usually monoline. Main characteristics include: the bowl of the R doesnt close, but in the P it does; the tail on the Q is curved; the Gs crossbar is particularilly low and the tittles are squared. Canadian typographer Robert Bringhurst described the font as a bicameral stick-and-ball sanserif with very large x-height.

In 1964, Herb Lubalin formed his own design consultation firm named Herb Lubalin, Inc. During those years he collaborated with a number os publications as art director; one of them was the magazine Avant Garde. When Lubalin was commisioned to design the magazines logo, he was told to capture the advanced, the innovative, the creative. That is when he came up with the Avant Garde font.


Avant Garde everywhere

Ascenders and descenders

Details x b f i k p g y Avant Gardes descenders and ascenders are straight and short. The strokes are cut horizontally or vertically, and the single-storied g is particularly simple.Ascender height compared

to Futura (right).

Avant Gardes special Q.

Given the success of the logo, in 1970 Lubalin released the ITC Avant Garde font. During the following 7 years, Lubalin worked along with other designers like Tom Carnase and Ed Benguiat to expand the font family. Unfortunately, the font was completely overused during the 70s, and mostly by designers that had no typographical concept. Designer Steve Haller said that Avant Garde was Lubalins signature, and in his hands it had character; in others it was a flawed Futura-esque face.

bb

Question

Baskerville 29

Helvetica

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

Rockwell

Avant Garde

Helvetica

Its the real thing. Period.Coke.Period.In Helvetica.Period.

31Helvetica

Name

About

Year

Origin

Classification

Variations

Helvetica (neue)

1957

Switzerland

Sans serif

RomanObliqueMediumLightLight ObliqueUltra LightUltra Light ObliqueBoldBold ObliqueCondensedCondensed ObliqueCondensed BlackCondensed BoldExtendedExtended Oblique...

Its air, you know. Its just there.Theres no choice. You have to breathe, so you have to use Helvetica.

Helvetica was developed in 1957 by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the Haassche Schriftgiesserei (Haas Type Foundry) of Mnchenstein, Switzerland. Haas set out to design a new sans-serif typeface that could compete with the successful Akzidenz-Grotesk (another sans serif font) in the Swiss market. The aim of the new design was to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage.

Main Features

Detail Helvetica is a sans-serif font. According to the Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography, it also falls under the category of neo-grotesque lineal. One of the main characteristics of this font is the perfectly straight horizontal and vertical cuts of the strokes. Some other characteristics include the spur at the G, the two-storied a, the bracketed top serif at the 1, the straight diagonal as a tail in the Q and a slightly double-curved tail in the R.

Erik Spiekermann


Ascenders & descenders Detail

x b d f h i k l t x g j p q y

Helveticas structure is based on a rectangle (and not on a square like other fonts). This means that the letters are taller than they are wider. Its ascenders and descenders consist of clean straight strokes, always ending in perfectly horizontal or vertical cuts. The ascender and descender lines are not particularily far from the mean line.

Helveticas (left) ascender line compared with Futuras.

Massimo Vigenllis famous quote You can say, I love you in Helvetica. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. Or you can say it with the Extra Bold if its really intensive and passionate, you know, and it might work.

Straight edges

Helvetica has been praised for its simplicity. One of the characteristics that makes it so simple, clear, neutral and legible is the straight edges of its strokes.

I love you I love you

Baskerville 33

1. Ambrose / Harris 2005, Basics Design 03: Typography: Basics design 3, Ava Publishing, GB

2. McLean, R. 1992, The Thames and Hudson manual of typography, Thames and Hudson, London

3. The Typehead Chronicles (http://www.rightreading.com/typehead/typehead.htm)

4. King 2009, A Brief History of Avant Garde, Thinking for a Living (http://www.thinkingforaliving.org/archives/147)

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

Rockwell

Avant Garde

Helvetica

References


This book was printed at the London College of Communication on March, 2013.

xxxxxx

Baskerville 35


From Baskerville to Helvetica, Analysing six typefaces is a book about type. Its objective is to outline the main characteristics of six different well known typefaces. Beginning with an Old Style typeface as Baskerville, the book intends to go through time to see how typafaces have developed in the last 3 centuries.

This book was made as a Project for the Postgraduate Diploma in Design for Visual Communication at the London College Communication.

London, 2013.

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