Typographic History & Classification

Major Classifications in the History of Typographic Evolution

BlackLetter: Serifs, narrow and thick stroke, highly decorative (Blackmoor LET)

Blackletters

Johannes Gutenberg, 1455, Mainz, Germany

Examples: http://www.fontpool.com/categories/blackletter/page1.html

American Uncial, Cloister Black, Duc de Berry, Fette Fraktur, FF Johannes G, Goudy Text, Kelmscott, Old English Text

Fashioned after the popular local scribal handwriting style of the time

Narrow, thick stems cause a strong vertical presenceUsed for text in Germany until WWIINow used primarily as a display type; highly decorative

Named after the first Roman typefaces that appeared in Venice, Italy, around 1470.

Adobe Jenson Pro, Berkeley Oldstyle, Centaur MT, Cloister URW T, Deepdene URW T, Jenson Classico, Stratford, ITC Souvenir, True

Golden Mixed style of roman and

italic handwritingOrganic, rounded,

medium to heavy strokes; low contrast

Lowercase e has a slanted crossbar

Old Style – Humanist (Venetian Old Style)

began with the designs from the punchcutter Francesco Griffo, who worked for the famous Venetian scholar-printer Aldus Manutius during the 1490s.

Bembo, Caslon Classico, Caxton, Goudy Old Style, Minion Pro, Adobe Original Garamond, Palatino, Times New Roman, Centaur, Bembo, Jenson, Garamond, Caslon

Still organic, but more precise

Ascenders of lowercase letters are usually taller than cap height

Lowercase e has a horizontal crossbar

Old Style – Old Style (Garalde Old Style)

Transitional

Typefaces from the middle eighteenth century; between old style and modern

(John) Baskerville, Cheltenham, Cochin, Corona, Electra LH, Mrs. Eaves, Perpetua, Stone Serif, Versailles

Vertical stress and slightly higher contrast than old style typefaces, combined with horizontal serifs.

late 1700s and early 1800s

Bodoni EF, Bernhard Modern, Craw Modern, De Vinne, Fenice,

Linotype Didot, Modern No 216, Walbaum, Didot, Bodoni, Walbaum

strong geometric quality projected by rigorous horizontal, vertical, and circular forms

extreme contrasts between thick and thin strokes have narrow set widths, lightly bracketed or unbracketed serifs,

short x-height ratios, and a vertical angle of stress

Modern (Didone)

Egyptian typefaces emerged as display type in Victorian advertisements in the nineteenth century.

American Typewriter, Antique, Chaparral Pro, Clarendon, PT Courier, Egyptienne F, Memphis, Stymie, Volta

heavy, horizontal aesthetic of ancient Egyptian art, architecture, and hieroglyphics

heavy, squared serifs low contrast vertical angle of stress

Egyptian

1816; Gained popularity in the early twentieth century

Akzidenz-Grotesk, Eurostile, Frutiger, Futura, Gill Sans, Helvetica,

Kabel, Myriad Pro, Optima, Univers

Grotesque: tall x-height, narrow-moderate set width, slightly squarish (Helvetica, Akzidenz-Grotesk, and Univers)

Geometric: geometric shape, wide set width, capital A generally has a pointed apex, the lowercase a is often single story, and the lowercase g is usually open-tailed (Futura, Kabel, and Eurostile)

Humanist: organic feel, the lowercase a and lowercase g are usually double story. The capital A generally has a squared-off apex, and the capitcal G usually has no spur (Gill Sans, Frutiger, Optima)

Sans Serif

Decorative & Display Type

Script Type: based on handwriting (Brush Script, Dom Casual, Kunstler, Linoscript, Mistral, Shelley Script, Streamline, Tekton, Type Upright, Zapfino)

Pixel Fonts: for digital display (Chicago, Geneva, Lucida Sans, Monaco, New York, Charcoal, Fixsys, Lo Res)