Job:03171 Title:Typography Referenced (Rockport)
Page: 150
Job:03171 Title:Typography Referenced (Rockport)
Page: 150
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Text
Job:03171 Title:Typography Referenced (Rockport)
Page: 150
150
Typography, Referenced
Text
Job:03171 Title:Typography Referenced (Rockport)
Page: 150
TYPEFACES AND SPECIMENS
Serif
S
ince the 1400s, serifs have
defi ned a generation of typefaces
that evolved into what became
known as Venetian, Garalde, and
Transitional (55) classifi cation. For sim-
plicity’s sake, contemporary historians and
typographers tend to lump them all into
one group. Classifi cations such as those
within the serif lineage are convenient
because they cluster fonts into schools,
styles, or historical movements. But the
job of classifying and subclassifying
grows ever more diffi cult with the release
of more and more typefaces, fragment-
ing each of the named classes into even
smaller permutations.
In terms of popularity, many typefaces
commonly used in print today are reviv-
als of classics created centuries ago such
as Bembo (155), Baskerville (154), and
Garamond (162). Calligraphy strongly
infl uenced Venetian typefaces such as
those from the fi fteenth (9) to sixteenth
century (10), most evident in their sloped
axis and low contrast (230). Old roman
faces from the seventeenth century (10)
share those traits, but are also low con-
trast, with more pronounced brackets
and bigger serifs that make them appear
heavier on close inspection. The Garalde
forms possess the most variety (224),
with both wide and narrow letterforms.
Transitional (55) fonts earned that title
because of where they sit in typographic
chronology: between Garalde and Didone
(56). Formally, Transitional typefaces
have medium contrast and less stress
than Old Style (54) faces.
Didone (56) (sometimes called Modern
or New Roman) arrived in the late eigh-
teenth century (10) and continued
through much of the nineteenth century
(12). Didone faces have vertical stress, but
abrupt contrast (230) between their thick
and thin strokes. Bodoni (156) was one
of the earliest examples of this formal
(64) trend that began in France and Italy.
Hybridizations of these and other clas-
sifi cations continue to permeate the
typographic landscape, with results that
can look exquisite, garish, or conservative.
But the specimens shown on the following
pages set a standard that has infl uenced
type designers for centuries, and their
endurance has been diffi cult to match.
PNCA3 by
Veronika Burian
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