![]() In the early 19th century, British type founder Vincent Figgins introduced a face that had a consistent stroke weight - sometimes called a monoline stroke - but with bulky, brick-like serifs. You’ll also see the names Old English and Gothic Antique used from time to time, just to add to the confusion.Īntique would seem to be a good name for a style with such deep historical roots, but that would be too simple. The term gothic, though, is still commonly used - particularly in Europe - as is fraktur, which when strictly applied refers to blackletter forms used in Germany. The once-common alternative blackface has been virtually abandoned. That said, the most common name used in the United States for such types is blackletter, simply because they look so dark on the page. The Italians of the period called this style textura, which refers to its woven appearance and derives from the same Latin word that gave us the term text. ![]() Types resembling American Text were used by Gutenberg for his first movable type, and they copied popular contemporary writing styles. Which point sizes you use, which leading and measure you select, and which tracking you apply to your type varies according to whether the face is an old-style or a modern, a geometric of humanist sans serif. Second, which category a typeface belongs to determines how you set it. First, it makes communications clearer among designers, clients, typesetters, and editors. Knowing how typefaces are named and categorized is a very practical matter. To the 21st-century eye, it looks about as American as lederhosen, and it probably wouldn’t be your first choice for text, either. Most of you would probably say “gothic.” But that will get you into an argument with those who reserve that name for faces that look like this:īut in fact, that first sample, designed in 1932 by Morris Fuller Benton, is named American Text. The question of whether a face should be called an italic or an oblique is just the tip of the iceberg.įor example, what label would you apply to the following face? It’s the process of assigning names to various kinds of type. The previous installment of this column opened the can of worms known as type classification.
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