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\'TRANSITIONAL\' TYPE is so-called because of its intermediate position between old style and modern. Most notable representative fonts of the Transitional Age were Baskerville, and Fournier The distinguishing features of transitional typefaces include vertical stress and slightly higher contrast than old style typefaces, combined with horizontal serifs.
The Rockwell® font family is a slab serif typeface originally modeled after a 1910 font called Litho Antique™. Revived by Morris Fuller Benton in the 1920s, the font was redesigned and published in 1934 by Monotype in a project spearheaded by Frank Hinman Pierpont.
Slab serifs in general may remind readers of older poster fonts and Western movie paraphernalia. Early slab serif fonts were created in the nineteenth century, usually from wood, which was notoriously hard to carve into the small details required for intricate type. Slab serif lettering rapidly became very popular in any areas in which wooden faces were commonly used. Later, smaller versions were deliberately cut in metal as an alternative to the regular serif and sans serif fonts available at the time. One of the earliest manufacturers of such type was the Inland Type Foundry, founded in 1892 by the three Schraubstadter brothers.
In January, 1910, ITF released a face known as Litho Antique™, created by William Schraubstadter. Later that decade, the font and several other similar types became popular around greater Europe, so American Type Founders decided to reissue the font. Morris Fuller Benton added a number of new characters to the original Litho Antique face and the modified result, named Rockwell Antique™, was published by ATF in 1931. Later the same year, Benton redrew the font in a heavier style, naming it Stymie™ Bold.
When Frank Hinman Pierpont, in collaboration with Monotype, decided to create and release the Rockwell typeface family in 1934, several unique characteristics, including differences in spacing, letter weight and subtle changes in glyph formation, were included.
Even so, the Stymie Bold and Rockwell designs are often confused for one another, not only because of their similarities but because of the fact that in an early Monotype document, the Rockwell font was accidentally referred to as Stymie™ Bold. While there are subtle differences between the two faces, this mistake continues to cause confusion today.
Reference:
The fy(t)i Guide Slab Serifs
Slab serif fonts are versatile, as their often mono-weighted tendencies render them perfectly suitable for headlining and other applications requiring a steady, bold typeface.
Notable recent users of the Rockwell design include the Guinness Book of Records and the Docklands Light Railway.
Rockwell is available in nine different variations which include italics, different weights and condensed versions of the font, suitable for anything from light print design to very bold type well proportioned for logo development.
Continuing from the previous page, Part Three of \'A Brief History of Typography\'
\'TRANSITIONAL\' TYPE is so-called because of its intermediate position between old style and modern. Most notable representative fonts of the Transitional Age were Baskerville, and Fournier
The distinguishing features of transitional typefaces include vertical stress and slightly higher contrast than old style typefaces, combined with horizontal serifs. The most influential examples are Philippe Grandjean\'s \'Romain du Roi\' for the French Crown around 1702, Pierre Simon Fournier\'s work circa 1750, and John Baskerville\'s work from 1757 onwards. Although today we remember Baskerville primarily for his typeface designs, in his own time people were much more impressed by his printing, which used an innovative glossy paper and wide margins.
Later transitional types begin to move towards \'modern\' designs. Contrast is accentuated, and serifs are more flattened. Current examples of such are based on originals from approximately 1788-1810, and are dominated by British isles designers, such as Richard Austin (Bell, 1788), William Martin (Bulmer) and Miller & Richard (Scotch Roman, which eventually became Bookman).
For currently available examples of transitional type, there are many types which bear Baskerville\'s name, descending from one or another of his designs. Less common today is P.S. Fournier\'s work, although several versions of it are available in digital or metal form. Although Scotch Roman has been a very common face in metal type usage since Monotype\'s 1920 revival, it is not a common digital face. Bell, on the other hand, can be found at Monotype, along with Bulmer, which has received more attention since its revival by Monotype in late 1994.
The Modern Type Movement
The most well known fonts to represent the Modern type movement are Didot,Bodoni, and Walbaum. \'Modern\' typefaces are distinguishable by their sudden-onset vertical stress and strong contrast. Modern serifs and horizontals are very thin, almost hairlines. Although they are very striking, these typefaces are sometimes criticized as cold or harsh, and may not be quite as readable for very extensive text work, such as books.
A number of designers, perhaps semi- independently, created the first modern typefaces in the late 1700s and early 1800s. One of the first, and ultimately the most influential, was Giambattista Bodoni, of Parma, Italy. Ironically, historians of type often relate the development of the \'modern\' letterforms to a then-current obsession with things Roman — in this case the strong contrast and sharp serifs of classical Roman inscriptions. Inspirational wallpaper for macbook pro.
Today, the most common \'modern\' typefaces are the dozens of reinterpretations of Bodoni\'s work (which itself evolved over time). One of the most successful reinterpretations is the 1994 ITC Bodoni by Sumner Stone et. al., featuring three different optical sizes. Although little is seen of Didot, a reinterpretation by Justus Erich Walbaum (ca. 1800) sees occasional use.
Look for the characteristic thin stroke serifs, coupled with heavy leg strokes. Similar fonts are : Bodoni Ultra, Monotype Bodoni, Torino Modern, Berthold Bodoni Antiqua Pro, Parma, and Computer Modern Roman, designed for use with the METAFONT program written by Donald Knuth which generates characters from a set of templates and a list of modifiable parameters. (Download the Computer Modern Roman family free from the American Mathematical Society
NEXT : Sans Serif: Gothic and Grotesque
And, .. Thanks for reading
Editor/Publisher : DTG Magazine
+FredShowker on Google+ or most social medias @Showker
Published online since 1988
Don\'t forget .. we encourage you to share your discoveries with other readers:
Send an email to our editorial staff
Contribute your own article
Follow DTG on Facebook!
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This page was originally published at : http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/history/transitional.html
\'TRANSITIONAL\' TYPE is so-called because of its intermediate position between old style and modern. Most notable representative fonts of the Transitional Age were Baskerville, and Fournier The distinguishing features of transitional typefaces include vertical stress and slightly higher contrast than old style typefaces, combined with horizontal serifs.
The Rockwell® font family is a slab serif typeface originally modeled after a 1910 font called Litho Antique™. Revived by Morris Fuller Benton in the 1920s, the font was redesigned and published in 1934 by Monotype in a project spearheaded by Frank Hinman Pierpont.
Slab serifs in general may remind readers of older poster fonts and Western movie paraphernalia. Early slab serif fonts were created in the nineteenth century, usually from wood, which was notoriously hard to carve into the small details required for intricate type. Slab serif lettering rapidly became very popular in any areas in which wooden faces were commonly used. Later, smaller versions were deliberately cut in metal as an alternative to the regular serif and sans serif fonts available at the time. One of the earliest manufacturers of such type was the Inland Type Foundry, founded in 1892 by the three Schraubstadter brothers.
In January, 1910, ITF released a face known as Litho Antique™, created by William Schraubstadter. Later that decade, the font and several other similar types became popular around greater Europe, so American Type Founders decided to reissue the font. Morris Fuller Benton added a number of new characters to the original Litho Antique face and the modified result, named Rockwell Antique™, was published by ATF in 1931. Later the same year, Benton redrew the font in a heavier style, naming it Stymie™ Bold.
When Frank Hinman Pierpont, in collaboration with Monotype, decided to create and release the Rockwell typeface family in 1934, several unique characteristics, including differences in spacing, letter weight and subtle changes in glyph formation, were included.
Even so, the Stymie Bold and Rockwell designs are often confused for one another, not only because of their similarities but because of the fact that in an early Monotype document, the Rockwell font was accidentally referred to as Stymie™ Bold. While there are subtle differences between the two faces, this mistake continues to cause confusion today.
Reference:
The fy(t)i Guide Slab Serifs
Slab serif fonts are versatile, as their often mono-weighted tendencies render them perfectly suitable for headlining and other applications requiring a steady, bold typeface.
Notable recent users of the Rockwell design include the Guinness Book of Records and the Docklands Light Railway.
Rockwell is available in nine different variations which include italics, different weights and condensed versions of the font, suitable for anything from light print design to very bold type well proportioned for logo development.
Continuing from the previous page, Part Three of \'A Brief History of Typography\'
\'TRANSITIONAL\' TYPE is so-called because of its intermediate position between old style and modern. Most notable representative fonts of the Transitional Age were Baskerville, and Fournier
The distinguishing features of transitional typefaces include vertical stress and slightly higher contrast than old style typefaces, combined with horizontal serifs. The most influential examples are Philippe Grandjean\'s \'Romain du Roi\' for the French Crown around 1702, Pierre Simon Fournier\'s work circa 1750, and John Baskerville\'s work from 1757 onwards. Although today we remember Baskerville primarily for his typeface designs, in his own time people were much more impressed by his printing, which used an innovative glossy paper and wide margins.
Later transitional types begin to move towards \'modern\' designs. Contrast is accentuated, and serifs are more flattened. Current examples of such are based on originals from approximately 1788-1810, and are dominated by British isles designers, such as Richard Austin (Bell, 1788), William Martin (Bulmer) and Miller & Richard (Scotch Roman, which eventually became Bookman).
For currently available examples of transitional type, there are many types which bear Baskerville\'s name, descending from one or another of his designs. Less common today is P.S. Fournier\'s work, although several versions of it are available in digital or metal form. Although Scotch Roman has been a very common face in metal type usage since Monotype\'s 1920 revival, it is not a common digital face. Bell, on the other hand, can be found at Monotype, along with Bulmer, which has received more attention since its revival by Monotype in late 1994.
The Modern Type Movement
The most well known fonts to represent the Modern type movement are Didot,Bodoni, and Walbaum. \'Modern\' typefaces are distinguishable by their sudden-onset vertical stress and strong contrast. Modern serifs and horizontals are very thin, almost hairlines. Although they are very striking, these typefaces are sometimes criticized as cold or harsh, and may not be quite as readable for very extensive text work, such as books.
A number of designers, perhaps semi- independently, created the first modern typefaces in the late 1700s and early 1800s. One of the first, and ultimately the most influential, was Giambattista Bodoni, of Parma, Italy. Ironically, historians of type often relate the development of the \'modern\' letterforms to a then-current obsession with things Roman — in this case the strong contrast and sharp serifs of classical Roman inscriptions. Inspirational wallpaper for macbook pro.
Today, the most common \'modern\' typefaces are the dozens of reinterpretations of Bodoni\'s work (which itself evolved over time). One of the most successful reinterpretations is the 1994 ITC Bodoni by Sumner Stone et. al., featuring three different optical sizes. Although little is seen of Didot, a reinterpretation by Justus Erich Walbaum (ca. 1800) sees occasional use.
Look for the characteristic thin stroke serifs, coupled with heavy leg strokes. Similar fonts are : Bodoni Ultra, Monotype Bodoni, Torino Modern, Berthold Bodoni Antiqua Pro, Parma, and Computer Modern Roman, designed for use with the METAFONT program written by Donald Knuth which generates characters from a set of templates and a list of modifiable parameters. (Download the Computer Modern Roman family free from the American Mathematical Society
NEXT : Sans Serif: Gothic and Grotesque
And, .. Thanks for reading
Editor/Publisher : DTG Magazine
+FredShowker on Google+ or most social medias @Showker
Published online since 1988
Don\'t forget .. we encourage you to share your discoveries with other readers:
Send an email to our editorial staff
Contribute your own article
Follow DTG on Facebook!
PIN THIS with DTG on Pinterest
Fred Showker, Design on pinterest
This page was originally published at : http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/history/transitional.html