Typeface Review: "Sabon"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: "Sabon is an old style serif typeface designed by Jan Tschichold between 1964 and 1967. It was released jointly by Linotype, Monotype, and Stempel foundries in 1967. It’s based on typefaces designed by Claude Garamond, particularly the one printed by Konrad Berner of Frankfurt, as well as the italics by Robert Grandjon." (Source #1)

"One of the finest modern adaptations of the Garamond model, Jan Tschichold's Sabon stands as the culmination of a hugely influential typographic career in which type design developed alongside book typography and critical writing.

"It is names for the punchcutter and type founder Jakob Sabon of Lyons, who is credited with bringing the Garamond types originating with Plantin or Granjon into use in Franfurt, thus introducing the Garamond model into German printing. Sabon is, however, far more than a literal revival, since it incorporates characteristics drawn from the different sizes of the Garamonds to form one consistent and definitively 20th-century interpretation of the ideas that they embody." (Source #2)

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What Type of Font It Is: Garalde - "Garaldes include some of the most attractive and well-designed text faces in current use. They are highly legible but visually lively. As with most historically based faces, the adaptation of these letters for changing print technologies has had varying effects upon their integrity of form.

"All typefaces originating in hand-cut punches showed a considerable variation of form according to size, with the serifs relatively heavier and the modulation of stroke width less pronounced at smaller sizes. These considerations are crucial to the effective design or adaptation of Garalde faces, and distinguish quality recuts and original faces in the Garalde tradition." (Source #3)

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How You Can Design With It: "One of the distinguishing features of Sabon is that the roman, italic, and bold weights all take up the same width when typeset. It’s an unusual feature, but meant that only one set of copyfitting data is needed for all three styles.

"Sabon is a highly legible typeface, with moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes. That makes it suitable for use in a variety of sizes.

"Sabon is a favorite for typesetting book copy, and is well-suited to any traditional or formal design." (Source #1)

"It has an elegant bold font, and it is exceptionally balanced and legible across italic and roman in both its weights. It has a harmonious visual consistency and few obtrusive distinguishing features - an inclined stress, open counters, and a complementary interaction between characters. It incorporates expert set features, including small caps, ligatures, and non-lining numerals." (Source #2)

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Where You Can Get It: You can buy the Sabon font and the whole font family at LinoType, Adobe, Fonts.com, FontShop, MyFonts, or Webtype.

Descriptive Terms for It: Book copy, Garalde, Jan Tschichold, large blocks of text, large bodies of text, legible, Old Style Serif, serif, traditional, and whole family.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/08/the-most-popular-fonts-used-by-designers/
- #2 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 76
- #3 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 72

Examples:

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Typeface Review: "Garamond"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: "Garamond is an old-style serif typeface, named after punch-cutter Claude Garamond. Adobe Garamond and Stempel Garamond were both based on this original typeface from the 16th century, and Granjon and Sabon were heavily influenced by it. There are a few unique characteristics of Garamond, including the small bowl of the lowercase 'a' and the small eye of the 'e'." (Source #1)

Claude Garamond's
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Garamond.
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"Robert Slimbach redesigned Garamond for Adobe in 1989. "Moderate contrast, and a more rounded form and evenness of stroke than Linotype or Stempel versions, make Slimbach's one of the most readable Garamonds. It is available with swash italics, some elegant terminal letters, ornaments, and titling capitols." (Source #2)

What Type of Font It Is: Garalde - "Garaldes include some of the most attractive and well-designed text faces in current use. They are highly legible but visually lively. As with most historically based faces, the adaptation of these letters for changing print technologies has had varying effects upon their integrity of form.

"All typefaces originating in hand-cut punches showed a considerable variation of form according to size, with the serifs relatively heavier and the modulation of stroke width less pronounced at smaller sizes. These considerations are crucial to the effective design or adaptation of Garalde faces, and distinguish quality recuts and original faces in the Garalde tradition."(Source #3)

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How You Can Design With It: "Garamond’s greatest strength is its legibility and readability. Garamond is one of the most legible serif typefaces, especially for use in print applications. It’s also one of the most eco-friendly typefaces in terms of ink usage. The original punches and matrices were sold to Christopher Plantin upon the death of Claude Garamond, and were in turn used in many printers, adding to its rise in popularity. Garamond revivals were created as early as 1900. Garamond is an excellent choice for printed materials, including books and reports, due to its high legibility in print." (Source #1)

Where You Can Get It: You can buy the font at FontShop. There is also an Apple site that let's you try it out before purchasing it, located here. Or download from a range of cheaper versions of it at DaFont.

Descriptive Terms for It: Book copy, Garalde, large blocks of text, large bodies of text, legible, Old Style, Old Style Serif, readable, redesign, variety, and whole family.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/08/the-most-popular-fonts-used-by-designers/
- #2 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 80
- #3 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 72

Examples:

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Typeface Review: "Copperplate"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: Designed by Frederic W. Goudy in 1901 and published by Apple Computer Inc. "Goudy is probably the best known of American typographers and exemplifies the Golden Age of American Printing. He is famous for his prodigious output; he designed over one-hundred typefaces, yet did not start design in earnest until he was 45.

"Born in Bloomington, Illinois, he studied at the Chicago School of Lettering. He best and most popular types are Goudy Old Style and Goudy Text. He was also well-known as a spokesperson for the trade and spent a great deal of time speaking in clubs, associations etc. He was not a 'modern'; he loved the 15th century and found much of his inspiration there.

" 'It is hardly possible to create a good typeface that will differ radically from the established forms of the past; nevertheless, it is still possible to secure new expressions of life and vigour.' " (Source #1)

"Originally designed in 1901, Copperplate Gothic was first released as a font family containing several weights and condensed variations. The font name reflects the popularity of this particular style of typeface during the time that copperplate engraving was a popular technique for reproducing illustrated material; from about 1530 up to the 19th century. Although a true lowercase has never been designed, Copperplate Gothic is ideal for all-capital text typically set in small print. For example, it's very popular for use on business cards. Tiny serifs lend Copperplate Gothic a distinctive feel. The design captures both the sturdiness of a sans serif, as well as the elegance of typefaces with serifs." (Source #2)

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What Type of Font It Is: Glyphic; "Glyphics are primarily a titling form and many have no lowercase. Some of the Germanic Glyphics can be effectively used for limited amounts of text setting, providing a tonal depth similar to that of the heavier Humanist revival faces. Their weight can create more dramatic color in a text page but their application in this context is very specialized." (Source #3)

"Misleadingly titled, this is a Gothic with a Glyphic accent in its very subtle flare serifs. It has no lowercase, and is available in a range of numbered weights and widths." (Source #4)

How You Can Design With It: "You may have been scrolling down your list of fonts on Microsoft Word or PowerPoint one day and thought, 'Hey, that's a cool, subtly seriffed font. It's nice and wide. It looks classy, and yet I don't think I'd want to pick a fight with that font. I'm going to use that font for my poster/presentation.' " (Source #5)

Where You Can Get It: You can download the font for free at FontZone and Fonts101. There are also fonts very similar to Copperplate, available to buy at FontSpring.

Descriptive Terms for It: All-caps, business cards, Capital Only, classy, Frederic Goudy, Glyphic, legible, and logos.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.identifont.com/show?13B
- #2 - http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/family.aspx?FID=40
- #3 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 142
- #4 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 148
- #5 - http://lifeatluther.blogspot.com/2008/02/copperplate-font-must-be-stopped.html

Examples:

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Typeface Review: "Caslon"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: "Caslon is a set of serif typefaces with the irregularity common of Dutch Baroque types. It has short ascenders and descenders, bracketed serifs, and is moderately-high contrast. The italics have a rhythmic calligraphic stroke, and some of the lowercase italics have the suggestion of a swash.

"The first Caslon typeface was designed in 1722. It was similar to Dutch Fell types by Voskens, and also by the typefaces cut by Van Dyck, another Dutchman. The Caslon types were used throughout the British Empire, including British North America. The decayed appearance common in a lot of early American printing is often thought to be caused by the oxidation that resulted from long exposure to seawater during the transport of metal type from England to America. Caslon was used extensively, and perhaps most famously in the printing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence." (Source #1)

"The popularity of William Caslon's faces has led to a wide range of typefaces bearing his name. Adobe Caslon, redrawn by Carol Twombly in 1990 from Caslon's 1738 specimens, is a sensitive reconstruction that shows the influence of Dutch old-style faces but also some characteristics of the Transitional forms that were to follow." (Source #2)

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What Type of Font It Is: Garalde; "Garaldes include some of the most attractive and well-designed text faces in current use. They are highly legible but visually lively." (Source #3)

How You Can Design With It: "Caslon is sometimes considered a great universal typeface. There was even a common rule of thumb among printers and typesetters, 'When in doubt, use Caslon.' It’s a versatile typeface that can be used equally well in headings or in body copy. The wide variety of weights and styles available make it even more versatile.

"Caslon can be used for virtually any kind of typesetting, from body copy to headlines, and is quite legible at small sizes." (Source #1)

"Long favored for book work, Caslon remains a text face of unassertive grace, legible in its individual forms and readable in the rhythmic relationships between letters. [...] The face should normally be used at text sizes [as] the Caslon Foundry produced an accompanying titling face, which formed the basis for Matthew Carter's Big Caslon." (Source #2)

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Where You Can Get It: You can purchase the Adobe Caslon typefaces at MyFonts. Or you can download other versions of the typeface at FontYukle, FontSpace, and DaFont.

Descriptive Terms for It: Body copy, Garalde, headlines, legible, and versatile.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/08/the-most-popular-fonts-used-by-designers/
- #2 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 79
- #3 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 72

Examples:

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Typeface Review: "Avenir"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: "Avenir is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed in 1988 by Adrian Frutiger. The name, Avenir, means “future” in French. It was designed to be a more humanistic version of traditional geometric typefaces like Futura. Upon release, it was available in three weights, using Frutiger’s two-digit weight and width naming convention: 45 (book) /46 (oblique), 55 (text) /56 (oblique), and 75 (bold) /76 (oblique). Three more weights were later added.

"Avenir is a relatively new typeface, but it’s become widely used. LG uses it for the buttons on most of their cell phones. BBC Two uses Avenir in its logo and identity. Dwell magazine started using it in 2007, and the upcoming J.J. Abrams film Super 8 also uses it for titles." (Source #1)

What Type of Font It Is: Geometric; "Geometric typefaces reflect the idea that type can be reduced to simple geometric units and cleansed of all historical associations. They are characteristic of the spirit of modernism that formed the dominant design ideology in Europe from the 1930s through the 1950s.

"Geometrics are, above all, the expression of an idea, and as such carry a set of associative values fitting them better for display and semi-display use." (Source #2)

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How You Can Design With It: "A balanced and restrained Geometric with a Humanist sensitivity in many of its letterforms, Avenir requires fairly loose letter spacing." (Source #2)

"Avenir’s greatest strengths are its simplicity and balance. It bridges the gap between geometric and humanist sans-serifs, making it a versatile, modern choice. Avenir is suitable for both headline and body copy. Improvements in hinting have made it better for on-screen viewing at smaller sizes." (Source #1)

Where You Can Get It: You can download a version for free using FontPalace, or you could buy a version of it from Fonts.com. There are also other versions that are like it and for free download:

- http://www.dafont.com/new-cicle.font?nb_ppp=50&text=Avenir

- http://www.dafont.com/surrounding.font?nb_ppp=50&text=Avenir

- http://www.dafont.com/florencesans.font?nb_ppp=50&text=Avenir

- http://www.dafont.com/lane.font?nb_ppp=50&text=Avenir

- http://www.dafont.com/siple.font?nb_ppp=50&text=Avenir

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Descriptive Terms for It: Body copy, display, Geometric, headings, legible, modern, sans serif, simple, sub-headings, and versatile.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/08/the-most-popular-fonts-used-by-designers/
- #2 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 134 and 141.

Examples:

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It isn't exactly like "Avenir", but it is like it and it is called "GatsbyFLF".
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Typeface Review: "Mrs Eaves"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: Created in 1996 by Zuzana Licko and licensed by Emigre Graphics, "a digital type foundry, publisher and distributor of graphic design centered information based in Berkeley, California, that was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife team Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko. The type foundry also published Emigre magazine between 1984 and 2005. Note that unlike the word émigré, Emigre is officially spelled without accents." (Source #1)

"Mrs Eaves is named after Sarah Eaves, the woman who became John Baskerville's wife. As Baskerville was setting up his printing and type business, Mrs. Eaves moved in with him as a live-in housekeeper, eventually becoming his wife after the death of her first husband, Mr. Eaves. Mrs Eaves is a revival of the types of English printer and punchcutter John Baskerville, and is related to contemporary Baskerville typefaces.

"Licko's selection of the name Mrs Eaves reveals an interesting story. Like his types, John Baskerville was, himself, a controversial character. He hired Sarah Eaves as his housekeeper. Eventually her husband Richard abandoned her and their five children, and Mrs Eaves became Baskerville's mistress and eventual helpmate with typesetting and printing. She married Baskerville within a month of her estranged husband's death. Selection of the name Mrs Eaves honors one of the forgotten women in the history of typography." (Source #2)

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What Type of Font It Is: Transitional: "Transitionals are, as a general rule, well suited to the setting of large bodies of text, as well as revealing considerable elegance of individual form when used for display purposes.... The italic fonts of Transitional typefaces were designed as an integral part of the face rather than as independent faces, and as a consequence reveal far greater affinity of form with the roman letters, while varying quite widely in style. They are better suited to use for emphasis or differentiation within roman text than the italics of Garalde or Humanist faces." (Source #3)

How You Can Design With It: Both elegant and with 213 ligatures, it is perfect for those who want classic style for their book or magazine.

"The typeface family includes roman, italic, petite capitals, small capitals, bold, and roman and italic ligatures. Ligatures in all variants of Mrs Eaves include the standard fi, ffi, andfl ligatures, and resurrect the classic eighteenth century ct and st ligatures. A Just Ligatures variant, available in roman and italic, contain a vast array of new ligatures, many incorporating intertwined and swash characters.

"The Mrs Eaves Ligatures sets include 213 ligatures, ranging from the common to the fanciful. The OpenType format fonts contain all 213 ligatures.

"The WordPress logotype is set in Mrs Eaves. It is also used for the titles (but not author names) on the covers and spines of the current Penguin Classics from Penguin Books. Blacktree's Quicksilver wordmark uses Mrs Eaves. Roman and petite caps. Bowdoin College uses Mrs Eaves in the college wordmark and in many other official materials. Radiohead's 2003 album Hail to the Thief prominently used Mrs Eaves in its related artworks." (Source #2)

Where You Can Get It: You may purchase various versions of Mrs Eaves via Emigre's website, located here: http://www.emigre.com/EF.php?fid=109.

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Descriptive Terms For It: book copy, classical, elegant, large bodies of text, legible, ligatures, pretty, serif, Transitional, versatile, variety, and whole family.

Sources:
- #1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigre
- #2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Eaves
- #3 - "The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 84

Examples:

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