Typeface Review: "Warnock"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: Designed by Robert Slimbach and published in 2000 by Adobe. As part of the Adobe Originals type composition family, it was named after John Warnock, "the co-founder of Adobe Systems, whose visionary spirit has led to major advances in desktop publishing and graphic arts software.

"A full-featured, state-of-the-art OpenType family - with Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek character sets in a variety of weights and optical size ranges-Warnock Pro is a classic yet contemporary composition family that performs a wide variety of typographic tasks with elegance." (Source #1)

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What Type of Font It Is: Transitional; "Characterized by triangulated serifs and a lively angularity, Warnock is a Transitional with a suggestion of calligraphic form, particularly in the swash letters that form part of a very extended type family." (Source #2)

How You Can Design With It: "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)

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Where You Can Get It: You can purchase the font at Fonts.com, MyFonts, Linotype, Typedia, Veer, FontShop, and Adobe Systems Inc.  FontPalace has a free download of Warnock Pro-Bold available.

Descriptive Terms for It: Classic, display, elegant, large blocks of text, large bodies of text, serif, Transitional, and whole family.

Extra: There's even an open letter, penned by Andrei Michael Herasimchuk of Design By Fire, to JohnWarnock to make his namesake a part of the public domain, as well as other typefaces such as Adobe Caslon Pro, Adobe Jenson Pro, Franklin Gothic, Frutiger, Futura, Gill Sans, Helvetica Neue, and Univers.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/warnock/
- #2 - "The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 91
- #3 - "The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 84

Examples:

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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
portrait using the font
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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Picture found here and also available for purchase.

Typeface Review: "Clarendon"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: "Clarendon is a slab-serif typeface, and is considered to be the first registered typeface with the original matrices and punches remaining at Stephenson Blake and later residing at the Type Museum, London. They were marketed by Stephenson Blake as Consort, though some additional weights (a bold and italics) were cut in the 1950s. It was named after the Clarendon Press in Oxford. There’s only moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes, common of slab-serifs. It was originally designed by Robert Besley [in England] for the [Thorowgood and Co. then known as] Fann Street Foundry in 1845. It was later copied heavily by other foundries. Due to its popularity, Besley registered the typeface under Britain's Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. The patent expired three years later, and other foundries were quick to copy it." (Source #1 and #2)

"It was polished by Edouard Hoffmann and Hermann Eidenbenz at Haas Foundry a little over a century later. Haas’ revival of this typeface in 1953 precipitated the revivals that follow." (Source #3)

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What Type of Font It Is: Slab Serif. Slab Serif typefaces developed from large-scale display letters used in both woodblock letterpress printing and architectural lettering. The robust forms and substantial serifs of the Clarendons and Egyptians were perfectly suited to casting as relief forms in metal, and as a result they feature in many Victorian engineering projects as well as appearing in posters, playbills, and other promotional materials of the time.

"At their best, Slab Serifs are both robust and colorful, with the serifs providing a strong continuity of line. The historic Slab Serifs are generally most effective in the heavier weights. Clarendons, in particular, are useful in text setting, particularly in cases where a greater weight is required than might be provided by more traditional text faces." (Source #4)

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How You Can Design With It: "Clarendon is among the most evocative and colorful of the Victorian faces. The lighter weights are a later development that extends the functionality of the face, being more suitable for text setting than the bold form that is the basis of the genre. [....] Clarendon will hold its legibility fairly well when used as a screen font in web applications or when printed onto low-quality paper. [....] It is also effective for architectural and environmental applications, because the strong serif forms can be easily cut out and reproduced in three-dimensional media." (Source #5)

"Clarendon has strong letterforms common to slab serifs. It’s also a very readable typeface, which makes it appropriate for use at somewhat smaller sizes. Strong letterforms make Clarendon a great choice for things like signs, logos, and headlines. It’s already used by companies like Sony and Wells Fargo in their logos." (Source #1)

"The font was used extensively by the government of the German Empire for proclamations during World War I, and was also common in wanted posters of the American Old West. Craw Clarendon Bold was used by the United States National Park Service on traffic signs, but has been replaced by NPS Rawlinson Roadway. In 2008, the typeface was utilized extensively by the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain in the re-launch of their corporate identity. Via, the travel magazine of the American Automobile Association, uses the typeface for its logo and headline copy." (Source #2)

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Where You Can Get It: You can purchase it at these locations for varying prices: Adobe, LinoType, FontShop, and MyFonts.

Descriptive Terms for It: Display, large blocks of text, old, poster design, serif, Slab Serif, Victorian, and whole family.

Sources:
- #1 - http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/08/the-most-popular-fonts-used-by-designers/
- #2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarendon_(typeface)
- #3 - http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/clarendon/
- #4 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 102

- #5 - The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type" by Will Hill, 2nd Edition, p. 104

Examples:

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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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Typeface Review: "Univers"

What It Looks Like:

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It's History: "Univers is a neo-grotesque sans serif typeface that was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954, and released by Deberny & Piegnot in 1957. It was then acquired by Haas in 1972, and later by D. Stempel AG and then Linotype.

"Univers is based on the 1898 typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk, which was also the basis for Helvetica (the two typefaces are sometimes confused). The entire Univers type family consists of 44 faces, with 16 uniquely numbered weight, width, and position combinations. Twenty of these fonts offer oblique characters, while eight support Central European character sets and another eight support Cyrillic characters." (Source #1)

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What Type of Font Is It: Neo-Grotesque; "Despite their origins as an expression of functionality and internationalism, 21st-century graphic design has seen increased use of Neo-Grotesques. Neo-Grotesques function better at small sizes than most other forms of sans serif, and they are consequently among the most suitable sans serif faces for long text setting. Their generous x-height and well-defined counters ensure page economy and legibility." (Source #2)

"The largest strength of Univers is its diversity, which is further enhanced by the number of weights available. It also has some of the same neutral character of Helvetica." (Source #1)

How You Can Design With It: "Univers is well-suited to a variety of designs, especially modern designs. It works well as both body copy and display." (Source #1)

"Univers is a durable face that can prove particularly useful when a wide range of differentiation is required. The condensed versions can be effectively used as text faces, allowing for setting to narrower columns than would normally be feasible." (Source #2)

Where You Can Get It: You can get it for free here:
http://www.linotype.com/search/univers#823a1cc7c532bf0877f557e08bf1b911.

Descriptive Terms For It: book copy, classic, Neo-Grotesque, sans serif, variety, whole family.

Extras: There was a typographic study of this illustrious font, which you can find here. It is actually quite beautiful in an architectural way. Here are two examples:

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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. 126 and 129

Examples:

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