Old style typeface creator12/20/2023 ![]() ![]() Those posters were a riot of big type, often a half-dozen different styles on a single page. The difference can be expressed as a maxim: text types when enlarged can be used for headings display types, if reduced, cannot be used for text setting.-Walter Tracy** …there is sometimes a lack of understanding of the fundamental difference between types designed for display and types meant for text. the Steam Press, 1814), advertisers in particular were looking for a type that stood out from crowd a type that shouted, look at me! Thus was born the the display face-type for use at large sizes, for short bursts of copy. But with mechanization, and major innovations in printing technology (e.g. Until this time, type was designed to serve one purpose-it was designed for long stretches of texts, for books. Like the industrial revolution, the Slab Serif was born in Britain, and was no doubt inspired by a new wave of advertising, and those beefy letter forms that could be found on just about every billboard, pamphlet, and poster of the day. The nomenclature has absolutely nothing to do with Egyptian Hieroglyph Slab Serifs-because there’s no such thing. What’s with the name Egyptian? Upon Napoleon’s return from a three-year Egyptian expedition and publication in 1809 of Description de l’Égypt, Egypt was all the rage, and it appears that type founders simply used a term that was on everyone’s lips, a term that was in vogue. (Something I’ll be writing about in future posts here on Sitepoint).Welcome to the early 1800s and the birth of the Slab Serif, otherwise known as Egyptian, Square Serif, Mechanical or Mécanes. Are the fonts used serif, sans-serif, decorative? The more familiar you become with type, you’ll find that you begin to experiment and you’ll also start to figure out which fonts work well together. Look at the ads when you’re standing at the bus stop. Next time you’re reading a magazine or book, or looking at a website, take time to figure out what kind of font is being used. One way to become more conscious of typefaces is to make an effort to look more closely at type. When you start to look closely though, as well as their similarities, you’ll start to notice the little differences that make each one unique. You might think that these fonts look almost identical on first glance. Note all of the text below is set at size 80pt and leading of 80pt. Other well known examples of Old Style fonts include Garamond, Gaudy Old Style, Perpetua and Minion Pro. If you find that’s the case, you could consider using the fonts below for headings and sub-headings. There is an argument that for print-based work serif fonts are the best, while for the web/screen sans-serif fonts are easiest to read. ![]() Old Styles don’t jump off the page with any sort of quirkiness and that’s what makes them easy on the eye. They can also work well on the web and two Old Style fonts are considered to be web-safe: Times New Roman and Palatino Linotype. That’s why you’ll find them used heavily in newspapers, magazines and books. Old Style typefaces are considered to be the best type for large amounts of body text on paper. The very first italic letters were produced with Old Style fonts in the early 1500s. The serifs on Old Styles are always angled and if you draw a line though the thinnest parts of the letters, you’ll see that the stress is diagonal. Unlike Modern typefaces, the thick/thin transition is moderate and not so obvious. Their relation to calligraphy can be seen in the curved strokes and letters with thick to thin transitions, looking somewhat like letters drawn with a pen and ink. Old Style (occasionally referred to as Humanist) typefaces are based on hand lettering of scribes and they first appeared in the late 15th century, before Modern typefaces. ![]()
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