When we left off in part 1, it was circa , with the first appearances of slab serifs, also called Mechanistics or Egyptiennes. By the time slab serifs were being popularized, early sans serifs had already been around for some time in a variety of forms. To follow the progression of sans serifs, we must step back in time a number of years.
The earliest sans-serif letterforms were, of course, not type, but inscriptions , dating back to as early as the 5th century BC, and enjoyed a resurgence in engraving and inscriptions in the 18th century. Larger view. Image source: Typefoundry. Circa , the foundry of William Caslon with whom you should be familiar cut the first known sans-serif Etruscan type for the Oxford University Press, although there are earlier usages of sans serifs in similar applications.
Image source: Camille Sourget. It was first embossed and then often carefully inked over the top so that it could also be read visually, as in the photo above.
Image source: typophile. William Caslon IV — who inherited the type foundry, as well as his name, from four generations back — is credited with the first sans-serif printing type for the Latin alphabet, appearing first in the Caslon specimen book.
There was much confusion over this new style, being variously called Egyptian despite early slab serifs also being marketed as Egyptians , Gothic, Grotesque and Antique, among others. A sans from an early Vincent Figgins type specimen.
I am presenting here a slight variation of those four, with a couple of minor differences for the sake of practicality. The Grotesque category covers the early sans serifs, specifically those designed in the 19th century and the first decade or two of the 20th. Many of these typefaces had only capitals or exist only in centuries-old specimen books, but a number of them are still quite commonly used.
These typefaces tend to be very idiosyncratic, with awkward weight distribution around bowls of characters and irregular curves. Image source: MyFonts. The capital G in a Grotesque is usually spurred , and the British Standards specifies a curled leg on the capital R, although that is not apparent in many typefaces of the period.
They tend to display some variation in the thickness of strokes, but the contrast does not show calligraphic influence or a logical pattern. The style became more sophisticated over the course of the 19th century. Interestingly enough, it has been postulated that Akzidenz-Grotesk was based on Walbaum or Didot.
Despite looking extremely different at first glance, a simple comparison of the basic forms shows that the metrics are very similar. The Neo-Grotesques, also called Transitionals or Realists, include many of the most commonly used sans. They are based on the later Grotesques and take the design of the sans-serif to a new level with their careful construction and aesthetics.
They are much more refined than the Grotesques, during which period type designers were still feeling their way around the new style; thus, the Neo-Grotesques lose many of the awkward curves and idiosyncrasies that are common in earlier sans serifs. Created with an emphasis on neutrality and simplicity, they were extraordinarily popular among the Modernists and remain popular today.
Despite many claims otherwise, simplicity does not directly translate into legibility: A tight vertical rhythm and pinched apertures keep many Neo-Grotesques including Helvetica from being good choices for body text.
In , Haas, in an effort to market it more effectively, rebranded Neue Haas Grotesk to what we know as one of the most ubiquitous typefaces of all time — you guessed it — Helvetica.
Raleway released in and Brandon Grotesque released in are popular fonts which both draw some inspiration by Gotham. And two older fonts which have seen a renaissance in the post Gotham era are Avenir and Proxima—both grotesque fonts that are better suited for body copy than Gotham.
NBC created a custom font for the olympics called Nexa —which looks a lot like Gotham with tight letter-spacing and different number glyphs. The first image here is Nexa, the second is Gotham. Not a whole lot of difference…. This is the newly designed Nexa font, created specifically for the Winter Olympics. This is the same lettering, set in Gotham Bold for comparison to the Nexa font above. Rikard is the creator of ZevenDesign and founding co-partner of Tethos Creative.
He's been in the design industry for the last 15 years, having amassed more than 20 design awards. He started in a darkroom and has personally worked in virtually every aspect of graphic design—typography, typesetting, printing, foiling, embossing, die making, illustration, you name it.
His specialty is branding and cover design. He's a father of twin daughters, loves photography and movies. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Time limit is exhausted. Get the entire pack with your FREE account. But what is Grotesque? Previous Brand New Course! Fairy Specimen Photo Composite. About The Author. Related Posts. Ask Question. Asked 4 years, 11 months ago.
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