Display typeface explained

A display typeface is a typeface that is intended for use in display type (display copy) at large sizes for titles, headings, pull quotes, and other eye-catching elements, rather than for extended passages of body text.[1]

Display typefaces will often have more eccentric and variable designs than the simple, relatively restrained typefaces generally used for body text.[2] [3] [4] [5] They may take inspiration from other genres of lettering, such as handpainted signs, calligraphy or an aesthetic appropriate to their use, perhaps ornamented, exotic, abstracted or drawn in the style of a different writing system.[6] [7] [8]

Several genres of font are particularly associated with display setting, such as slab serif, script font, reverse-contrast and to a lesser extent sans serif.[9] [10] Walter Tracy defines display typefaces in the metal type sense as "sizes of type over 14 point" and in design that "text types when enlarged can be used for headings, display types, if reduced, cannot be used for text setting."

Titling fonts are a subset of display typefaces which are typically used for headlines and titles. They are often only uppercase, and have stroke widths optimized for large sizes.[11] [12]

Historical background

For the first centuries of printing, display type generally did not exist. Printing was used primarily to print body text, although there might be use of some larger-sized letters for titling. Typefaces not intended for body text remained rooted in conventional letterforms: roman type, script typeface or blackletter. Signs were created as custom handlettering.

The arrival of the poster and greater use of signage spurred the arrival of new kinds of letterform, both as lettering and in print.[13] Historian James Mosley has written that "big types had been cast in sand, using wooden patterns, for some centuries [by 1750] but there is evidence that English typefounders only began to make big letters for posters and other commercial printing towards 1770, when Thomas Cottrell made his 'Proscription or Posting letter of great bulk and dimension' and William Caslon II cast his 'Patagonian' or 'Proscription letters'."[14] [15] [16]

New technologies, notably riveted "sanspareil" matrices made printing at large sizes easier from the beginning of the nineteenth century.[17] At the same time, new designs of letter began to appear around the beginning of the nineteenth century, such as "fat face" typefaces (based on serif faces of the period, but much bolder),[18] [19] slab serifs (first seen from Vincent Figgins around 1817),[20] [21] sans-serifs (already used in custom lettering but effectively unused in printing before the 1830s)[22] and new blackletter faces.[23] Many nineteenth-century display typefaces were extremely, aggressively bold or condensed in order to attract attention. An important development that followed was pantograph-engraved wood type, which allowed cheap printing of large type on posters. Equally, some display typefaces such as Cochin and Koch-Antiqua have a particularly delicate build with a low x-height, and this style was very popular around the start of the twentieth century.[24]

In the past, almost all decorative lettering other than that on paper was created as custom or hand-painted lettering. The use of fonts in place of lettering has increased due to new printing methods, phototypesetting, and digital typesetting, which allow fonts to be printed at any desired size. This has made it possible to use fonts in situations where before hand-lettering would be most common, such as on business logos and metal fabricated lettering.[25] As a result, many modern digital typeface families such as Neutraface, Neue Haas Grotesk, and Arno include both text styles and display companion optical sizes with a more delicate design.[26] [27] [28] [29] Walter Tracy comments that in adapting a text face to display use such as in a headline "a judicious closing-up of the letters" improves the appearance.

Styles of display typeface

See also: Samples of display typefaces. Common genres of display typeface include:

A more prosaic genre of "display typefaces" is those intended for signage, such as Johnston, Highway Gothic, Transport and Clearview. These often have adaptations to increase legibility and make letters more distinct from each other. For example, Johnston and Transport have a curl on the lower-case 'L' to distinguish it from an upper-case 'i'.[39]

In German the term "Akzidenzschrift" is used for faces not intended for body text but for commercial or trade printing, without implying a specific size range, so including small-size sans-serifs in uses such as on forms or tickets. The famous sans-serif Akzidenz-Grotesk's name derives from this. German: label=none|Akzidenz means some occasion or event (in the sense of "something that happens", not in the sense of a high-class social event or occasion) and was therefore used as a term for trade printing; Akzidenzschrift was by the 1870s a generic term meaning typefaces intended for these uses.[40] [41] A modern German-language dictionary describes it as work such as advertisements and forms.[42] [43] The origin of the word is Latin accidentia, defined by Lewis and Short as "that which happens, a casual event, a chance".[44]

Note that these genres may also be seen in custom lettering, with which this topic overlaps. Older examples of lettering are often custom-drawn, rather than fonts.[45] [46] [47]

Gallery

The following gallery shows the historical development of display type, from type similar to body text typefaces to the highly decorative types of the nineteenth century.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: David Consuegra. Classic Typefaces: American Type and Type Designers. 10 October 2011. Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated. 978-1-62153-582-9. 1998–9.
  2. Book: David Raizman. History of Modern Design: Graphics and Products Since the Industrial Revolution. 2003. Laurence King Publishing. 978-1-85669-348-6. 40–3.
  3. Book: Eskilson. Stephen J.. Graphic Design: A New History. 2007. Yale University Press. New Haven. 9780300120110. 25. registration.
  4. Web site: Frere-Jones. Tobias. Scrambled Eggs & Serifs. Frere-Jones Type. 23 October 2015.
  5. Book: Lewis, John. Typography: Design and Practice. April 2007. Jeremy Mills Publishing. 978-1-905217-45-8. 13–17.
  6. Book: Bruce Willen. Nolen Strals. Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces. 23 September 2009. Princeton Architectural Press. 978-1-56898-765-1. 66–79.
  7. Book: Ellen Lupton. Julia Lupton. Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things. 12 May 2009. St. Martin's Press. 978-1-4299-9423-1. 165–174.
  8. Web site: Mosley. James. James Mosley. English Vernacular. Typefoundry (blog). 14 December 2016.
  9. Book: Mosley. James. The Nymph and the Grot: the Revival of the Sanserif Letter. 1999. Friends of the St Bride Printing Library. London. 1–19. 9780953520107.
  10. Web site: Mosley. James. Comments on Typophile thread - "Unborn: sans serif lower case in the 19th century". Typophile (archived). 15 October 2016. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20140628041224/http://www.typophile.com/node/46184. 28 June 2014.
  11. Web site: 21 June 2017 . All About Titling Fonts . Ilene. Strizver.
  12. Web site: Titling Fonts . 15 June 2021 . Ilene. Strizver.
  13. Mosley. James. English Vernacular. Motif. 1963. 11. 3–56.
  14. Book: Mosley, James. James Mosley. A Specimen of Printing Types & Various Ornaments 1796: Reproduced Together with the Sale Catalogue of the British Letter-Foundry 1797. 1796. Printing Historical Society. 5–12. 9780900003103.
  15. Book: Berthold Wolpe. Alphabet. 1964. Kynoch Press. 57–64. Caslon Architectural: On the origin and design of the large letters cut and cast by William Caslon II.
  16. Howes . Justin. Justin Howes. Caslon's Patagonian . . 2004 . 24 . 61–71.
  17. Mosley . James . James Mosley . Sanspareil Matrices . Matrix . 2003 . 104–114.
  18. Web site: Kennard. Jennifer. The Story of Our Friend, the Fat Face. Fonts in Use. 3 January 2014. 11 August 2015.
  19. Book: Mosley. James. James Mosley. Reviving the Classics: Matthew Carter and the Interpretation of Historical Models. Mosley. James. Re. Margaret. Drucker. Johanna. Carter. Matthew. Typographically Speaking: The Art of Matthew Carter. 2003. Princeton Architectural Press. 9781568984278. 35–6. https://books.google.com/books?id=WqXd_w4S4SsC&pg=PA35. 30 January 2016.
  20. Mosley. James. The Typefoundry of Vincent Figgins, 1792-1836. Motif. 1. 29–36.
  21. Web site: Sentinel's Ancestors. Hoefler & Frere-Jones. 14 August 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150905170730/http://www.typography.com/fonts/sentinel/history/ . Sep 5, 2015 .
  22. Web site: Mosley. James. James Mosley. The Nymph and the Grot: an Update. Typefoundry . 6 January 2007 . 12 December 2015.
  23. Web site: Phinney. Thomas. Decorative & Display Typestyles . August 30, 2010 . Graphic Design and Publishing Centre. 10 August 2015. 9 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151009143543/http://www.graphic-design.com/typography/design/decorative-display-typestyles. dead.
  24. Book: Tracy. Walter. Letters of Credit: a view of type design. 2003. David R. Godine. Boston. 9781567922400. 50, 139–140, 180.
  25. Web site: Shinn . Nick . The Golden Age of Hand Lettering in American Advertising . 1 April 2017 . Type Culture.
  26. Book: Twardoch, Slimbach. Sousa, Slye. Arno Pro. 2007. Adobe Systems. San Jose. 14 August 2015. 30 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140830030331/http://wwwimages.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/products/type/pdfs/ArnoPro.pdf. dead.
  27. Web site: Neutraface. Christian Schwartz. Schwartz. Christian. www.christianschwartz.com. October 2, 2011.
  28. Web site: Neutraface No. 2. Christian Schwartz. Schwartz. Christian. www.christianschwartz.com. October 2, 2011.
  29. Web site: Schwartz. Christian. Christian Schwartz. Neue Haas Grotesk. 28 November 2014.
  30. Web site: Shaw. Paul. Lettercentric: Type as Writing. Print. 7 April 2010. 21 September 2015.
  31. Web site: Farewell Futura, Hello Neutraface No. 2.
  32. Web site: Graublock. Fonts in Use. 24 January 2017.
  33. Van Haute . Katrien . The Indépendant, a Typeface as Period Document . Quaerendo . 1 April 2008 . 38 . 1 . 49–69 . 10.1163/157006907X247219.
  34. Book: John L Walters. Fifty Typefaces That Changed the World: Design Museum Fifty. 2 September 2013. Octopus. 978-1-84091-649-2. 121.
  35. Web site: Bilak. Peter. Beauty and Ugliness in Type design. I love typography. 25 September 2012. 10 August 2015.
  36. Book: Lawson. Alexander. Anatomy of a typeface. 1990. Godine. Boston. 9780879233334. 321–323. 1st.
  37. Web site: Chachra. Deb. Faux Devangari. HiLoBrow. 1 October 2014.
  38. Web site: Shaw. Paul. Stereo Types. Print Magazine. 17 June 2009. 1 October 2014.
  39. Web site: New Transport. Margaret. Calvert. Margaret Calvert. A2-Type. 1 March 2016.
  40. Web site: Reynolds . Dan . New details about the origins of Akzidenz-Grotesk . 11 November 2019 . . 26 November 2019 . none.
  41. Book: August. Marahrens. Vollständiges theoretisch-praktisches Handbuch der Typographie nach ihrem heutigen Standpunkt, zweiter Band: Das Drucken in seinen verschiedenen Branchen. 1870. Verlag d. Leipziger Vereinsdruckerei. 431.
  42. Book: Muthmann . Gustav . Handbuch zur neuen Rechtschreibung und Zeichensetzung : für Studierende und Lehrende an Schulen und Universitäten sowie für alle an der Sprache Interessierten . 2000 . Schöningh . 9783506741097 . 254. Drucksache von geringem Umfang, Anzeige, Formular.
  43. Web site: Hardwig . Florian . "Herzlichen Glückwunsch" wedding cards (1919) . Fonts in Use . 2 August 2018 . 28 June 2021.
  44. Book: Lewis . Charlton Thomas . Short . Charles . A Latin Dictionary . 1922 . Clarendon Press . Oxford . 16.
  45. Web site: Simonson. Mark. Mark Simonson. Not a font. Mark Simonson Studio . February 8, 2009 . 14 December 2016.
  46. Web site: Coles. Stephen. Lettering is not type. Type Network . Font Bureau . October 29, 2014 . 2016-12-22. 2021-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20210427234402/https://fontbureau.typenetwork.com/news/article/clear-definitions. dead.
  47. Web site: Johnston. Alastair. The Misery of Edwin Drood: Bad Typography in the Movies . October 16, 2012 . Booktryst. 14 December 2016.

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