![]() ![]() What I have always liked about Trump Medieval is its crispness and modernity. But it is such a great face-even though none of the digital versions due justice to its metal forebear*-that I am fighting the urge to be secretive. Thus, I am a bit reluctant to urge others to discover virtues. Trump Medieval has been my unofficial house face since I began as a graphic designer in 1981. It is a German adjective describing roman typefaces that are dark in color like the oldstyle faces we associate with Venetian printers (such as Wendelin da Spira, Nicolas Jenson or Erhard Ratdolt) in the Incunabula period (1470–1500). Medieval has nothing to do with the Middle Ages. This may be due to its confusing name which suggests it is a blackletter which it is not. Trump Medieval was mildly popular in the 1960s and 1970s among book designers and a few advertisers, but has fallen out of favor over the past several decades. The loveliest member of the Schadow family is Schadow Werk (called Schadow Light in the version available from Bitstream) both in its overall lightness and in the livelier design of many of its individual characters. This is because he worked in an era before weights and widths were roughed out by computer interpolation. Trump’s families manage to retain their common identity while avoiding the blandness found in most of today’s type families. For instance, in the regular weight Q has a stubby diagonal tail, g has a closed loop, 2 has a sweeping curve reminiscent of Akzidenz Grotesk, and 7 has a crossbar while the book weight has Q with a bent tail, g with an open lower loop, 2 with a bend in its curve, and 7 without a crossbar. Thus, Schadow is a subtly different design from weight to weight. One of the things I most like about Trump’s work is his willingness to rethink each letter of a typeface at each weight. Joanna is a humanist slab serif (like Scala today) while Candida and Schadow are industrial, with Schadow being the livelier of the two. When it appeared it represented a major break-along with Eric Gill’s Joanna and Jakob Erbar’s Candida-from the 19th century Egyptians and the square serifs (Memphis, Stymie, Rockwell) that dominated the category in pre-1950s typography. ![]() Schadow is a slab serif with stroke contrast and light slabs. *a digital version of Prillwitz’s type is available as Prillwitz by Ingo Preuss (Preuss Type, 2005). Walbaum has influenced a number of contemporary type designs from Hermann Zapf’s Marconi (1973) and ITC Zapf Book (1976) to Robert Slimbach’s Kepler (1996) and Cyrus Highsmith’s Ibis (2010). ![]() Its stroke contrast is not as severe and, at least in the text version, its serifs are slightly bracketed. It lacks spur serifs on C, G, S and s a foot serif on b and a beard on G. Walbaum is not as dandyish as either Didot or Bodoni. This second design is historically a display face but it is the one more commonly used for text today. Berthold AG, 1976) the latter, a darker design with a tall x-height, is Walbaum (Linotype), Walbaum Medium (Monotype Corporation, 1930s) or Walbaum Buch by Lange (H. The former, a light (almost spindly) design, is Walbaum (Monotype Corporation, 1930s) or Walbaum Standard by Gunter Gerhard Lange (H. However, it is important to note that there are two basic Walbaum designs available today, one derived from 8 to 10 pt samples and the other from a 16 pt sample. But, as Erik Spiekermann has pointed out, it is the better one for text setting. Within the Neoclassical trinity of Didot, Bodoni and Walbaum, the latter is always the forgotten type. Walbaum’s were the more polished types and the ones that were first revived in the 20th century. Both men were inspired by the interest in classical art and literature shown by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller and their types were influenced by the work of Firmin Didot. Walbaum’s romans, along with those of Johann Carl Ludwig Prillwitz (1758/1759–1810) c.1790*, represent the first important break from blackletter in German typographic history. From a specimen book produced by The Press & Letterfoundry of Michael & Winifred Bixler. Monotype Walbaum in display sizes (machine composition). Monotype Walbaum in text sizes (machine composition). Walbaum by Justus Erich Walbaum (1768–1846) c.1800 The typefaces are listed in chronological order of their design. This one is devoted to typefaces that have been overlooked and/or underappreciated. ![]() The end of the year / beginning of the year list-making spirit is still with me and so here I go with another typeface list. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |