Thus, the German emperor Maximilian ordered a modern version of Blackletter typeface be made so that he could print books in German, for German use. While most European printers and designers adopted this new Roman typeface, Germany was set on sticking to their roots in Blackletter. The goal of the Roman typeface was to make text more legible, and ended up providing a modern look to the text as well. Printers became aware of this fact and came up with a Roman typeface that was generally thinner and not as illegible as some Blackletter type sets were. As printers continued to print text, it became apparent that the bold, heavy typeface was too bulky and was, honestly, just too difficult for some people to read. The production of the Gutenberg Bible marked a revolution in printed works. It all started with Johannes Gutenberg and his printing of the entire Bible in Latin using a blackletter typeface, known as Textura. This aspect of German culture was one that the German people were not willing to give up so easily and caused division amongst artists of all ages, eventually leading to the creation of a new style called Jugendstil.įollowing is a brief history of the significance of Blackletter in the German culture. Prior to the spark of Art Nouveau in Europe, a key component of German design was the use of the Blackletter typeface. Along with Art Nouveau came new typefaces which featured hand-drawn lettering that emphasized curvilinear aspects of text which were widely accepted by most European countries, aside from Germany. It’s easy to take books and other printed material for granted.The Art Nouveau movement brought about a revolution in the arts. However, before the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, books were written by hand. They were generally reserved for the elite, though growing literacy among the middle class increased their demand. Typeface history has largely been influenced by the availability of technology throughout the centuries, starting with Gutenberg’s press and continuing through digital typography advancements by designers in the 20th and 21st centuries. Gutenberg recognized that being able to mass-produce books quickly and cheaply was a lucrative prospect. He drew on movable type used in East Asia and screw-type presses being used by farmers in Europe to devise the idea for the first printing press.īecause Gutenberg was a goldsmith, he was able to create durable letter blocks that could be used over and over again. While arranging the letters for each page could take an entire day, the page could then be printed as many times as necessary from that single day’s work. Gutenberg’s letterforms were based on the Blackletter calligraphy that was used to write manuscripts. The downside was that it limited the amount of text that could fit on a single page, creating longer books that required more time to set up. In the 1780s, two type designers- Firmin Didot in France and Giambattista Bodoni in Italy-created modern serifs with extreme contrast between strokes. At first glance, the typefaces are very similar in appearance and showcased the quality of the metal-casting work done by the respective companies, as thinner strokes required much better craftsmanship. There are some distinct differences between the two fonts, mostly in the appearance and placement of particular letterforms. For example, the uppercase J in Bodoni extends below the baseline, while in Didot it sits on the baseline. The strokes on the “3” in Bodoni are both terminated with balls, while only the upper stroke is terminated with a ball in Didot.īecause of the extent of contrast between thin and thick strokes in modern serifs like Didot and Bodoni, they’re not the most readable typefaces at smaller sizes. They’re best suited for headlines and display uses, though at high resolutions, they can be suitable for body copy. Sans serif type was influenced by block lettering that was commonly used in classical antiquity, in which serifs were minimal or missing entirely. During the early 1800s, Egyptomania took much of the Western world by storm, and both typography and design took cues from Ancient Egyptian art and its blocky lettering style. The next significant development in sans serif type came 100 years later when Edward Johnston designed the iconic typeface for the London Underground-still in use today. The 20th century brought still more important developments in typeface history.
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