Whether Garamond, Baskerville or Bodoni, many of the typefaces produced during the 20th century were revivals of centuries-old models. Not so of Palatino: Hermann Zapf´s new design is an interpretation of our own time.
Designed between 1948 and 1950, Palatino was first released as in lead type form by the German typefoundry D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt, and quickly became one of the world´s most popular typefaces. Palatino was thereafter altered for use on the Linotype machine and in photo-type
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German designer Hermann Zapf created the following fonts:
Aldus® (1954), Aldus Nova (2005), Aurelia™ (1983), Comenius® Antiqua BQ (1976), Edison™ (1978), Kompakt™ (1954), Marconi® (1976), Medici® Script (1971), Melior® (1952), Noris Script® (1976), Optima® (1958), Optima nova (2002), Orion™ (1974), Palatino™® (1950), Palatino nova (2005), Palatino™ Sans (2006), Saphir™ (1953), Sistina® (1950), Vario™ (1982), Venture™ (1969), Virtuosa® Classic (2009),
[...]The Palatino alphabet was designed after many careful studies together with the punchcutter August Rosenberger. Even such small details as the serifs were carefully scrutinized. In 1948 tests in offset printing were made, especially in connection with the weight of the serifs. You see how important such serifs are.
The type Palatino is named after the Italian writing master of the 16th century Giambattista Palatino. I hope he will forgive me once a day in heaven and give me his blessing in
[...]Orion™
Hermann Zapf made his first scetches for Orion in 1963. Zapf's aim was to create a neutral textface which can be ideally used as a newspaper face. Its strokethickness and open letterforms also fits well for book and magazine production. The final two weights of Orion were released in 1974 for the Linofilm photocomposing machine.
Optima™
Optima was designed by Hermann Zapf and is his most successful typeface. In 1950, Zapf made his first sketches while visiting the Santa Croce
[...]Giovanbattista Palatino, after whom the Palatino typefaces are named, was a writing master of the 16th century in Rome. His work inspired Hermann Zapf, although none of Hermann Zapf´s typefaces could be said to be literal revivals of Giovanbattista Palatino´s letters. Yet many of the characteristics of the Palatino typefaces, such as its open counterforms and overall legibility, are certainly themes that had previously inspired Renaissance lettering. The Palatino typefaces´classical proportions
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Palatino™ is the work of Hermann Zapf, and is probably the most universally admired and used of his type designs. In 1950, it was punchcut in metal by August Rosenberger at D. Stempel AG typefoundry in Frankfurt am Main, and then adapted for Linotype machine composition. Zapf optimized Palatino's design for legibility by giving it open counters and carefully weighted strokes, producing a typeface that was legible even on the inferior paper of the post-World War II period. The font was named after Giambattista Palatino, a master of calligraphy from the time of Leonardo da Vinci. Palatino is a typeface based on classical Italian Renaissance forms. It has become a modern classic in itself, and is popular among professional graphic designers and amateurs alike. Palatino works well for both text and display typography. The new Palatino™ Linotype is an OpenType version with many newly designed characters in four large character sets; including extensive support for Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and Central European languages.
