The History of Linear, Sans Serif Typefaces
Several fonts should also be considered which, strictly speaking, do not clearly fit into the evolutionary line of sans serif type.
Gill Sans®
One of the most unique sans serif styles is the font known as Gill Sans (1928). Eric Gill undoubtedly drew inspiration from the signage typeface developed by Edward Johnston in 1918 for the London Underground. The distinctive characteristics of the Gill Sans font are the classic forms of the a and g, the wide t, but also the old-fashioned roman capitals. The rounded c, e and s are the first examples of vertical stroke ends which create an optical effect of the stroke thinning towards the ending, alluding to roman type. On the whole, Gill Sans exudes a profound medieval spirit – which makes it all the more surprising it is essentially the only sans serif typeface without a modular use of strokes. The O is a perfect circle. Oblique and vertical strokes as well as upstrokes and downstrokes all have a consistent thickness. Only a, e and g have considerably thinner strokes at the openings of the small eyes. These aberrations from an otherwise consistent stroke thickness are the trademark characteristics of the "Gill" typeface; this can be seen even more clearly in the bold weights.
Peignot™
This highly individualistic type family Peignot was designed by A. M. Cassandre and Charles Peignot, starting in 1936. The initial motivation was to design an alphabet based on Unziale in which upper and lowercase letters could be merged. Capitals were later added, however, as the customer was not receptive to the idea of a single alphabet for both cases. A similar concept led De Roos to create Simplex (1939).
What was also innovative about Peignot at the time was a sans serif typeface emphasizing bold downstrokes and fine transitions. Since then, numerous other fonts have been developed with a similar type ductus. They do not deserve mention here, however, as in most cases they were straightforward roman types, simply without serifs.
Microgramma™
With the widespread distribution of television, a new form began to imprint itself in subconscious of the masses, namely the visible part of the cathode tube. This form represented a merging of a rectangular and an oval form – at the time, an unusual combination. Consequently, it is not surprising that two fonts developed at this time by Aldo Novarese, Eurostile™ (1962) and Microgramma (1952), became international successes (see Fig. 23).
It is interesting to note that fonts with such extraordinary basic structures are practically never used for longer texts. This is because readers are receptive to unusual type patterns in large print but find them too disruptive for the reading of longer texts.
Antique Olive™
One typeface which stands out from the direct development line of the sans serifs is Antique Olive which was developed by Roger Excoffon, in 1962. The hand of a painter can clearly be sensed in this font, especially in the unique formation of the curves and the concentration of weight in the top of each letter. Nevertheless, this font is strictly based on the classic skeleton of roman type which has, in turn, led to its increasingly successful application in text passages.
Deviations
In the 1970s new phenomena appeared, especially large cab typesetting, which gave typography an unexpected new boost. New technological developments made magnetic (and later optical) recognition of coded graphic elements possible. The challenge for technicians was to reshape letters so they could also integrate their digital codes. As a result, the OCR-technique was developed which allowed typefaces to be recognized both by the human eye and optical scanners. In the early phases, this development led to the shocking mutilation of the letters of the alphabet in their familiar forms. At the same time, clocks and pocket calculators began to appear which utilized completely new, 7-segment digital characters like Quartz and LCD™ (see Fig. 24 top). With the emergence of these typefaces, which became known as computer typefaces, there was a drastic break with the century-long, steady development in the form of everything written. It could be said that these types led to a certain desecration of what, up until then, had been the sacred right of readers to aesthetic and legible texts. The limits of accessibility had clearly been crossed. During the same period of time, a new generation of youths emerged who continuously strove to challenge the establishment, also crossing the limits of acceptability with their asocial behavior, aggressive clothing and eccentric make-up and hairstyles (see Fig. 24 bottom).
Gill Sans®
One of the most unique sans serif styles is the font known as Gill Sans (1928). Eric Gill undoubtedly drew inspiration from the signage typeface developed by Edward Johnston in 1918 for the London Underground. The distinctive characteristics of the Gill Sans font are the classic forms of the a and g, the wide t, but also the old-fashioned roman capitals. The rounded c, e and s are the first examples of vertical stroke ends which create an optical effect of the stroke thinning towards the ending, alluding to roman type. On the whole, Gill Sans exudes a profound medieval spirit – which makes it all the more surprising it is essentially the only sans serif typeface without a modular use of strokes. The O is a perfect circle. Oblique and vertical strokes as well as upstrokes and downstrokes all have a consistent thickness. Only a, e and g have considerably thinner strokes at the openings of the small eyes. These aberrations from an otherwise consistent stroke thickness are the trademark characteristics of the "Gill" typeface; this can be seen even more clearly in the bold weights.
Peignot™
This highly individualistic type family Peignot was designed by A. M. Cassandre and Charles Peignot, starting in 1936. The initial motivation was to design an alphabet based on Unziale in which upper and lowercase letters could be merged. Capitals were later added, however, as the customer was not receptive to the idea of a single alphabet for both cases. A similar concept led De Roos to create Simplex (1939).
What was also innovative about Peignot at the time was a sans serif typeface emphasizing bold downstrokes and fine transitions. Since then, numerous other fonts have been developed with a similar type ductus. They do not deserve mention here, however, as in most cases they were straightforward roman types, simply without serifs.
Microgramma™
With the widespread distribution of television, a new form began to imprint itself in subconscious of the masses, namely the visible part of the cathode tube. This form represented a merging of a rectangular and an oval form – at the time, an unusual combination. Consequently, it is not surprising that two fonts developed at this time by Aldo Novarese, Eurostile™ (1962) and Microgramma (1952), became international successes (see Fig. 23).
It is interesting to note that fonts with such extraordinary basic structures are practically never used for longer texts. This is because readers are receptive to unusual type patterns in large print but find them too disruptive for the reading of longer texts.
Antique Olive™
One typeface which stands out from the direct development line of the sans serifs is Antique Olive which was developed by Roger Excoffon, in 1962. The hand of a painter can clearly be sensed in this font, especially in the unique formation of the curves and the concentration of weight in the top of each letter. Nevertheless, this font is strictly based on the classic skeleton of roman type which has, in turn, led to its increasingly successful application in text passages.
Deviations
In the 1970s new phenomena appeared, especially large cab typesetting, which gave typography an unexpected new boost. New technological developments made magnetic (and later optical) recognition of coded graphic elements possible. The challenge for technicians was to reshape letters so they could also integrate their digital codes. As a result, the OCR-technique was developed which allowed typefaces to be recognized both by the human eye and optical scanners. In the early phases, this development led to the shocking mutilation of the letters of the alphabet in their familiar forms. At the same time, clocks and pocket calculators began to appear which utilized completely new, 7-segment digital characters like Quartz and LCD™ (see Fig. 24 top). With the emergence of these typefaces, which became known as computer typefaces, there was a drastic break with the century-long, steady development in the form of everything written. It could be said that these types led to a certain desecration of what, up until then, had been the sacred right of readers to aesthetic and legible texts. The limits of accessibility had clearly been crossed. During the same period of time, a new generation of youths emerged who continuously strove to challenge the establishment, also crossing the limits of acceptability with their asocial behavior, aggressive clothing and eccentric make-up and hairstyles (see Fig. 24 bottom).
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