Typography History Essay Example

During the 16th century, a French printer known as Claude Garamond created Adobe Garamond. The driving force behind the creation of the typeface was a Parisian printer, Claude Garamond. The most famous typeface of Garamond was during the French court. The typeface was based on Angelo Virgilio's handwriting. The font was early used in Robert Estienne's production of a series of books. Garamond was assisted by Robert Granjon who is a great influencer. Garamond's typeface which is the latest version contains the Granjon's letter which is of Italic type. Adobe Garamond has an oblique nature of the slimmest areas found in the letter shapes thus it is considered an Old style Garalde. Garamond fonts have a questionable past despite it being widely used. One of the most versatile fonts that are available today is Adobe Garamond design. It is beautiful, and its print is graceful. The font uses less ink. Thus it is eco-friendly. This study will show the characteristics, design, and creation of Adobe Garamond are economical, cultural and politically related; it will cover the career and history of Garamond and the evolving of Garamond.

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Adobe Garamond has characteristics which are economically related. Claude Garamond, the artist behind Adobe Garamond font, was a punch cutter (Stone & Sumner 84). He cut Parisian printer Robert Estienne in the 16th century. After the death of Garamond, in 1561, his punches were sold to Christoph Plantin's office in Antwerp. The blows were used for several years. After the death of Garamond, Jean Jannon who was a French printer published a set of typeface similar to Garamond's. Jannon's designs were not regular, but typography experts like Beatrice Warde mistook it with Garamond's design. The characteristics of Garamond are; smaller-than-average apertures that are closed off early on the stem, contrast low line, bases that are slightly cupped on the serifs, terminals that are calligraphic, serifs which are heavily bracketed and round edges, diagonals that are stress pronounced, X-height that are higher and greater cap and ascender difference (Cullen & Kristin 20). Garamond's characteristics make it one of the most eco-friendly fonts as it uses lower ink.

Adobe Garamond font is influenced by culture. Garamond was one typeface that was influential and widely used in history. Garamond used his Latin type to display a superb balance of elegance and practicality. There are a set of typefaces that were created after the death of Garamond which were thought to be his since they were built exactly like his. Some of the most beautiful Italics were designed by Robert Granjon as Claude Garamond created rare roman type. An Italic style known as Aldine was used to print entire books in the middle of the 16th century. Italic and Italian were both used together by the time Granjon was cutting types in Paris (Morison & Stanley 70). The handwriting style of the day influenced the character of the Aldine Italics, even though some of the new French italic styles retained some of the characters. The Italics used by Granjon is more energetic and sloped, a look that is practical and dynamic.

Garamond's letterform has typical characteristics. There is a small eye in" e," and there is a bowl in "a." There is a hook that is sharp and upward in "a." There is a limitation of other general features, but they have stroke contrast that is clear and in the upper case. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a revival of the Garamond. Garamond inspired Jannon as he designed a font that resembles that of Garamond. The Garamond style inspired many modern fonts like Adobe Garamond and Garamond ITC. Each form boosts a specific design even though the original old style encourages it. The shape of the series and the curves are the most noticeable. Garamond styles have been used in many novels. The most widely used Garamond typefaces are Adobe Garamond which was created by Robert Slimbach. A comparison of all types of Garamond was made by Peter Gabor. Historical research shows that Garamond remains a significant figure in French printing despite the evolving of other Garamond styles.

Gothic type is used in the early life by the Italic type, and Garamond has been displacing it. After the death of Garamont, the word Garamond became common. French experts like Professor Hendrik Vervliet are consistently using Garamont. The most imitated classic designs of Garamond was around 1495. De Aetna was the first book that used this design. Between 1520 and 1560, Garamond's career was hectic. There was the creation of typeface. There was cutting of many fonts for single use by the printer. Others traded and sold between them. There was confusion about productions of typefaces since there were several engravers.

Before 1540, Garamond's life was not well known. He worked for various employers where he was paid in commission. The government bought punches and matrices from him. Selling is an economic aspect of Garamond. Typefaces which belonged to Garamond became popular abroad thus replacing Griffon's original roman type. Garamond has also worked as a publisher and bookseller. Garamond was not interested in Italics. Italic was then different from old type at that time. Garamond's italic typefaces were considered not pleasing like the roman typefaces. Garamond was one of the printers who established that italic capitals should slope as small letters rather than remaining upright.

From the beginning of his career, Garamond designed type of the Greek alphabet. He was however celebrated for creating work in Greek. The fonts which were commissioned by the French authority in 1540 are a challenge to his designs in Latin. Elegant handwriting of Cretan was to be simulated by the Greek fonts. The style requires the setting of the body that is current text as it requires characters of the manual to be carefully chosen and every word thus not practical. Garamond died in 1561. His widow sold his punches and matrices. Le Be were the purchasers. Garamond's work spread in Europe due to the sales. Garamond's originals of punches and forms are in Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp.

Fonts are essential in our everyday life. It is thus necessary to understand fonts and their importance. Fonts and typefaces differ. A font is grouping typefaces which have the same characteristics while a typeface is of a different family member of that font. Garamond, for instance, has several typeface variations, but each falls within the parent font. Adobe Garamond is specifically a typeface. It looks like Garamond but has some slight differences. They belong to one family, but each is unique and special. The big player should be known. There are various categories of fonts. The slight projection at the end of the stroke is known as Serif. It is commonly seen at the bottom of the letters. Serif allows the eye to flow through the sentence with ease. Garamond has Serif which eases one to look through the sentence. San Serifs have no feet.

Conclusion

The script is known for its elegance, light and professional appeal. Just like Garamond, it is known for its beauty and professional appeal. This type of fonts is used for wedding invitations, diplomas, and certificates. The fonts should be used sparingly and should not be used in small spaces. Garamond can be used for display. This kind of fonts is seen in movie posters, newspapers and banners. This kind of font should not be used in large quantities. Garamond has had hand rendered characteristics. The appearance looks like a child has written them or like someone used a whiteboard marker or a sharpie. Most designers love using such fonts because they add a human element to the design. The font tip should be of high quality and have a good appearance. Garamond is known to be active and of high quality. Garamond design is considered the font that is more versatile. It is attractive, and it is graceful in prints. Garamond has characteristics which show its economic relationship. After the death of Garamond, there is selling of his type font which is a financial aspect. The print is also eco-friendly as very little ink is used which another economic aspect is shown. A political character seen is where the French government raids Jannon's office after discovering that the font is an imitation of Garamond's works.

References

Stone, Sumner. "The Type Craftsman in the Computer Era." (1989): 84-91.

Cullen, Kristin. Design elements, typography fundamentals: A graphic style manual for understanding how typography affects the design. Rockport Pub, 2012.

Morison, Stanley. A tally of types. CUP Archive, 1973.