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Penguin Drop Caps
1 October 2012

by Allan Haley

It’s not often, but there are times when you see something that is so striking, so elegantly beautiful, that it takes your breath away. It hasn’t happened to me in a very long time. But, yesterday, there it was – a Tumblr post of a new series of book covers from Penguin Books.

A colleague pointed me to this site, and there it was: drop to your knees, gorgeous typographic design from Jessica Hische and the very design savvy folks at Penguin Books. The two were previewing a new series that appear to be reissues of classic novels: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Brontë’s Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, etc., each with cover art that is an extraordinary “drop cap” (technically, an initial letter – but no matter) drawn by Hische. If you love books, or type – or just things that are extraordinarily beautiful, this is a treat that you should not miss.

Allan Haley
Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.


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Customer Spotlight: Room & Board
20 September 2012

by Ryan Arruda

Room & Board — based in Minneapolis, Minnesota — produces distinct furniture and furnishings for nearly every room in the home. The aesthetics of the company’s website very much reflect the ethos of the products they produce — both are warm, inviting, quietly elegant, and well-crafted.

Utilized in the navigation, subheads, and body copy on the Room & Board site, the Gill Sans family is a modern, legible and genial design. Even when not employed as a headline face, the Gill Sans family acts as an indispensable supporting typeface, reinforcing the infrastructure and clarity of the information presented to viewers.

Available in over 37 styles, widths, and weights – ranging from delicate light to hulking ultra bold weights — the Gill Sans family possesses an essential versatility and grace suited for many arenas of design.

Customer Spotlight: Room & Board

Ryan Arruda
Ryan Arruda is the Web Content Strategist at Monotype Imaging. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in film studies from Clark University, and an MFA in graphic design from RISD.


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Introducing Classic Grotesque
5 September 2012

by Allan Haley

Classic Grotesque

“The Classic Grotesque typeface began as a fairly straightforward reinterpretation of the early 20th century Monotype Grotesques,” recalls Rod McDonald, the face’s designer. “While I am delighted with the final results, I had no idea how difficult the design process would be.”

“The trouble was that I spent a lot of time looking at just the early Monotype Grotesques,” McDonald continues. “As a result, that face and its newer rendition, the Arial family, kept creeping into my design.” McDonald’s solution was to broaden his research.

“The Monotype Grotesques had strong influences from two other designs from the same time period: Venus and Ideal Grotesk. Once I began to let all three designs influence my work, I realized that this was what I wanted to do all along – and the problem when away.”Designer Rod McDonald

McDonald’s final product is a family of seven weights, each with a complementary italic, for a total of 14 designs. When asked about the size of the family, McDonald’s response was, “Normally I would not produce seven weights but I realized that I could ‘squeeze’ in an extra weight and it would give graphic designers more choices when reversing type and in dealing with the hierarchy of complex documents.”

In addition to the large suite of family weights, McDonald also drew a number of alternate characters. “I included the alternate characters for two reasons,” says McDonald. “I wanted to give designers more choice, and I wanted to better match the older grotesques which often had different characters (especially the lowercase g) in different weights or styles.”

McDonald wanted to ensure that the family was also versatile and a strong performer in other ways. “High legibility was an important goal,” he says. “I can’t imagine producing a typeface today that doesn’t take into consideration the restrictions of the small screen.”

Classic Grotesque

The complete Classic Grotesque family is available as desktop fonts from the Fonts.com, Linotype.com and ITCFonts.com websites. It is also available as Web fonts.

Click here to learn more about – and to license – the Classic Grotesque family

More information about Rod McDonald and images of Classic Grotesque and its influencers can be enjoyed by clicking here.

Allan Haley
Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.


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Customer Spotlight: USGA
28 August 2012

by Ryan Arruda

The United States Golf Association is both a steward of golf’s history, as well as an advocate for its future. The governing organization of the game, the USGA (and their website) provides an exhaustive slate of resources for both beginner golfers and seasoned veterans alike.

The organization’s site features the Memo typeface family, utilizing it for navigation, headlines, and subheads. The face is well-suited for the accessible subject matter the USGA site presents — the Memo family is decidedly well-read without being stodgy, and sophisticated without being ostentatious. The typefaces present a professional visual cachet without the overtly historical aesthetics of Old Style typography—it’s a well crafted amalgam, capturing the spirit of both new and old forms.

The Memo family is available in 8 styles – ranging from light to bold weights — for both desktop use, as well as use through the Fonts.com Web Fonts Service.

Ryan Arruda
Ryan Arruda is the Web Content Strategist at Monotype Imaging. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in film studies from Clark University, and an MFA in graphic design from RISD.


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Type Designer Q&A: Terrance Weinzierl
23 August 2012

by Ryan Arruda

A type designer with Monotype Imaging, Terrance Weinzierl has developed retail designs, as well as custom treatments for companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Ubisoft. Two of Terrance’s recent designs – JMC Engraver and Feldman Engraver typefaces – were released as companion fonts to Nancy Sharon Collins’ new book The Complete Engraver. You can download them for FREE from Fonts.com.

Terrance recently shared with us some insight into his type design practice:

Favorite text on typography
Karen Cheng’s Designing Type found me at just the right time, when I was a beginner.

Personal design luminary
 It’s hard to narrow it down to just one person. I like the type from Gill and Frutiger, but I’m also inspired by the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and Goudy, continuing after devastation.

Favorite era of design history
At the moment, I love Art Deco and the decades surrounding it.

Learned to design type
I started to teach myself type design in college, but most of my training has been from Steve Matteson and other generous colleagues at Ascender and Monotype.

Design mentors
In chronological order: my mother, a toy designer; my high school art teacher Richard Guimond; my typography professor Michelle Bowers; most recently, type designer Steve Matteson.

Longest a typeface has taken to design
My hobby project with JMC Engraver and Feldman Engraver took two years (on and off the shelf).

Shortest time to design a typeface
I’ve made a few tiny, custom fonts that only had a few glyphs in them, so one day!

Favorite typographic resource
Typophile has a wealth of knowledge and arguments recorded. I think Twitter has taken over, though. Follow some type junkies and you’ll get more links than you can possibly handle.

Habitually challenging glyphs to design
I find Greek lowercase difficult to draw. Italics too. The ampersand can be fussy. It took some practice to conquer the S’s.

Favorite pursuits outside of type design
I enjoy movies and dining out quite a bit. I love Netflix. Video games have also been an enduring hobby, from the original NES up to my PS3. I’m also addicted to tech news, like The Verge. I put software launches on my calendar. I’ve cut back recently as type is taking more of my hobby time over.

Typefaces folks might know you for
Probably the Comic Sans Pro extension, if I had to choose. 99 percent of my work is on custom typefaces. I’ve spent a lot of time working on the Segoe design for Windows Phone and Windows 8. Most of my blood, sweat, and tears doesn’t get seen in the retail market.

Favorite type classification to design
I haven’t even drawn a design in many classifications yet, so it’s hard to say, but I’ve been enjoying drawing brush scripts lately.

Percent of type design that’s art vs. percent that’s science
Difficult question. Maybe 80/20? Could you argue that a private press design is more artful than usual? Probably. Is the Bell Centennial typeface more scientific than usual? Probably.

Your typeface families that pair especially well
Try  JMC Engraver and Feldman Engraver, and then ask me again in 10 years.


Common personality of your typefaces

The typefaces I’ve done that weren’t custom are organic and sometimes wacky. I’m working on a serious humanist sans that you’ll see soon.

Most underrated letterform or glyph
The pilcrow, or paragraph symbol, can be awesome. It’s just not used very often anymore. Now, it’s almost like a software Easter egg. ¶

Aspiring type designers should possess
 Patience. Type design routinely requires a lot of patience. It may take a while to draw smooth curves, and there is a technical learning curve with building fonts. Have thick skin too.

What typeface classifications should they study?
I think the lessons in geometric sans serifs are important. The subtle tapers, overshoots, optical adjustments will apply everywhere. Study Old Style serifs to embrace detail variation. Look at calligraphy and script to see how writing instruments influence shape. Also, figure-ground relationships are very important.

Favorite medium to see your typefaces
I love seeing the Segoe, Droid Sans and Open Sans typefaces being used everywhere, even though I only contributed to those big projects. My favorite party trick is telling someone with an Android or Windows Phone: “I worked on those fonts.”

Endeavors which hone type design skills
 Drawing, not just type, but anything. Observing type in use. Setting type.

Most egregious typographic error in common practice today
 I’d have to agree with Jim Wasco, script in all caps is nasty. Not using kerning when available is ludicrous.

Recommended online design resources
There are so many out there that come and go. I never have enough time to read everything. Ilovetypography.com is excellent, and I like Brand New.

Ryan Arruda
Ryan Arruda is the Web Content Strategist at Monotype Imaging. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in film studies from Clark University, and an MFA in graphic design from RISD.


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Customer Spotlight: Vizify
16 August 2012

by Ryan Arruda

Vizify is a new online service offering users the ability to create visual biographies. Instead of the standard, soporific online resume, Vizify offers an interactive and aesthetically bold alternative: a personalized visual narrative that employs engaging typography as its cornerstone.

The Vizify homepage features a main headline set in the black weight of the VAG Rounded typeface, while subheads employ the family’s bold weight. The use of the VAG Rounded family complements the site’s visual ethos exceptionally well — both type and image on Vizify are friendly, engaging, and playful.

Anchoring the rest of the site’s typography is the Trade Gothic typeface family. Headlines are set in the robust Trade Gothic Bold #2 face, in all caps, while subheads read handsomely in a title case treatment using the roman weight of the family.

Vizify’s website is a perfect illustration of the Trade Gothic family’s utility; known most prominently for its strong and sober typographic applications, paired with bright colorways, the family provides a glimpse of a subtly blithe personality.

Vizify Homepage

Ryan Arruda
Ryan Arruda is the Web Content Strategist at Monotype Imaging. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in film studies from Clark University, and an MFA in graphic design from RISD.


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Martin Wait: Designer Of Typefaces With Charm And Grace
15 August 2012

by Allan Haley

Martin Wait suffered from Dyslexia. He once wrote, “Although I can read, the words do not go in.” One might think that a type designer that has difficulty with words would also have difficulty designing typefaces. While this was clearly not the case with Martin, sadly we will not see new designs from this proficient and prolific designer. Martin Wait passed away on August 5th.

Because reading and spelling were very difficult for Martin, he struggled in school. While he excelled in many classes – including art – he performed dismally in English and classes that required reading. Dyslexia was not a recognized problem when he began his education in the 1950s. If a student struggled with reading, there was little additional help available. Secondary school was even more difficult, and Martin barely graduated. His art teacher, however, suggested that he attend art school. Later Martin wrote, “When the metal work teacher heard about this, he wanted me to go to a metal work school. My dad was a metal worker and he struggled to make a living. This influenced my decision to try art. At my interview the teachers liked my work, but when they saw my English results they seemed lost for words. Fortunately my English grades did not stand in the way, and I was accepted.”

The school was Lister Technical College – and Martin flourished. His first job out of college was for an ex Lister graduate. “His name was Ken Houghton,” Martin wrote. “He wanted to train me in lettering and illustration. As time went by, it became clear that lettering was going to be the way ahead for me. Ken gave me a good start in a career that would earn me a living throughout my working life.”

Martin went on to work at other design and lettering studios – mostly as a freelance designer – and eventually found a home working for Letraset. It is through the Letraset’s dry-transfer lettering sheets, and later fonts that ITC released, that Martin’s alphabets became commercial typefaces.

Martin’s designs are intended for display applications, and range from the lighthearted and frisky Artiste, to the quietly elegant Balmoral. Recently, Martin had been designing typefaces for Monotype Imaging. The Julietrose family – named after his first granddaughter – is the first of these designs. WilliamLucas, named for his grandson, followed. Wellington, a much more stately design, finished shortly before Martin’s death, will be released later this year.

Martin may have struggled with words – but he excelled in giving us the tools to set them with charm, grace and beauty.

Click here to learn more about Martin Wait and his typeface designs.

Allan Haley
Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.


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The Complete Engraver and Two Free Fonts
31 July 2012

by Ryan Arruda

Fonts.com is proud to announce two new releases – the JMC Engraver & Feldman Engraver typefaces – by Monotype Imaging designer Terrance Weinzierl.

Commissioned as companions to Nancy Sharon Collins’ new book The Complete Engraver: A Guide to Monograms, Crests, Ciphers, Seals, and the Etiquette and History of Social Stationery, these fonts are FREE for download from Fonts.com. Simply add them to your cart, download and enjoy.

With 224 pages, and 180 illustrations, The Complete Engraver is both an archive, as well as celebration, of the art of engraving, from its origin to contemporary practice. A designer and authority on engraving, Collins also provides insight on the evolving role of social stationery in today’s age of electronic correspondence. The JMC Engraver & Feldman Engraver typefaces are a testament to bridging this analog and digital divide.


Of the fonts’ development, Weinzierl explains: “The designs Nancy proposed were a selection from ‘masterplates,’ or lettering templates used for manual engraving machines. The design process started with scanning prints made with engravings. I redrew the shapes with singular, vector lines — an approach similar to the line drawn by the engraver.”

Above you can view the evolution of a Feldman Engraver letterform – and the keen attention to detail – from initial scan to final, rebuilt glyph. Indeed, the aesthetics of both the JMC Engraver & Feldman Engraver typefaces appear to not simply be inspired by—but, rather, channeled through—the visual ethos of the engraver. The pair of typefaces remain true to the proportion, rhythm and grace of antique engraved letterforms.


To develop the structure of the letterforms further, Weinzierl adds: “We added a precise stroke weight to that line; to put it simply, we dug the dirt away, rebuilt the skeleton, and put the muscle back on. As a designer, the revival projects I’ve done have not only helped me understand typographic history better, but helped me draw better curves and build better fonts.”


Stylistic alternate characters, as seen above, enhance the versatility as well as visibility of the fonts – in addition to both designs providing distinct airs of engraving’s elegance, the typefaces possess an unmistakable kinetic energy. As Weinzierl notes: “JMC Engraver & Feldman Engraver have that handmade feel, and they flaunt it with exuberant curves and curls. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we indulge in these organic designs when we get a chance, as it’s very different from our daily challenges in display imaging requiring pixel perfection.”

To learn more about the free JMC Engraver & Feldman Engraver typefaces, visit the promotion’s landing page on Fonts.com. In addition, click here to learn more about designer Terrance Weinzierl.

The Complete Engraver is available for pre-order here and will be released in stores in September. To learn more about the The Complete Engraver, please visit author Nancy Sharon Collins’ website Engraving for Nerds.

Want to know about typography and the process of engraving? On Friday, August 3, Nancy Sharon Collins will present Engraving and Type, A Beautiful but Somewhat Dysfunctional Relationship at TypeCon2012: MKE SHIFT. To learn more about the program, visit the TypeCon2012 website.

 

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Join us at TypeCon2012; Monotype and Linotype Present on Type Trends
30 July 2012

by Vikki Quick

Looking for a challenge? Want cool, free, type stuff? Test your “metal” at the 2012 TypeCon Typographic Quiz.

Monotype Imaging is pleased to be a sponsor of TypeCon2012 – the annual conference presented by the non-profit Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA). Several of our resident type experts from around the world will be sharing their knowledge and skills. Come by and join us as we take a look at Arabic typography, rare stockpiles of British typographic history, new aviation type trends for cockpit navigation and so much more.

Here are our Typecon2012’s “not to miss” highlights:

  • Daniel Rhatigan will present “From The Monotype Archives,”a look at the rarely seen stockpile of typographic history from 1867 onwards that includes British Monotype archives that reveal the many-layered stories behind the development of type in the 20th century.
    Friday, August 3rd at 8:40 a.m.
  • Steve Matteson will present “What’s Our Vector Victor? Optimizing Typefaces for Cockpit Navigation.” Steve will examine how his work with an industry leading producer of aviation charts is helping to advance safety and accuracy in cockpit navigation. A look at resulting comparative readability studies involving professional pilots will provide a look at how type can improve performance in next-generation aviation charts used in heads-up display panels, tablet computers and iPad tablets.
    Friday, August 3rd at 10:50 a.m.
  • Kamal Mansour, our manager of non-Latin products, together with Patrick Giasson will examine “Bustani: A Classic Arabic Typeface with Calligraphic Features.” The Bustani typeface offers calligraphic Naskh style, while staying within the bounds of pragmatic typography. This new typeface pays tribute to Naskh’s fluid, rich calligraphic forms while remaining directly useable in OpenType-compliant applications. At Monotype Imaging, Kamal has been involved in many aspects of multilingual typography and font development, including OpenType implementations for various scripts including Arabic, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Thai, Lao, Khmer and Japanese.
    Saturday, August 4th at 8:40 a.m.
  • 2012 TypeCon Typographic Quiz: Can you pick Garamond out of a crowd? Been around the typographic block a few times? Then you’re ready to take the 2012 TypeCon Typographic Quiz. If you’ve taken the quiz before, it won’t help. We’ve got all new questions. In fact, this year’s quiz will be even more fun – and more rewarding than those in the past. Hosted by quizmaster Allan Haley, there will be more prizes, a silent auction and a series of questions for those that don’t care that 5-point type was once called “pearl.” And, if you know your typographic stuff, there is also a “varsity” section with the grand prize of the Linotype Library of fonts – and “Typophile of the Year” bragging rights. There will also be prizes for “Typographic Aficionado” and “Typographically Challenged.”
    Saturday, August 4th, at the InterContinental Hotel, 8:30 – 11:00 p.m.
  • Join our own Akira Kobayashi, together with John Downer and Roger Black during Sunday afternoon’s Type Crit where these masters of typographic analysis and elucidation will provide gentle, constructive criticism as they review your latest design.
    Sunday, August 5th, check for details at Typecon2012

Please join us if you are interested in getting together to talk about fonts and typography, and share typographic items of interest!

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The Type of Olympians
27 July 2012

by Ryan Arruda

With the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games commencing today, we thought it interesting to explore the typography of Team USA and Team Great Britain’s websites, both of which feature selections from the Fonts.com Web Fonts service.

Adorned in a red, white, blue, gray and gold palette, Team USA’s site features a tiled interface of images overlaid with text set in Linotype’s Neue Helvetica 45 Light typeface. These lean letterforms are also contrasted with an abundance of more visually robust type used on the site; for example, the main navigation of the site features the Neue Helvetica 97 Black Condensed typeface, while rollover images are set in the family’s bold weight.

The site also features a herculean typeface family—ITC’s Aachen—used in supplemental headlines, and whose monolith-sized numerals count down the number of days until the start of the games. In addition, the Team USA word mark is certainly not shy either; its typographic weight presents an inherent confidence, while the angular construction of the letterforms project a keen strength and stability. Confidence, strength, and stability—perhaps fitting axioms for both athletes and typography alike.

London being the host of this year’s games, for comparison we can look at the typography of Team Great Britain’s website. Like Team USA, Great Britain’s web presence features large typography overlaid atop a series of images. Rather than employ the Grotesque Sans or Slab Serif styles of the Neue Helvetica and Aachen typeface families, respectively, Team GB’s site eschews these forms for the affable Geometric Sans style of the ITC Avant Garde Gothic type family.

The website’s navigation employs the face’s medium weight, while headlines are set in both demi bold and bold styles. Despite only using the ITC Avant Garde Gothic type family for a majority of the site, the breadth and balance of the contrasting weights creates a pleasant visual hierarchy.

Interestingly enough, it should be noted that Team USA utilizes typefaces named for (and embodying) the Swiss ethos, as well as those crafted by two British designers who named the fonts after a German city. Conversely, Team Great Britain uses a typeface family inspired by the work of an American graphic design legend.

Even if nothing more than coincidence, through these typographic examples we can discover a metaphor for the the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange the games strive to foster.

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