12/27/2023 0 Comments Books published in humanist typefaceTruth is, a perfectly uniform typeface would be difficult to read for long. What happened to the smooth flow we’ve come to expect from Bembo? The branch of the “r” quivers a bit, the top of the “a” has flat spots, and “g” gyrates in several directions at once. Not only that, but when the letters are enlarged as much as they are here, we start to see all kinds of oddities and eccentricities that are invisible at normal sizes. This helps tie the letters together into words, and is the chief reason we prefer serif typefaces for text.Īnd the pen, although naturally creating thin and thick strokes as it moves through the letterforms, will never make a really thin line. As the pen held by a right handed writer passes through the circle of the round letters, it naturally forms the tilted axis.Īs the scribe finishes each stroke, his pen naturally creates the little serifs, or ending strokes on the letters as he moves to the next letter. The three characteristics of the humanist typefaces I listed are all due to one influence: the way the calligrapher’s flat-edged pen forms letters. But it’s true.ĭespite the smoothness that Bembo shows on the page, a look at the enlarged version above tells us a great deal about its origins. Or that the pages of today’s bestseller might contain traces of the scholars of the Renaissance, the same scholars who rediscovered and reissued the books of antiquity 500 years ago. It may seem odd that our modern digital type fonts derive from models that are ancient. The earliest type creators and printers of the fifteenth century used as models the books that were handwritten by scribes practicing a craft that was-even then-hundreds of years old. These oldstyle typefaces were modeled on humanistic calligraphy. The difference between the thin strokes and the thick strokes is not that great.An axis drawn through the thinnest part of the round letters will lean to the left.The serifs are bracketed: there’s a curved connection between the serif and the stem of the letter.That means that: (see the illustrations that correspond to each number) It’s easy on the eyes even for extended reading, and it seems plain and without any eccentricities.īembo is an oldstyle typeface. One of the reasons I prize Bembo for book typography is the way it smoothly flows on the page. But when you find a font you love, it’s a relationship that can last a lifetime.įor many years my favorite typeface for book design was Bembo. Some designers like Palatino, it does nothing for me. While you’re sitting at a restaurant trying to decide what to order, the book designer at the next table is examining the type fonts used on the menu and how the kerning looks. When it comes to fonts, designers have strong feelings. The font could be chosen by a designer, or it might be a default set up by the engineers who create digital reading devices. To display text, you need to use a type font. Text must be displayed for a reader, either on the pages of a book, or on a screen. Content may be king, but content is almost always text. Book designers are typographers by necessity, if not by nature.
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