By Marko Dugonjić CHAPTER 9history of Typefaces
A very common piece of advice given by experienced typographers to new-
comers is to learn about the history of a typeface. What does that mean?
What does a period such as the Renaissance have to do with the project
being worked on? Learning about how typefaces came to be through
history can also help us understand the anatomy of typefaces. Many type
designs were the result of technology and the practical needs of that time.
For instance, a typeface with ink traps looks ridiculous on screen, unless its
used as a display type to convey a particular message. A typeface that was
reproduced in the age of photosetting, when typefaces were designed a
little softer, can look less than satisfactory on screen utilizing a rigid grid.
In the creative world, everything is neo-something-from-the-past and
everything is a remix^46. It’s natural to reuse old metaphors and design
on the shoulders of our glorious predecessors. When a trend emerges,
it’s useful to learn about its origin. In May 2013, Yves Peters, the editor
at Font Feed^47 , gave a talk on Trajan Pro as a movie poster typeface^48. He
explained how this trend came to be and foresaw the new trend of using
Gotham in movie posters. Both typefaces became popular based on their
previous successes — Trajan Pro being a font used in a movie that won
an Oscar and Gotham being the official font of President Obama’s 2008
election campaign.
Since everything is just another iteration of some previous idea, we can
draw connections to the original idea and use a typeface that matches the
given period.
Sometimes knowing about the history can help you establish more of a
direct connection, too. For example, Arno is a typeface inspired by the early
humanist typefaces of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, named after
the Florentine river. It also proved to be a great match for a website offering
46 http://everythingisaremix.info/
47 http://fontfeed.com/
48 http://vimeo.com/72435170