Classicist Antiqua
The classical antiqua is a font class according to DIN 16518 . In the English-speaking world, the name Didone is common, in France Didones , in Holland Didonen and in Italy Bodoniani .
definition
This typeface is the last printed typeface whose name was named after the cultural-historical epoch in which it was created. The techniques with the fine lines of copper engraving and steel engraving are the characteristics of the emerging technical age. As far as printing is concerned, the trends that began in the Baroque era (see Baroque Antiqua ) are essentially continued (for example, the stronger line contrast, the almost vertical shadow axis or the serif design), while remembering antiquity with its clear shapes.
history
The classical antiqua owes its forms to influences from France and Italy. In France this font was developed by Firmin Didot , in Italy the most famous representative was Giambattista Bodoni , in Germany Justus Erich Walbaum . With the Didot system, the typographical measurement system still used today was created with the typographical point as the starting point, which Hermann Berthold precisely defined in 1879 on the basis of the metric system . We owe Bodoni the Manuale Tipografico , a type sample book of 600 pages. This two-volume book is a collection of all the fonts, ornaments and characters in his Antiqua and italics as well as all known characters in the world.
Well-known representatives
- Bodoni ( Giambattista Bodoni 1760), drove the art of printing to perfection.
- Didot ( Firmin Didot 1783), improved the Fournier system to the Didot system.
- Bell (Richard Austin 1788)
- Prillwitz ( Johann Carl Ludwig Prillwitz , April 12, 1790)
- Unger ( Johann Friedrich Unger , around 1790)
- Walbaum ( Justus Erich Walbaum , around 1800)
- Tiemann ( Walter Tiemann 1923)
- Centennial ( Adrian Frutiger 1986)
- Nofret ( Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse 1986)
- Kepler ( Robert Slimbach 1996)
features
The classicist Antiqua is characterized by writing with a pointed pen , which allows different stroke widths in each direction depending on the pressure . Due to the large differences in line width, the vertical shadow axis and the resulting vertical orientation of the character shape, the fonts exude elegance and static calm. Since the line guidance suffers from this form, these fonts require increased line spacing in order to guide the eye. Due to the high line thickness contrasts, the use of bright white paper is also not recommended, as the thin lines are overexposed, especially with small font sizes. The very thin serifs usually flow into the base line without a transition, which makes them technically problematic: The serifs often broke off, especially in newspaper printing, which appeared in the second half of the 19th century, which later led to more robust fonts.
