1. Old Style: Garamond
I believe this example above with the word “Les” has a vertical axis thick line for
the letter “L” and the letter “e” on top has a small bowl. The word “Gara”, with the letter
“G” on the side is a thick stroke, the letter “a” on the bottom is a small bowl, and the
letter r on top is a downward slope and on the bottom of the “r” is a heavy bracket.
During the early 1600′s all paper was handmade and printing technology and processes
were somewhat primitive. “Old Style” was created with relatively thick strokes and
heavily bracketed serifs. Letterforms convey a sense of consistency and fluidity. Also,
top serifs and long extenders have a downward slope. It is considered one of the most
ink-friendly fonts and is known for being a very legible serif typeface.
2. Transitional: Baskerville
I believe this example above with the letter “g” is a g glyph from Baskerville
times. I think that I don’t see any vertical axis unless you use the grid in the background
because the lining from side to side makes the letter “g” has a vertical axis that way.
Designed in a time when inks and paper were considerably smoother and type technology
was refined. Increased contrast between thick and thin strokes and the serifs are more
sculpted. For example, there is a thick stroke on the side of the letter “g” on top and then
a thin stroke on bottom loop of the letter “g”. That really sure is there a sharper serifs or
not in this letter. John Baskerville was an English businessman in the 1700′s best known
as a printer and typographer. Benjamin Franklin greatly admired his typefaces, and as a
printer himself, took the designs back to the new United States of America, and infused
them into most of the federal government publishing. By this time, paper had become
smoother and printing presses technology had advanced along with the quality of inks,
making greater refinement in typography possible. Baskerville himself developed a paper
production technique that resulted in whiter and smoother paper. The serifs became more
sculpted with an increased contrast between thick and thin strokes for a more dramatic
feel.
3. Modern: Bodoni
I believe this example of a poster above with the word “Bodoni” is an example of
modern Bodoni. The letter “B” shows no brackets curved, the letter “o” show an extreme
thick stroke contrast to the letter “d” thin stroke, but the top half with a dash line on the letter
“d” shows a hairline serif. Giambattista Bodoni was an Italian typographer, compositor,
printer, type-designer and publisher. Living in the late eighteenth century and early
nineteenth century, Bodoni further reduced these thin strokes and serifs to fine hairlines and
virtually eliminated the brackets. His styles was considered as ‘Modern’ or ‘New Face’,
aimed at creating an even stronger (extreme even) contrast between thick and thin elements.
The typeface was named after him and is often used as display rather than type like the poster
example above that I choose.
4. Egyptian or Slab Serif: Century Expanded
I believe this example of a banner above with the word “Old Town P.T. Barnum” is
an example of Egyptian or Slab Serif: Century Expanded. The letter “n” on the side with the
solid line to begin is the slab serif and then the corner before the shoulder on the letter “n” is
a type of curved bracket. The letter “o” on top and bottom has thick stroke; while on the two
side of the letter “o” is a thin stroke. Slab Serif faces generally return to lesser contrast
between thick and thin strokes with serifs that are as thick as the strokes and squared off at
the ends. Designed in 1895 by L.B. Benton, Century is a version of the Egyptian typestyle
seen during the second half of the 1800′s. Referred to as ‘Slab Serif’, Century is lighter in
weight and modified by the addition of brackets, missing in modern typefaces of Bodoni. A
very popular typeface it is often used in textbooks because of its legibility. L.B. Benton was a
typeface designer and inventor from America who lived during this time period. He invented
many of the important type founding technologies of the time, including a mould, selfspacing type, punch cutter, combination fractions, a type dressing machine, an automatic
type-cater and a lining machine for engraving matrices of shaded letters. He played a major
role in the advancement of type and printing at the turn of the century- hence the name.
5. Sans Serif: Helvetica
I believe this example of a logo of the used in the logo of the “National Film
Board of Canada” is an example of Sans Serif: Helvetica. It is known for the square dot
over the letter ‘i’, in the words like “National”, “Film” and the double story ‘a’. In the
words like “National”, “Board”, and “Canada” .You can usually spot them in the modern
times in things like logos/word marks often use Helvetica. An example would be the
notoriously Apple for its mobile operating system (iOS). It is often founded widely on
government forms and street signs. In the mid-1900′s sans serif typefaces started to
become popular. Prior to that they were only used for display and classified advertising.
Although very popular, they still weren’t used much for text- until just recently. Now,
you see san serif Helvetica type all over print and the web. Developed by Max Miedinger
and Eduard Hoffman in 1957, Helvetica, two Swiss typeface designers, is the most
widely used sans serif typeface.