Revival of the Fittest

by Meggs, Philip B.; McKelvey, Roy

• ISBN13: 9781883915087
• ISBN10: 1883915082
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: North Light Books

Summary

The digital revolution has inspired designers to create a proliferation of contemporary versions of the great classic typefaces. Revival of the Fittest, a new book from the publishers of Print magazine, examines and explains the surge of interest in these revivals. Profusely illustrated with digital versions of Bodoni, Caslon, Garamond, grotesques, and others, these faces are compared to their metal-type originals and presented through imaginative applications in magazines, ads, books, and posters by outstanding graphic designers. The authors interview leading typeface revivalists including Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, and Matthew Carter; whose observations provide an understanding of design process and objectives behind their versions of these faces. Stunningly designed in full color with innovative diagrams, lucid type specimens, and scores of innovative applications of the featured faces, Revival of the Fittest demonstrates that classic is "cutting edge" in the digital age. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Prologue: What makes a typeface a classic?	1	(11)
Introduction: Esthetics, technology, and marketing in the evolution of typeface designs	11	(22)
Major Typefaces and Their Digital Forms	33	(1)
Ancient Inscriptions	34	(8)
Janet Horst
Baskerville	42	(8)
John Dixon
Bembo	50	(4)
Julie L. Rabun
Bodoni and Didot	54	(10)
Roy McKelvey
Caslon	64	(8)
Philip B. Meggs
Centaur	72	(8)
Sheilah M. Barrett
Century	80	(6)
Carolyn Annand
Clarendons	86	(6)
Pornprapha Phatanateacha
Cheltenham	92	(6)
Bonnie Hamalainen
Egyptians	98	(8)
Shih-Tien Yang
Franklin Gothic	106	(6)
Ansel M. Olson
Garamond and Galliard	112	(10)
David Steadman
Geometric Sans Serifs	122	(8)
Jarik van Sluijs
Grotesques	130	(8)
Charley Foley
Helvetica and Meta	138	(8)
Leland M. Hill
Humanist Sans Serifs	146	(8)
Jamie M. Barnett
Jenson	154	(6)
Sheilah M. Barrett
Renaissance Inscriptions	160	(4)
Julie L. Rabun
Times Roman	164	(6)
Mary Beth Henry
Univers and Frutiger	170	(8)
Jennifer Gibson
Glossary	178	(4)
Index	182