![]() ![]() The top serifs on the ascenders of letters like “d” have a downward slope and rise subtly above the cap height.The x-height (height of lower-case letters) is low, especially at larger sizes, making the capitals large relative to the lower case.the small eye of the “e” and the bowl of the a, which has a sharp hook upwards at top left.letters with a relatively organic structure resembling handwriting with a pen but with a slightly more structured and upright design.b Garamond cut types in the 'roman', or upright style, in italic, and Greek. 17 18 Garamond worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp matrices, the moulds used to cast metal type. Some distinctive characteristics in Garamond’s letters are: History Garamond’s life and his roman type ' Petit-texte ' type intended for body text, created by Garamond. Though his name was written as “Garamont” in his lifetime, the typefaces are generally spelled “Garamond”. Modern Garamond (typeface) revivals also often add a matching bold and “lining” numbers at the height of capital letters, neither of which were used in Garamond’s time. But when in doubt, you can always look for the tell-tale crossed capital W.Garamond is a group of many old-style serif typefaces, originally those designed by Parisian craftsman Claude Garamond and other 16th century French engravers, and now many modern revivals. Other key characteristics include the way the top serifs of the lower-case letters curve back into the letter, the feeling of airyness from the generous openings in the letters, known as counters, and the tall ascenders. The capital T is a beautiful example of a letterform that is far more ornate than a scribe would write but Claude styled with unique semi-parallel angled serifs. They also were more decorative than those modeled directly from the hand. These letterforms were thinner and more delicate than those before it, which both allowed the ink to bleed on the page without overly distorting the words and used less ink. He was the first to deviate from a purely handwritten-style to make letters that would read better when printed. Garamond was the first to craft letters to the medium. Prior to Garamond’s work, the practice of making type was to make as exact as possible replicas of a scribe’s handwriting. While seeing the differences between many of the old-style typefaces today can be hard for the untrained eye, it is important to note the true significance of Claude Garamond’s place in the history of type. Some are modern interpretations, some are recreations of typefaces from the late 1500’s modeled after the original punches and a few are faithful modern recreations based on the original punches. It should also be said that not all of the Garamond’s in the world are the same. After his death, sets of his punches found their way into the hands of foundries and served as inspirations for many different typefaces in addition to the many variations of Garamond. The original punches, long slender metal rectangles with individual letterforms carved into the ends, were finely-tuned and perfected during the early to mid 1500’s up until Claude’s death in 1561. What we now know as Garamond are modern interpretations of fonts that were inspired by drawings which were modeled after the punches of Claude Garamond. Named for the French punch-cutter Claude Garamond, the typeface in its current form has a foggy past. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. 1 Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, bold), slope (e.g., italic), width (e.g., condensed), and so on. Like David, Garamond came quietly into the world yet has been a marker to which everything that has come after it is measured. A typeface (or font family) is a design of letters, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. It is elegant while never feeling overly ornate or showy.Ĭlassic and classy, Garamond has maintained a high level of admiration and continued use that is very unlikely since it pre-dates all other typefaces. Reading its beautifully imperfect letters feels like reading a renaissance manuscript. It puckers and bloats in delicate ways like ink swelling within paper fibers. Even in today's digital forms, Garamond evokes the hand. This digital version reproduces the original design by Claude Garamont closely: The source for the letterforms is a scan of a specimen known as the Berner specimen, which was composed in 1592. It is a timeless masterpiece created by a classical craftsman and to this day is a cherished piece of history. Garamond is Michelangelo's David to the type world. Contact Copyright © 2013-2022 Jonathan Cunningham. ![]()
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