 | |
| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Didone (typography) |
| Designer(s) | Zuzana Licko Giambattista Bodoni |
| Foundry | Emigre |
| Variations | Filosfia Parma |
Filosofia is a serif typeface designed by Zuzana Licko and released by Emigre Fonts in 1996. It is a revival of Italian type designer Giambattista Bodoni's late eighteenth century typeface, Bodoni.
Giambattista Bodoni created several variations of his type, and there are many Bodoni revivals. Filosofia is Licko's unique interpretation, referencing "her personal preference for a geometric Bodoni and incorporating such features as the slightly bulging round serif endings which often appeared in printed samples of Bodoni’s work and reflect Bodoni’s origins in letterpress technology." [1]
Licko studied various versions of Bodoni in her research, everything from the original drawings to digital revivals like ITC Bodoni, but drew her typeface from memory rather than from a specific specimen. In selecting the name Filosofia (the Italian word for philosophy), Licko had been looking for something Italian to reflect Bodoni's origins. [2] Licko's design also most closely resembles Bodoni's Filosofia 3 (Siena)—one of his many versions, as each size was cut with slight adjustments to accommodate the effects of the letterpress printing process. [1]
In a 2002 interview with Rhonda Rubenstein for Eye Magazine, Licko explains her interest in traditional typefaces after becoming known for designing radical fonts:
My interest in reviving the classics (which began in 1995) was sparked by two factors: the sophistication of personal computer technology, and Emigre magazine’s shift towards theory and the subsequent need for text faces to set large bodies of text. Each design gives me the opportunity to study details of classic faces that I’d never fully appreciate or notice through casual observation or usage. For example, working on my Bodoni revival, Filosofia, allowed me to better understand this long-time classic. This kind of scrutiny, in turn, has given me ideas for faces that are not strict revivals, such as Tarzana and Solex. [3]
Filosofia's release in 1996 did not only signify a new chapter in Zuzana's experimentation (turning toward traditional typefaces); it also generated an unexpected collaboration. Filosofia's announcement poster, "It's their Bodoni" designed by Massimo Vignelli, [4] marked the end of the legibility wars that had divided the design community for much of the 1990s. [1] The war was sparked by an interview in a 1991 issue of Print magazine, in which Vignelli criticized Emigre Font's Postmodern designs. [5] [6] [7] The collaboration was a welcome surprise to Licko and VanderLans and was almost unbelievable to the design community. [1]
In 2019, a Filosofia spin-off was created as part of the branding program for Parma, Italy—the city where Bodoni established his private press in 1791. [8] Edenspiekermann, the agency in charge of the branding, performed the transformation by increasing Filosofia's x-height. Due to the tall x-height, they dropped the original design's small caps. The Filosofia Parma family has two roman styles of regular and bold weight, and can be used comfortably in combination with all other Filosofia fonts. [9]
In typography, a serif is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface, and a typeface that does not include them is sans-serif. Some typography sources refer to sans-serif typefaces as "grotesque" or "Gothic" and serif typefaces as "roman".
Bodoni is the name given to the serif typefaces first designed by Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813) in the late eighteenth century and frequently revived since. Bodoni's typefaces are classified as Didone or modern. Bodoni followed the ideas of John Baskerville, as found in the printing type Baskerville—increased stroke contrast reflecting developing printing technology and a more vertical axis—but he took them to a more extreme conclusion. Bodoni had a long career and his designs changed and varied, ending with a typeface of a slightly condensed underlying structure with flat, unbracketed serifs, extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, and an overall geometric construction.
Emigre, Inc., doing business as Emigre Fonts, is a digital type foundry based in Berkeley, California, that was founded in 1985 by husband-and-wife team Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko. The type foundry grew out of Emigre magazine, a publication founded by VanderLans and two Dutch friends who met in San Francisco, CA in 1984. Note that unlike the word émigré, Emigre is officially spelled without accents.
Giambattista Bodoni was an Italian typographer, type-designer, compositor, printer, and publisher in Parma.
Emigre was a (mostly) quarterly magazine published from 1984 until 2005 in Berkeley, California, dedicated to visual communication, graphic design, typography, and design criticism. Produced by Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko, Emigre was known for creating some of the first digital layouts and typeface designs. Exposure to Licko's typefaces through the magazine lead to the creation of Emigre Fonts in 1985.
Erik Spiekermann is a German typographer, designer and writer. He is an honorary professor at the University of the Arts Bremen and ArtCenter College of Design.
Zuzana Licko is a Slovak-born American type designer and visual artist known for co-founding Emigre Fonts, a digital type foundry in Berkeley, CA. She has designed and produced numerous digital typefaces including the popular Mrs Eaves, Modula, Filosofia, and Matrix. As a corresponding interest she also creates ceramic sculptures and jacquard weavings.
In typography, a slab serif typeface is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Serif terminals may be either blunt and angular (Rockwell), or rounded (Courier). Slab serifs were introduced in the early nineteenth century.
Didone is a genre of serif typeface that emerged in the late 18th century and was the standard style of general-purpose printing during the 19th century. It is characterized by:
Baskerville is a serif typeface designed in the 1750s by John Baskerville (1706–1775) in Birmingham, England, and cut into metal by punchcutter John Handy. Baskerville is classified as a transitional typeface, intended as a refinement of what are now called old-style typefaces of the period, especially those of his most eminent contemporary, William Caslon.
Mrs Eaves is a transitional serif typeface designed by Zuzana Licko in 1996. It is a variant of Baskerville, which was designed in Birmingham, England, in the 1750s. Mrs Eaves adapts Baskerville for use in display contexts, such as headings and book blurbs, through the use of a low x-height and a range of unusual combined characters or ligatures.
A swash is a typographical flourish, such as an exaggerated serif, terminal, tail, entry stroke, etc., on a glyph. The use of swash characters dates back to at least the 16th century, as they can be seen in Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi's La Operina, which is dated 1522. As with italic type in general, they were inspired by the conventions of period handwriting. Arrighi's designs influenced designers in Italy and particularly in France.
Modern typographers view typography as a craft with a very long history tracing its origins back to the first punches and dies used to make seals and coinage currency in ancient times. The basic elements of typography are at least as old as civilization and the earliest writing systems—a series of key developments that were eventually drawn together into one systematic craft. While woodblock printing and movable type had precedents in East Asia, typography in the Western world developed after the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century. The initial spread of printing throughout Germany and Italy led to the enduring legacy and continued use of blackletter, roman, and italic types.
Architype van der Leck is a geometric sans-serif typeface, based upon the 1941 typeface designed by Bart van der Leck for the Dutch magazine Flax, a journal of the De Stijl art movement.
Jeffery Keedy, born 1957, is an American graphic designer, type designer, writer and educator. He is notable as an essayist and contributor to books and periodicals on graphic design. He is also notable for the design of Keedy Sans, a typeface acquired in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in 2011.
Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957 and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director.
The Triplex type font style is a typeface designed by Zuzana Licko and John Downer in 1985 and 1989. It is distributed by Emigre. It is used by Avex & Prezi for its logo. It was also used as the typeface for Disney Channel from 1997-2002. It has both Sans-serif and Serif variation.
The Amoretti were a family of type-engravers, printers, mechanics, and blacksmiths of the Duchy of Parma. They were initially friends and pupils of the printer Giambattista Bodoni, although they ultimately parted ways with him to establish their own printing house and type foundry in 1791, in direct competition with their mentor.
Walbaum is the name given to serif typefaces in the "Didone" or modern style that are, or revive the work of early nineteenth-century punchcutter Justus Erich Walbaum, based in Goslar and then in Weimar.