Souvenir (typeface)

Last updated
Souvenir
Souvenir typeface example.png
Category Serif
Designer(s) Morris Fuller Benton
Foundry American Type Founders
Date releasedSeptember 1914

Souvenir is a serif typeface designed in 1914 by Morris Fuller Benton for American Type Founders. It was loosely based on Schelter-Antiqua and Schelter-Kursiv, a 1905 Art Nouveau type issued by the J.G. Schelter & Giesecke foundry in Leipzig. [1] It has a much softer appearance than other old style faces, with a generally light look, rounded serifs, and very little contrast between thick and thin strokes. [2] Like Cheltenham, it shows the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement without belonging to a specific historical style. A 1970s redesign by Ed Benguiat, adding extra styles and an italic, became far more popular than the initial release, and is the source of most versions sold today.

Contents

At the time of its issue it achieved only a moderate popularity but was known as "the printer's friend" because of its forgiving qualities on press. In the 1970s, because of its friendly, curving structure, it became very popular in uses such as in body text of educational material and for headings in book printing. Historians have described it as 'laid-back', 'the friendliest of Benton's designs' and as 'like Times Roman dipped in chocolate'. [3] [4] [5]

Cold type copies

A specimen of the original version of Souvenir on ATF's 1923 specimen book. Souvenir specimen.png
A specimen of the original version of Souvenir on ATF's 1923 specimen book.

In 1967 Ed Benguiat licensed the design from ATF and re-drew the face for the Photo-Lettering Corporation. When the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was formed in 1971 it not only issued this design as ITC Souvenir but hired Benguiat to draw additional weights. He even added swashes for each variant, thus increasing its attractiveness. It was the bold and demi-bold weights that subsequently achieved a ubiquitous popularity, leading to it being made available for photocomposition by all the leading producers under the name Souvenir by Alphatype, Berthold, Compugraphic, Dymo, Harris, Star/Photon, Mergenthaler, Monotype, Varityper, while it was called Sovran by Graphic Systems Inc. [6]

Hot metal copies

The sudden popularity of this face in the 1970s led to the creation of Linotype matrices in two weights by Matrotype. This is perhaps the only time when a phototype was subsequently cut into metal. [7]

Digital copies

Because of cross-licensing agreements, the original digitisation is sold by a variety of companies. Digital copies are widely available from Linotype, Adobe, Monotype, and many other vendors. The company URW++ created a matching sans-serif design to complement it.

Reputation

Due to its enormous popularity in the 1970s, Souvenir has become associated with the design of that era. This inevitably led to a backlash commencing in the 1980s and 1990s. Simon Garfield lists it as the "seventh worst typeface in the world." [8] [9] The backlash can be compared to that against Comic Sans some decades later, another typeface intended to seem casual and friendly that came to be seen as overused in inappropriate circumstances.

Related Research Articles

Palatino Serif typeface

Palatino is the name of an old-style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf, initially released in 1949 by the Stempel foundry and later by other companies, most notably the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.

Optima 1958 typeface by Hermann Zapf

Optima is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf and released by the D. Stempel AG foundry, Frankfurt, West Germany in 1958.

Helvetica 1957 sans-serif typeface developed by Max Miedinger

Helvetica or Neue Haas Grotesk is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.

Univers Sans-serif typeface family

Univers is the name of a large sans-serif typeface family designed by Adrian Frutiger and released by his employer Deberny & Peignot in 1957. Classified as a neo-grotesque sans-serif, one based on the model of nineteenth-century German typefaces such as Akzidenz-Grotesk, it was notable for its availability from the moment of its launch in a comprehensive range of weights and widths. The original marketing for Univers deliberately referenced the periodic table to emphasise its scope.

Gill Sans Humanist sans-serif typeface family developed by Monotype

Gill Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype from 1928 onwards.

Adrian Frutiger Swiss typeface designer (1928–2015)

Adrian Johann Frutiger was a Swiss typeface designer who influenced the direction of type design in the second half of the 20th century. His career spanned the hot metal, phototypesetting and digital typesetting eras. Until his death, he lived in Bremgarten bei Bern.

Johnston (typeface) Sans-serif typeface

Johnston is a sans-serif typeface designed by and named after Edward Johnston. The typeface was commissioned in 1913 by Frank Pick, commercial manager of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, as part of his plan to strengthen the company's corporate identity. Johnston was originally created for printing, but it rapidly became used for the enamel station signs of the Underground system as well.

Franklin Gothic Family of sans-serif fonts

Franklin Gothic and its related faces are a large family of sans-serif typefaces in the industrial or grotesque style developed in the early years of the 20th century by the type foundry American Type Founders (ATF) and credited to its head designer Morris Fuller Benton. “Gothic” was a contemporary term meaning sans-serif.

Bookman (typeface) 1869 serif typeface

Bookman or Bookman Old Style, is a serif typeface. A wide, legible design that is slightly bolder than most body text faces, Bookman has been used for both display typography and for printing at small sizes such as in trade printing, and less commonly for body text. In advertising use it is particularly associated with the graphic design of the 1960s and 1970s, when revivals of it were very popular.

Kabel (typeface) Geometric sans-serif typeface

Kabel is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by German designer Rudolf Koch, and released by the Klingspor foundry from 1927 onwards.

Cheltenham (typeface) 1896 display typeface

Cheltenham is a typeface for display use designed in 1896 by architect Bertram Goodhue and Ingalls Kimball, director of the Cheltenham Press. The original drawings were known as Boston Old Style and were made about 14" high. These drawings were then turned over to Morris Fuller Benton at American Type Founders (ATF) who developed it into a final design. Trial cuttings were made as early as 1899 but the face was not complete until 1902. The face was patented by Kimball in 1904. Later the basic face was spun out into an extensive type family by Morris Fuller Benton.

Sabon Serif typeface

Sabon is an old-style serif typeface designed by the German-born typographer and designer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) in the period 1964–1967. It was released jointly by the Linotype, Monotype, and Stempel type foundries in 1967. The design of the roman is based on types by Claude Garamond, particularly a specimen printed by the Frankfurt printer Konrad Berner. Berner had married the widow of a fellow printer Jacques Sabon, the source of the face's name, who had bought some of Garamond's type after his death. The italics are based on types designed by a contemporary of Garamond's, Robert Granjon. It is effectively a Garamond revival, though a different name was chosen as many other modern typefaces already carry this name.

Syntax (typeface)

Syntax comprises a family of fonts designed by Swiss typeface designer Hans Eduard Meier. Originally just a sans-serif font, it was extended with additional serif designs.

The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was a type manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin and Edward Rondthaler. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of metal type. It is now a wholly owned brand or subsidiary of Monotype Imaging.

News Gothic Sans-serif typeface

News Gothic is a sans-serif typeface in the grotesque or industrial style. It was designed by Morris Fuller Benton and released in 1908 by his employer American Type Founders (ATF). News Gothic is similar in proportion and structure to Franklin Gothic, also designed by Benton, but lighter.

Bank Gothic Typeface

Bank Gothic is a rectilinear geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton for American Type Founders and released in 1930. The design has become popular from the late twentieth century to suggest a science-fiction, military, corporate, or sports aesthetic.

ITC Benguiat

ITC Benguiat is a decorative serif typeface designed by Ed Benguiat and released by the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1977. The face is loosely based upon typefaces of the Art Nouveau period but is not considered an academic revival. The face follows ITC's design formulary of an extremely high x-height, combined with multiple widths and weights.

Monotype Grotesque

Monotype Grotesque is a family of sans-serif typefaces released by the Monotype Corporation for its hot metal typesetting system. It belongs to the grotesque or industrial genre of early sans-serif designs. Like many early sans-serifs, it forms a sprawling family designed at different times.

Clearface

Clearface is a serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton with the collaboration of his father Linn Boyd Benton, produced at American Type Founders in 1907, immediately following his preparation of Century Old Style. The bold was drawn first, in 1905, but the regular weight was the first to be released. Six variants were released between 1907 and 1911, and the design has frequently been rereleased and revived since. Clearface is a warm, curving design, showing the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, for instance in the tilted 'e' and blobby, organic design, but not particularly based on any past period of type design and with a mixture of cursive and structured features.

Century type family

Century is a family of serif type faces particularly intended for body text. The family originates from a first design, Century Roman cut by American Type Founders designer Linn Boyd Benton in 1894 for master printer Theodore Low De Vinne, for use in The Century Magazine. ATF rapidly expanded it into a very large family, first by Linn Boyd and later by his son Morris.

References

  1. ↑ "Souvenir Origins" . Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ Cost, Patricia A., The Bentons: How an American Father and Son Changed the Printing Industry, RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press, Rochester, New York, 2011, ISBN   978-1-933360-42-3, p. 220-223.
  3. ↑ Haley, Allan (1992). Typographic milestones ([Nachdr.]. ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 66. ISBN   9780471288947.
  4. ↑ Loxley, Simon (2005). Type : the secret history of letters. London [u.a.]: I. B. Tauris. p. 77. ISBN   9781845110284.
  5. ↑ Haley, Allan (1990). ABC's of type. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. p.  89. ISBN   9780823000531.
  6. ↑ Lawson, Alexander, Archie Provan, and Frank Romano, Primer Metal Typeface Identification, National Composition Association, Arlington, Virginia, 1976, pp. 34 - 35.
  7. ↑ MacGrew, Mac, American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century, Oak Knoll Books, New Castle Delaware, 1993, ISBN   0-938768-34-4, p. 285.
  8. ↑ Garfield, Simon, Just My Type: a book about fonts, Gotham Books,, New York Cir, 2010, ISBN   978-1-59240-652-4, pp. 301–302.
  9. ↑ "The 8 Worst Fonts In The World", October 28, 2011, excerpt from book
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.