Tempo (typeface)

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Tempo Medium Italic in a specimen sheet. Tempo Medium Italic Type Specimen (24552250119).jpg
Tempo Medium Italic in a specimen sheet.

Tempo is a 1930 sans-serif typeface designed by R. Hunter Middleton for the Ludlow Typograph company. [1]

Contents

Tempo is a geometric sans-serif design, influenced by German typefaces in this style, above all Futura, which had attracted considerable attention in the United States. Tempo was expanded to a sprawling family released over the 1930s and 40s available in sizes from small to large, that (as of 2020) has not been fully digitised. [2] It included the shadow-form display typeface Umbra, which has often been released separately. [3]

Design

Tempo in some styles had a "dynamic" true italic, with foot serifs suggesting handwriting and optional swash capitals. [4] Some styles had a double-storey 'a' in the usual print form, similar to Erbar, others the single-storey form in the manner of Futura, and numerous alternative characters were available, such as a choice between capitals in which the 'A' and other characters have sharp points similar to Art Deco poster lettering and designs which have them blunted off similarly to Futura Bold. [5] [6] Digital-period type designer James Puckett describes it as "bonkers; really four typefaces that just got lumped together for the sake of marketing." [7] [8] [9] Release notes from Commercial Type comment that it as "seems to borrow as much from sign painter's Gothics as it does from Futura" [10] and Puckett also comments that it has "big open apertures for e and s that resemble American advertising letters of the era." [11]

Middleton also designed a slab-serif typeface in similar style, Karnak, around the same time, again copying a German trend of Futura-style "geometric" slab-serifs. [12]

Tempo's italic, with its 'feet' at the bottom of the letters, was an influence on that of the popular 2002 geometric sans-serif family Neutraface, designed by Christian Schwartz, also creating a companion slab-serif. [13] [14] [15] [16] Schwartz's company Commercial Type also have created a sans-serif family inspired by Tempo intended for publication design, originally created for McClatchy. [10]

References

  1. ↑ Allan Haley (15 September 1992). Typographic Milestones. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 117–120. ISBN   978-0-471-28894-7.
  2. ↑ Korwin, Josh. "The Ludlow: Typographic Influence, 1931–1962". Three Steps Ahead. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Devroye, Luc. "R. Hunter Middleton". Type Design Information. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Schwartz, Christian. "Back with a flourish #5. Christian Schwartz on swaggering swashes". Eye. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. ↑ Hutt, Allen. Newspaper Design. pp. 117–120. With Tempo Heavy roman it is necessary to specify the alternative 'squared' characters for A, M, N, W; with these caps. in their normal pointed form the type has the look of one that has strayed from advertising display into news.
  6. ↑ Edmondson, James; Ford, Colin. "The Process of Polymath". OH no Type Co. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  7. ↑ Puckett, James. "Currently working on an accurate revival of R. Hunter Middleton's typeface Tempo". Dribbble . Dunwich Type Founders. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Puckett, James. "Tempo Alternate". Daily Type Specimen. Dunwich Type Founders. Retrieved 29 January 2019. Tempo Alternate was designed to look more like Futura than the original release of Tempo. They failed pretty miserably; only a blind man could confuse this for Futura Bold.
  9. ↑ Puckett, James. "Stellar Bold". Daily Type Specimen. Dunwich Type Founders. Retrieved 29 January 2019. Stellar and Tempo, released in 1929 and 1930, respectively...both have the Erbar a
  10. 1 2 "McClatchy Sans". Commercial Type . Retrieved 14 September 2025. McClatchy Sans takes a number of design cues from Tempo, R. Hunter Middleton's Americanized take on the geometric sans, which seems to borrow as much from sign painter's Gothics as it does from Futura.
  11. ↑ Puckett, James. "Tempo Heavy Italic". Daily Type Specimen. Dunwich Type Founders. Retrieved 29 January 2019. Tempo has a fun mix of Futura's teutonic sternness and R. Hunter Middleton's love of lively quirks. Middleton worked in a backward leaning f, a curvaceous style for v, w, and g, and big open apertures for e and s that resemble American advertising letters of the era.
  12. ↑ Neil Macmillan (2006). An A-Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press. p. 135. ISBN   0-300-11151-7.
  13. ↑ Schwartz, Christian. "Neutraface". www.christianschwartz.com. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  14. ↑ Berry, John D. (2006). Dot-font: Talking About Fonts (1st ed.). New York: Mark Batty Publisher. pp. 117–121. ISBN   0-9772827-0-8.
  15. ↑ "The Neutra Legacy". House Industries . Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  16. ↑ Coles, Stephen. "Neutraface: Functional Novelty". Typographica (archived). Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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