The typeface continues to maintain a high profile, appearing in a variety of media from books to billboards. “Gothic” was a contemporary term (now little-used except to describe period designs) meaning sans-serif.įranklin Gothic has been used in many advertisements and headlines in newspapers. Swinging motion of hand and arm, as their forms and accented linesīracchial gyrations and erect quill posture appear to be critical factors as well.īut the best advice is to just look at the samples.Gothic #1, Square Gothic Heavy, Gothic #16įranklin 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. Roman lettering and that the letters were always formed with a round Upright, after the fashion already described in speaking of Perhaps be sufficient to say that they were wholly and exactlyĭetermined by the position of the quill, which was held rigidly In lieu of any detailed analysis of these letter shapes, it may Medieval scribes used the Round Gothic as an easy and legible handwritten form, and linked many of the letters.Īnd Gothic fonts should all be legible, containing some interlinking forms. Gothic fonts can be recognized by their free and restless spirit. Letter was developed and Gothic letters are in many ways akin to theįundamental forms of Gothic architecture. The same spirit of freedom and restlessnessĬharacterises the architecture of the period wherein this style of The name "Gothic" applies rather to the spirit than to the exact Here are a few quotes to summarize the definition of "Gothic" fonts. Ryan's suggested article really is excellent: LETTERS & LETTERING: A TREATISE WITH 200 EXAMPLES. One might say taller, more imposing Sans Serifs could have that Gothic spirit (as a Cathedral is tall, open & imposing), but again you could be more specific to the features of the type by referring to it as condensed. This Gothic "spirit" mentioned by Brown is an apt approach when considering the term because it refers to a certain sort of style or characteristic that was evident in Middle Age European cultures, although more apt terminology could be more specific by using "Blackletter" & "Sans serif" instead of lumping the two together. Gothic Cathedrals had nothing to do with the "barbarian" tribes of the Goths, but historians such as Giorgio Vasari pioneered the trend of insulting Middle Aged European culture and the terms have sort of stuck ever since. Same story as well with Gothic architecture. That and early Sans Serifs were rather unrefined and illegible. Gothic was used to describe Sans Serifs initially because they took a fairly severe departure from the then current trend of Roman type traditions with very humanist forms based on centuries of perfection throughout antiquity & their revival during the Italian Renaissance. The same sort of principle applies for the term Grotesk which of course translates into grotesque (absurd or bizarre). Often times if you see the word Gothic being used to describe something that has nothing to do with the actual tribal Kingdoms of the Goths, it's being used to describe something in negative terms, as was the case for the early Sans Serifs. Historically "Gothic" is often used as a derogatory term, a sort of linguistic shorthand for barbaric. It really depends on the context of the word being used throughout history. The question has been appropriately answered but I felt I could demystify this ambiguity between "Gothic" referring to Sans-Serif or Blackletter typefaces.
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