Wednesday 25 October 2017

Analysing Muller Brockmanns 9 typefaces

In order to design a brand new typeface based on my word 'Anfractuous' I need to choose one of the Muller Brockmanns nine typefaces to use as a baseline; Berthold, Garamond, Clarendon, Times, Univers, Baskerville, Helvetica, Bodoni and Caslon. I have begun to research and take notes for each one in order to narrow it down easily to one.

Garamond:
-Its in a group of many old-style serif typefaces
-Designed in 1535
-Old and traditional styled
-The designer of Garamond worked as an engraver of punches
-Popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Berthold:
-Sans serif
-Very simple and neutral, a bit basic and boring (means it can be used for a lot of things in media e.g. newspapers and books as it is easily legible)
-Established in 1858 by Hermann Berthold, based in Berlin

Clarendon:
-Based on an egyptian typeface
-Used for advertising
-Very curvy and funky personality
-The slab serif was released in 1845 by Thorowgood and Co
-Designed in London
-Large x-height and short ascenders and descenders

Times:
-Helvetica influences within it
-Times new roman gets its name from the Times of London, the British paper in 1929
-First used for advertising
-Quite classic and bold
-Always been one of the first typefaces available
-I love the curve in the lower case 'a'

Univers:
-Realist sans serif typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954
-Very basic and boring? feel like it is over used a lot
-Neo-grotesque

Baskerville:
-Designed in 1754 and inspired by John Baskerville.
-Most known for its extremely crisp edges , high contrast and generous proportions
-Classic 18th century
-Designed in Birmingham
-Used a very old and tedious process to create it; left it to develop for months
-I love the curves and old fashioned style, especially the Q

Helvetica:
-Developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with input from Eduard Hoffmann
-Form of the letters is based on Berthold but they are different because Helvetica has horizontally cut ends unlike Berthold (rapidly cut)
-Very classic and moderrn (modern, clean, neutral, simple)
-Used all over the world, received a number of awards

Bodoni:
-Followed the ideas of John Baskerville
-Rational structure
-The serif typefaces first designed by Giambattista Bodoni in the late eighteenth century
-Combination of thick and thin lines and curves; I really like this detail, the hairline strokes are very thin. The thick and thin contrast works extremely well.
-"Bodoni is one of the most elegant typefaces ever designed"- Vignelli

Caslon:
-Serif typefaces designed by William Caslon throughout his life
-Influenced by Dutch Baroque
-The "A" has a concave hollow at the top left, the "G" is without a downwards-pointing spur at the bottom right, and the sides of the "M" are straight.
-Very commonly used in the early nineteenth century- particularly for setting printed body and text books.

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