Franklin Gothic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Typeface | Franklin Gothic |
|---|---|
| Category | Sans-serif |
| Designer(s) | Morris Fuller Benton |
| Foundry | American Type Founders (ATF) |
Franklin Gothic is a realist sans-serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton (1872-1948) in 1902. The typeface is one of over 200 typefaces designed by Benton. Franklin Gothic is classified as a Realist sans-serif. There is an assumption that the name of this typeface was named after Benjamin Franklin. “Gothic” is an increasingly archaic term meaning sans-serif, which is found primarily in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The larger family, including condensed and extra condensed, was designed and released over the period of 1902-1912.
Franklin Gothic has an extra bold weight with a combination of subtle irregularities, tapering of strokes near junctions, in its roman form. Franklin Gothic has several widths and weights including Franklin Gothic book, medium, demi, heavy, condensed, and extra condensed. Victor Caruso drew the multi-weight family for the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1980. Caruso’s redrawing of Franklin Gothic for ITC consist of a slightly enlarged x-height and a moderately condensed lowercase alphabet. Other characteristics of this typeface consist of organic features that distinguish it from the geometric sans serifs.
Two distinguishing characteristics of ITC Franklin Gothic are the tail of the Q and the ear of the g. The tail of the Q curls down from the bottom center of the letterform in the book weight and shifts slightly to the right in the bolder fonts. The g is distinguished for its roman heritage. The g has a bowl and loop like many sans serifs.
Franklin Gothic was originally designed as a typeface with a single weight and only two variations in width. Franklin Gothic has been used in many advertisements and headlines in newspapers. The typeface continues to maintain a high profile appearing in a variety of media from books to billboards.
[edit] Usage
- The Franklin Gothic font was used heavily on the PBS children's series The Electric Company.
- Franklin Gothic is the official typeface of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
[edit] References
- Baines, Phil, Hastam, Andrew. Type and Typography. Watson-Guptill Publications: 2005. ISBN 0-8230-5528-0.
- Meggs, Phillip B. Revival of the fittest. RC Publications, Inc: 2002. ISBN 1-883915-08-2.
