Myriad (typeface)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Typeface | Myriad |
|---|---|
| Category | Sans-serif |
| Classifications | Humanist |
| Designer(s) | Robert Slimbach Carol Twombly |
| Foundry | Adobe Type |
Myriad is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly for Adobe Systems. Myriad was originally issued in 1991 as Myriad MM, a multiple master type family which worked with an intelligent software "engine" to allow the user to generate variations in width and weight. In 2000 it was reissued as Myriad Pro, an OpenType font family. Myriad MM was discontinued in 2003.
Myriad is easily recognized due to its special "y" tail, slanting "e" cut, and rounded curves.
Contents |
[edit] Usage
Since the launch of the eMac in 2002, Myriad has been replacing Apple Garamond as Apple Inc.'s corporate font. It is now used in all of their marketing and on their products (See Apple typography). More recent iterations of the iPod (from the iPod photo onwards) have used Podium Sans, which has similarities with Myriad (as opposed to Chicago), for their user interface. A different humanist sans-serif typeface, Lucida Grande is used as the system font for Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Myriad is also used in the corporate identities of Wells Fargo and Modern Telegraph, as their primary headline typeface.
KCRC (a rail transport company in Hong Kong) developed Casey in 1996, which uses a Myriad roman condensed for English and Formata Cond for numbers.
[edit] Variant families
[edit] Myriad Web
Myriad Web is a version of Myriad in TrueType font format, optimized for onscreen use. It supports Adobe CE and Adobe Western 2 character sets. Myriad Web comprises only five fonts: Myriad Web Pro Bold, Myriad Web Pro Regular, Myriad Web Pro Condensed Italic, Myriad Web Pro Condensed, Myriad Web Pro Italic.
Myriad Web Pro is slightly wider than Myriad Pro, while the width of Myriad Web Pro Condensed is between Myriad Pro Condensed and Myriad Pro SemiCondensed.
The family is bundled as part of the Adobe Web Type Pro font pack.
[edit] Myriad Pro
Myriad Pro is the OpenType version of the original Myriad font family. It first shipped in 2000, after Adobe had moved towards OpenType standard. Additional designers were Christopher Slye and Fred Brady. Myriad Pro comprises 40 fonts in four widths and five weights. Originally it was only 30 fonts, but a "semi-condensed" width was added several years later. Compared to Myriad MM, it added support for Latin Extended, Greek, and Cyrillic characters, and oldstyle figures.
Myriad Pro Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic were bundled with Adobe Reader 7.0 and higher.
[edit] Myriad Wild
Myriad Wild is an Adobe font package comprising the Myriad Sketch and Myriad Tilt fonts. Myriad Sketch is a slightly irregular outline version of Myriad, while Myriad Tilt is Myriad incorporating irregular stroke weight and paths.
[edit] Bibliography
- Blackwell, Lewis (2004). 20th Century Type. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10073-6.
- Fiedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein (1998). Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal. ISBN 1-57912-023-7.
- Macmillan, Neil (2006). An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-11151-7.
