| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Shown here | Linotype Didot by Adrian Frutiger |
Didot is a name given to a group of typefaces named after the famous French printing and type producing family. The classification is known as modern, or Didone. The typeface we know today was based on a collection of related types developed in the period 1784–1811. Firmin Didot (1764–1836) cut the letters, and cast them as type in Paris. His brother, Pierre Didot (1760–1853) used the types in printing. His edition of La Henriade by Voltaire in 1818 is considered his masterwork. The typeface takes inspiration from John Baskerville's experimentation with increasing stroke contrast and a more condensed armature. The Didot family's development of a high contrast typeface with an increased stress is contemporary to similar faces developed by Giambattista Bodoni in Italy. Didot is described as neoclassical, and is evocative of the Age of Enlightenment.
The "Foundry Daylight" version of Didot was commissioned and used by broadcast network CBS for many years alongside its famous "eye" logo.[1] While the network's use of Didot with its logo is not as prevalent as it once was, it is still a common sight.
The Style Network uses a bold weight of Didot in its on-air identity and the News Gothic font too.
Several revivals of the Didot faces have been made, most of them for hot metal typesetting. Like Bodoni, early digital versions suffered from a syndrome called "dazzle"–the hairline strokes in smaller point sizes nearly disappearing in printing. Among the more successful contemporary adaptations are the ones drawn by Adrian Frutiger for the Linotype foundry, and by Jonathan Hoefler for H&FJ. Both designs anticipate the degradation of hairline in smaller point sizes by employing heavier weighted strokes in the smaller point sizes.
Characteristics of this typeface are:
lower case: double storey a.
upper case: dropped horizontal element on A.
figures: