Excelsior (typeface)
 | |
| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Transitional, slab-serif |
| Designer(s) | Chauncey H. Griffith |
| Foundry | Mergenthaler Linotype Company |
| Date released | 1931 |
| Design based on | Ionic No. 5 |
Excelsior is a slab serif typeface designed by Chauncey H. Griffith and presented by Mergenthaler Linotype in 1931. It is one of five typefaces in Griffith's 'Legibility Group' which contains typefaces especially suited to newsprint.
Before designing this font, Griffith consulted the results of a survey of optometrists regarding optimal legibility. The design has similarities to Clarendon and Ionic slab-serif designs of the 19th century, most visibly in its regular weight. In its bold weight, where the serifs are less emphatic relative to the width of the strokes, it is less distinguishable from a bold weight of Times New Roman.
Not particularly condensed, unlike many other newspaper typefaces, Linotype has described its usage as most common "in Europe, where newspaper columns are wide."[1]
Related typefaces Opticon and Paragon were released in 1935 as slightly heavier and slightly lighter versions of Excelsior designed for newspapers that deliberately underink to favor halftones, or overink to favor text and headlines.
The News 702 typeface by BitStream is almost identical to Excelsior.
References
- ↑ Linotype. "Excelsior". MyFonts. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- Consuegra, David. American Type Design & Designers. Allworth Communications, Inc.: 2004. ISBN 1-58115-320-1, ISBN 978-1-58115-320-0
- Hutt, Allen. Changing Newspaper: Typographic Trends in Britain and America 1622–1972. Gordon Fraser.: 1973. ISBN 0-900406-22-4, ISBN 978-0-900406-22-5
- Macmillan, Neil. An A-Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press.: 2006. ISBN 0-300-11151-7, ISBN 978-0-300-11151-4
- Miklavčič, Mitja (2006). "Three chapters in the development of clarendon /ionic typefaces" (PDF). Thesis: University of Reading. Retrieved 6 October 2014.