The collection includes 34 variations to suit all your needs, from more condensed versions to more rounded.īeing one of the most prolific font styles in modern-day typography, it can be seen as the foundation of many brand logos, including: Jeep, Panasonic, Microsoft, Lufthansa, American Apparel, Nestlé, and many more. The clarity and neutrality of this font made public and governmental institutions rely on it in their documents and signage, e.g. It has always been a ubiquitous and versatile font because of its numerous weights, widths, and sizes. Originally designed in Switzerland, the Helvetica typeface has a long history of adoption and evolution, with over 50 years of use and a quick rise to become the most popular sans serif in the world. The Garamond typeface now has many variations inspired by the original punch cuts designed by Claude Garamond in 1540.Mike Parker, typographer, type designer, consultant, and historian was the creator of Helvetica font as we know it today. It’s also one of the most eco friendly types to print because it uses less ink than other similar faces. Elegant and legible, it has stood the test of time. Modern designers say Garamond is timeless, one of the best fonts in existence. His Grecs du Roi punches remain the property of the French government. In the introduction to one of his books he said his work ‘feathers the nest of publishers and brings honey to their hive’.
Like many creatives, he was no good at business and died in poverty. When the French Court adopted the Garamond font Roman for its publications, it became fashionable all over Europe.Īlas his story does not have a happy ending. An innovator, his roman typeface replaced the gothic, or blackletter. Garamond established the first type foundry, he was the first to create faces, cut punches, and then sell the type. Known as Grecs du Roi, it was the basis for Greek typeface design for two hundred years.Īmong the first books Francois wanted in Greek was the history of Dionysius and a pocket edition of The New Testament.
His inspiration came from the beautiful handwriting of Angelo Vergecio, the King’s Greek librarian. His skill was in demand by all the finest printers in France.Įstienne commissioned Garamond to design a new Greek typeface for the King’s exclusive use. Paris born and bred, Garamond, a pioneer type designer and punch cutter was one of the most respected and influential men in typographic history.
#Garamond typeface designer series#
When Francois asked Estienne to print a series of books in Greek for his library, Estienne consulted Claude Garamont (pseudonym garamondus). In 1539 he appointed him The King’s Printer which again angered the Sorbonne because Estienne was a Protestant. Through his friendship with Estienne, Francois became interested in publishing, printing and typography. Although he was dubbed le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres (the Father and Restorer of Letters), the College was his sister Marguerite’s idea. To end the use of Latin as the sole language of learning in France, Francois made French the national language and opened the Collège Royal de France where students could study Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and to the horror of the Sorbonne, Greek. Estienne, the first to use apostrophes and grave and acute accents in France, also printed small, inexpensive, educational books. Estienne’s Greek classics were much admired for their typographical elegance. The King asked the classical scholar Robert Estienne to donate a copy of every book he printed in Greek to his library, which he made freely available to scholars. Vergecio copied more than fifty original Greek manuscripts for the King’s library. He even chose Angelo Vergecio, a Greek librarian, to look after his books. The Sorbonne not only banned books in Greek it prohibited the study of Greek which was considered heretical.įrancois was very interested in the Greek language. A bibliophile, he paid agents all over Europe to hunt down and buy Greek manuscripts despite the strong disapproval from the Sorbonne. A trunk of his favourite books went wherever he went. Francois I is known for his military triumph at the Battle of Marignano, his frenetic building and rebuilding of chateaux and his love of art but perhaps less known as a bookworm.
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