FROM

BASKERVILLE
TO
HELVETICA
Baskerville

Analysing six typefaces

FROM
BASKERVILLE
TO
HELVETICA

FROM
BASKERVILLE
TO
HELVETICA
Analysing six typefaces

Cecilia Serafini

From Baskerville to Helvetica

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Analysing six typefaces
Great Britain, 2013
This book was designed and written by Cecilia
Serafini. References can be consulted under
References, in the back of the book.
Fonts used: Grotesque (Regular, Light and Light
Oblique), Baskerville, Bodoni, Centaur, Rockwell,
Avant Garde and Helvetica, in all their variations.

Index

Baskerville

Bodoni

Centaur

13

Rockwell

17

Avant Garde

21

Helvetica

25

References

29

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Introduction

Baskerville

Baskerville

11

Name

Year

About

Baskerville

1757

Origin

Classification

England

Transitional

Baskerville typeface takes its name
from John Baskerville, an english printer and
designer. Starting his carreer as a writing-master
in Birmingham, he had established a printing
office by 1754 working in editions of Latin poems.
He later started working for Cambridge University
and was commissioned to produce editions
of the Bible.

The Baskerville typeface is the result
of John Baskervilles intent to improve upon
the types of William Caslon. He increased the
contrast between thick and thin strokes, making
the serifs sharper, and shifted the axis of rounded
letters to a more vertical position. The curved
strokes are more circular in shape, and the
characters became more regular. These changes
created a greater consistency in size and form.

Baskervilles typeface was the
culmination of a larger series of experiments
to improve legibility which also included paper
making and ink manufacturing. The result was a
typeface that reflected his ideals of perfection,
where he chose simplicity and quiet refinement.

Variations
Regular
Italic
Semibold
Semibold Italic
Bold
Bold Italic

Baskerville
vs. Caslon

Baskerville (black) and

Caslon.

The epitome of neo-classicism and

eighteen-century rationalism in type
Robert Bringhurst

12

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Main Features

Numerals

Baskerville is a transitional typeface
(transitioning between old style and modern
typefaces). These type of faces tend to have a
medium contrast between their thick and think
strokes and a lower degree of of left-inclined
stress than the old style faces. A distinguished
feature of transitional typeface is a flat or
triangular tip where the diagonal strokes meet,
as can be seen in the W.

Some special characteristics about
Baskerville are the following: the tail on the
lowercase g does not close; the swash-like tail
of the Q; high crossbar and pointed apex of A;
long lower arm of E; a long armed t and a small
counter in the lower case e.

There are two classifications. Lining
and Old Style. Lining numerals (upper case) are
aligned to the baseline and are all of equal height,
whereas old style numerals (lower case) do not,
which means they can be difficult to read

1234567890

Baskerville traditionally has lower case
numerals. However, an upper case variation
is available.

The loop

Ascenders & Descenders

The enclosed or partially enclosed (in
this case, for example) lower counter in a Roman,
is called a loop. Baskervilles lower case g is one
of the most characteristic letters of the family. If
there is a need of differentiating similar families,
go for the g!

In Baskerville, the ascenders have a
stronger balance between the apex and the
serifs. Caslons apex, for example, are much
pointier and the transition from the apex to the
serif is more drastic.

x bjf gikyt
Details

Baskerville
Bodoni

Centaur

Bodoni

Name
Bodoni
Origin
Italy
Year
1798
Classification
Modern
Variations
Regular
Italic
Book
Book Italic
Bold
Bold Italic
Bold Condensed
Bold Condensed Italic
Black
Black Italic
Ultra Bold
Ultra Bold Italic

About

Bodoni is a typeface designed by
Giambattista Bodoni in 1978. Bodoni wanted to
follow Baskervilles steps in creating a new style
of typefaces, away from the Old Style. To this end,
he continued some of Baskervilles ideas, but took
them to the extreme. He notably increased the
stroke contrast and enlarged the x-height.

Bodoni had made some proofs before
the final typeface, and those designs are called
transitional. However, the Bodoni we know today
is a modern typeface.

As William Morris states below, some
may find Bodoni difficult to read because of the
alternating think and thin of its strokes, specially
at small point sizes.

The sweltering hideousness of the

Bodoni letter, the most illegible
type that was ever cut, with its
preposterous thicks and thins, has
been mostly relegated to works
that do not profess anything but the
baldest utilitarianism [...]
William Morris

15

16

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Haute Couture.
Because of its sleekness
and thin strokes, Bodoni
is usually used for highfashion magazines such
as Vogue.

Main Features

Didone

Bodonis main characteristics are the
following: top and bottom serifs on C, vertical and
centered tail of Q, unbracketed serifs, a vertical
stress (tall x-height), a small upper bowl of g,
large ball terminal of c, but most importantly, the
high contrast between thick and think strokes.

As we said before, Bodoni is part of the
Modern typefaces group; tyfaces that were these
types were designed towards the end of the 18th
century and they all share certain characteristics,
among others: high contrast between the thick
and thin strokes and flat, unbracketed and often
thin serif. However, according to the Thames &
Hudson Manual of Typography, Bodoni also falls
under the category of Didone; in the words of the
authors: (from Didot and Bodoni). These types,
invented by Didot and perfected by Bodoni, are
classified in England by the meaningless term
modern. They have vertical shading and hairline
serifs, introduced in the middle of the 18th century
when improvements in presses and paper-making
made such fine lines possible to print.

Main Features

Bodonis ascenders clearly show the
unbracketed thin serif that is so characteristic to
the typeface. The tittles are rounded. As for the
descenders, the terminal (or tail) of the y and the
j are rounded and have a hook like appearance.
If we take a look at the y, we can clearly see the
difference in thickness between the strokes of the
body (within the x-height) and the one
in the descender.

x bjf giyt

Avant Garde

Baskerville
Bodoni
Centaur

Centaur

Name
Centaur
Origin
United States
Year
1914
Classification
Humanist
Variations
Regular
Italic
Bold
Bold Italic

19

About

The Centaur typeface was
designed by american book and type
designer Bruce Rogers. History says
Rogers felt inspired when he saw a copy
of french engraver Nicholas Jensons 1470
Eusebius at the Boston Public Library.
Though he was not pleased with his first
attempt at creating the typeface, 10 years
later, while working in New York City, he
created the Centaur typeface for the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rogers had only designed the
roman alphabet, so when the Monotype
foundry decided to release the typeface
for commercial use, the italic version was
added. It was designed by Frederic
Warde, who based his designs on the
work of Ludovico degli Arrighi, a 16th
century calligrapher.

For all-time most beautiful face, I

nominate Bruce Rogers Centaur. Its
not a general-purpose face at all, like
the usual Times or Helvetica [...] ; but
Centaur lives nobly on a page and
yet invites its readers to honor both
it and its message with their own
intelligence and understanding.
Gary Munch

20

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Off to Cadiz!
The italic version brings a
special z character.

Main Features

So, humanist?

According to the Thames & Hudson
Manual of Typography, Centaur falls under
the category of a Humanist typeface. These
typefaces are the ones inspired by 15th century
humanistic script, first seen in Venice.
Sometimes they can be found under the name
Old Style Venetenian.

Some of Centaurs main characteristics
are: the tail of the upper case J descends below
the baseline and points down; the ball of the
9 doesnt close; the bar of the lower case e is
diagonal and not horizontal and the serifs
on the M are single sided, opposite to the rest
of the faces.

As we said before, Centaur is part of
what we call the Humanist types. These kind
of types appeared during the 15th century (of
course, Centaur is inspired by the Humanist
typefaces) and got shaped after the forms of
italian humanist writers. Because they were
inspired by human script, and therefore the tools
humans used, they have certain characteristics
that are natural to this type or writing: one of the
most important being a low contrast between
thick and thin strokes. This little variation makes
the overall look of the font dark (dense).

Ascenders & Descenders

The e

Being a Humanist font, Centaurs
ascenders of this typeface are distinctively
pointy, similar to those of Caslon. Tittles are
round. As for the descenders, we can see how the
stroke in the tail of the y is notably thinner.

x bjf gikyt

Centaurs e (magenta)
vs. Baskervilles: diagonal
vs. horizontal.

Baskerville
Bodoni
Centaur
Rockwell

Rockwell

Rockwell

23

About

Name

Variations

The original Rockwell was produced by
the Inland typefoundry in 1910, which issued it as
Litho Antique; American Type Founders revived
the face in the 1920s, with Morris Fuller Benton
cutting several new weights.

The Monotype Corporation produced its
version of Rockwell in 1934 and the project was
supervised by Frank Hinman Pierpont.

Rockwell

Regular
Italic
Light
Light Italic
Bold
Bold Italic
Extra Bold
Condensed
Bold Condensed

Origin
England
Year
1934

Slab Serif

Classification

Slab serifs are distinguished by larger,
square serifs, which were considered to be
bolder than those of their predecessors. There
are sub-classifications within the slab serifs, like
Clarendon or Typewriter.

According to the Thames & Hudson
Manual of Typography, slab serifs are types
originated in the high flowering of the Industrial
Revolution; the large area of their faces made
them ideal for decoration, sometimes of the most
extravagant kind.

Slab Serif

Unbracketed Serif

Detail

In Slab serif typefaces, serifs tend to
be as thick as the vertical lines themselves and
usually have no bracket (curves which connect
the serif to the stroke). This is the case of
Rockwell, but not of Clarendon, another slab serif
and the name of one of the sub-classifications.
Clarendon, though sutil, has bracketed serifs.
90 angles in Rockwells
slab serifs.

24

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Because of its wide and even strokes, Rockwell works

best as a display type.

Main Features

Rockwell is geometric, its upper- and
lowercase O more of a circle than an ellipse. The
lowercase a is two-story, somewhat incongruous
for a geometrically drawn typeface. Its distinctive
characteristics are, among others: a fairly high
x-height, short descenders and ascenders;
a distinctive bar at the apex of the A and deep
serifs in the T and L that helf reinforce the idea
of horizontality.

x bjfgiyk

Short Ascenders

Rockwells (left) ascender

line compared with
Baskervilles.

How to spot it

Rockwell (left) and

Clarendon: both slab
serifs, but only Rockwell
has got the crossbar on
top of the A!

Baskerville
Bodoni
Centaur
Rockwell
Avant Garde

Bodoni

Avant Garde

Name

Avant Garde
Classification
Geometrical
Sans Serif

The only place Avant

Garde looks good is in
the words Avant Garde
Ed Benguiat

Year

Origin

About

1970-77

United States

In 1964, Herb Lubalin formed his own
design consultation firm named Herb Lubalin,
Inc. During those years he collaborated with
a number os publications as art director;
one of them was the magazine Avant Garde.
When Lubalin was commisioned to design the
magazines logo, he was told to capture the
advanced, the innovative, the creative. That is
when he came up with the Avant Garde font.

Variations
Book
Book Oblique
Book Condensed
Book Condensed Oblique
Extra Light
Extra Light Oblique
Extra Light Condensed
Extra Light Condensed Oblique
Medium
Medium Oblique
Medium Condensed
Medium Condensed Oblique
Bold
Bold Oblique
Bold Condensed
Bold Condensed Oblique
Demi
Demi Oblique
Demi Condensed
Demi Condensed Oblique

Main Features

According to the Thames &
Hudson Manual of Typography, Avant Garde
is a geometric sans serif. These are fonts
constructed on geometrical shapes and usually
monoline. Main characteristics include: the
bowl of the R doesnt close, but in the P it does;
the tail on the Q is curved; the Gs crossbar is
particularilly low and the tittles are squared.

Canadian typographer Robert
Bringhurst described the font as a bicameral
stick-and-ball sanserif with very large x-height.

27

28

From Baskerville to Helvetica

Question
Avant Gardes special Q.

Avant Garde everywhere

Given the success of the logo, in 1970 Lubalin released the ITC Avant
Garde font. During the following 7 years, Lubalin worked along with
other designers like Tom Carnase and Ed Benguiat to expand the
font family. Unfortunately, the font was completely overused during
the 70s, and mostly by designers that had no typographical concept.
Designer Steve Haller said that Avant Garde was Lubalins signature,
and in his hands it had character; in others it was a flawed Futuraesque face.
Ascenders and descenders
Details

bb

Ascender height compared

to Futura (right).

bfikpgy

Avant Gardes descenders and ascenders

are straight and short. The strokes are cut
horizontally or vertically, and the singlestoried g is particularly simple.

Baskerville

29

Baskerville
Bodoni
Centaur
Rockwell
Avant Garde
Helvetica

Helvetica

Its the real thing.

Period.
Coke.
Period.
In Helvetica.
Period.

Helvetica

31

Its air, you know. Its just there.Theres

no choice. You have to breathe, so you
have to use Helvetica.
Erik Spiekermann

Name

Origin

Variations

Helvetica (neue)

Switzerland

Year

Classification

1957

Sans serif

Roman
Oblique
Medium
Light
Light Oblique
Ultra Light
Ultra Light Oblique
Bold
Bold Oblique
Condensed
Condensed Oblique
Condensed Black
Condensed Bold
Extended
Extended Oblique
...

About

Helvetica was developed in 1957 by
Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the
Haassche Schriftgiesserei (Haas Type Foundry)
of Mnchenstein, Switzerland. Haas set out to
design a new sans-serif typeface that could
compete with the successful Akzidenz-Grotesk
(another sans serif font) in the Swiss market. The
aim of the new design was to create a neutral
typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic
meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide
variety of signage.

Main Features

Helvetica is a sans-serif font. According
to the Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography,
it also falls under the category of neo-grotesque
lineal. One of the main characteristics of this font
is the perfectly straight horizontal and vertical
cuts of the strokes. Some other characteristics
include the spur at the G, the two-storied a, the
bracketed top serif at the 1, the straight diagonal
as a tail in the Q and a slightly double-curved tail
in the R.

Detail

32

From Baskerville to Helvetica

I love you I love you

Massimo Vigenllis famous quote You can say, I love
you in Helvetica. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra
Light if you want to be really fancy. Or you can say it with
the Extra Bold if its really intensive and passionate, you
know, and it might work.

Ascenders & descenders

Helveticas structure is based on a
rectangle (and not on a square like other fonts).
This means that the letters are taller than they are
wider. Its ascenders and descenders consist of
clean straight strokes, always ending in perfectly
horizontal or vertical cuts. The ascender and
descender lines are not particularily far from the
mean line.

x
x

Detail

Helveticas (left) ascender

line compared with
Futuras.

bdfhiklt
gjpqy

Straight edges

Helvetica has been praised for its
simplicity. One of the characteristics that makes
it so simple, clear, neutral and legible is the
straight edges of its strokes.

Baskerville

Baskerville
Bodoni
Centaur
Rockwell
Avant Garde
Helvetica
References
1. Ambrose / Harris 2005, Basics Design 03:
Typography: Basics design 3, Ava Publishing, GB
2. McLean, R. 1992, The Thames and Hudson
manual of typography, Thames and Hudson,
London
3. The Typehead Chronicles (http://www.
rightreading.com/typehead/typehead.htm)
4. King 2009, A Brief History of Avant
Garde, Thinking for a Living (http://www.
thinkingforaliving.org/archives/147)

33

34

From Baskerville to Helvetica

xxxxxx
This book was printed at the London College of
Communication on March, 2013.

Baskerville

35

36

From Baskerville to Helvetica

From Baskerville to Helvetica, Analysing six

typefaces is a book about type. Its objective
is to outline the main characteristics of six
different well known typefaces. Beginning
with an Old Style typeface as Baskerville,
the book intends to go through time to see
how typafaces have developed in the last 3
centuries.
This book was made as a Project for the
Postgraduate Diploma in Design for Visual
Communication at the London College
Communication.
London, 2013.