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There are few companies steeped in more typographic history than Monotype and ITC. Monotype’s roots date back to the nineteenth century when Tolbert Lanston pioneered mechanical typesetting with the Monotype hot-metal composition system. The company went on to publish some of the most recognizable typefaces in the world, such as Times New Roman, Bembo, Gill Sans, Walbaum, and Perpetua. The International Typeface Corporation made its mark in the photocomposition age of the 1970s–’80s with original display typefaces and contemporary updates of classics by lettering masters Herb Lubalin, Tom Carnese, and the prolific Ed Benguiat. Now, under the same roof at Monotype Imaging, the two libraries continue to evolve with new designs and OpenType-enhanced reissues. |
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Small slabs and blunted rounds, Sebastian Lester’s Soho is grounded in a contemporary look. Its ideology follows suit, designed for use with modern technologies. With nine weights at five widths a piece, Soho is composed of over 32,668 glyphs, versatile enough for almost any use — from letterhead to poster. |
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Inspired by late 19th century wood type and contemporary french signage, Julien Janiszewski’s Loft is a quizzically systematic typeface. Conserving horizontal space at its lighter weights, and vertical space at its heaviest, it manages to go from a hairline to mammoth beautifully. |
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Slate is optimized for readability on and off the page, the result of years of legibility study by designer Rod McDonald. Although designed with a technical emphasis, Slate manages to retain a humanistic quality — intensly readable and not robot cold. A condensed set was just added to this versatile family. |
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Sebastian Lester created Neo Sans and Neo Tech with careful observation to balance of weight and scale, proportion of strokes, and cleanliness. The outcome is a unique typeface with minimalist ideas. Neo Sans and Neo Tech are now available in OpenType with broad language support, multiple figure styles, and alternate glyphs built into each font. |
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Named as a tribute to Hermann Zapf, Reynold Stone, and Eric Gill: designer Michael Harvey first conceived Mentor as a representation of a twentieth century letterform. However, when completing the family, Harvey realized that his own voice was present in his ode to the greats. The result: a traditional sans with a slightly contemporary serif, that acknowledges its roots without becoming mired in them |
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This isn’t the first time we’ve sung the praises of this face’s svelte forms. This seven weight family by Carl Crossgrove isn’t meant to be revolutionary, yet it has a quiet distinction that separates it from other humanistic sans serifs.
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This classic text face is full of subtle details, from slightly angular and organic serifs to top-curves crafted to create a subtle horizontal stress. Exceptional for book setting, Dante was redesigned in the early 1990s as a complete family. More weights, more italics, and small caps were added to the digital version, now all available in OpenType. |
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Named after his daughter, Joanna is Eric Gill’s interpretation of an old style serif. Largely inspired by the designs of Robert Granjon, Joanna is a modern interpretation Granjon's work — with less contrast in the strokes, square-serifs and blunted ends. Its sleek forms have allowed Joanna to age well, making it one of Gill's most successful faces. |
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Eric Gill's humanist classic has maintained its relevance for nearly a century. Now available in Monotype’s OpenType Pro format, Gill Sans is even more usable, with broader language support and conveniences like built in figure sets and small caps. |
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Originally designed by Canadian designer Carl Dair in 1967, it wasn’t until more than thirty years later that Cartier assumed the functionality it has today. Designer Rod McDonald wrestled with Cartier through much of the early nineties — trying to tame it’s unique character to make it better suited for text setting. After much revision and a number of years, this gift from the north is now available in OpenType. |
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This classic finally enjoys proper care in its digital transformation. Slightly narrower than previous digital versions, Bembo Book is based on the 10/18 point drawings used to produce the hot metal original — retaining contour subtleties and a color at larger sizes lost in previous digitizations. |
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Ed Benguiat's revival of the classic Bookman is now available in OpenType. ITC Bookman differs from previous renderings with improved readability, a real italic, and a suite of fanciful alternates and swashes which are now more accessible thanks to the new format. |
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Sturdy, with blunt corners and open counters to allow for poor printing conditions, ITC Officina was initially designed with professional correspondence in mind. However, to designer Erik Spiekermann's surprise, Officina experienced an unexpected popularity for use in other graphic applications. He responded with a complete family suitable for use outside the conventional office.
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A study in simplicity, Tomi Haaparanta stripped the characters in his alphabet down to their most basic while maintaining legibility. |
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ITC's complete Bodoni type system is now available in OpenType. The result of intense research, ITC Bodoni's design is based on the original hot metal type. Each digital face being based on the casting most appropriate to its intended size in use. ITC Bodoni Six is specific to small captions, ITC Bodoni Twelve for text setting, and ITC Bodoni Seventy-Two is specific to large showings. Swash alternatives are available in Seventy-Two and a set of ornaments, too. |
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To learn more about ITC Bodoni and other type systems, refer to our September 2007 Type Systems newsletter. An examination of the best type systems for the designer in need of a complete typographic solution. |
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Largely inspired by traditional 18th century Roman typefaces, Matthew Carter’s truly modern and unique design is distinguished by its square serifs, sheared terminals, and a wider than average italic. |
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Like so much of Ed Benguiat’s work, his final release for ITC defies tradition. Drawn with a steel-tipped rather than a flat-tipped pen, Edwardian’s stroke stems from the application of pressure instead of the angle of the instrument. Despite its historical irreverence, this two weight script is made with pain-staking detail and can make any page a handsome one. Don’t miss the alternate capitals and swashed lowercase. |
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... Fonts used in title graphic: ITC Bookman & Mundo Sans. |
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