Type Design after 1840

Antique and Gothic were the primary style translated into wood type. All former restraints on size and shape were removed. In addition to elaborate outline curves and swirls, there were elaborate decorative surface treatments.

A single Linotype operator could produce almost as much type in a day as a good hand compositor could in a week. Traditional typesetters were laid off and non-skilled laborers were hired. Women were considered ideal trainees, because they worked for lower wages and were considered more easily manipulated than men. Women clamored to join the men's typesetters union because the ITU insisted on equal pay for women. (Not so much because printers were concerned about equal rights, but because they feared unfair competition from low-paid women.)

NEW!NEW!NEW!
Both linotype casting and monotype casting can be seen in action in some excellent video clips on the Typeculture Website...scroll down to the Liontype and monotype movies.

Women typesetters at The Riverside Press, NY

The Monotype operator cannot see the matrixes from where they are sitting. Their typing produces a spool of paper that becomes perforated by their typing.This spool of paper programs the casting unit where the type is cast . For a complete description of monotype casting visit this page. (..just ignore the use of the word 'he')

PS you don't need to know the below for the quiz.
"As typing or keyboarding proceeds, a pointer moves along the em scale. When approaching the end of the line measure a bell rings to warn the operator, who then quickly decides where to end the line. Each character or space in the line is a definite number of units in width and the units are registered, or "added," as the line proceeds. In ordinary composition the space between the words is first registered as four units, but when the last word of the line is keyed the remaining space is divided equally and added to the four-unit spaces -- or "variables," as they are termed -- in order to fill out and justify the line to the measure. All this is done automatically by means of the justification scale or drum. The operator simply notes the two numbers indicated on the drum by the pointer (anything from 1 to 15) and taps the corresponding keys on the two rows of red keys (numbered 1 to 15) at the top of the keyboard. He then presses a reversing key at the bottom of the keyboard, which moves the em rack pointer over to the left, ready for commencing the next line."

Later more sophisticated typewriters used a proportional system that allowed for different widths of letters and more normal spacing. Digital font makers have kept the mono spacing look alive in a number of nostalgic fonts.

"By the 1960's a "variety of typesetting machines appeared that could image type directly from a CRT onto photographic film. Images were not generated by photographs of letters; instead mathematical formulas electronically generated the images on the screen. These were the first electronic fonts."

"The Complete Manual of Typography" A Guide to Setting Perfect Type" James Felici, Peachpit Press, 2003.

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Milestones in Type Development 1840 — 1990
1. Stereotyping William Ged 1725 Scotland This process invented by a Scottish jeweler (and later perfected by Alexander Tilloch) cast an entire galley of set type and images in paper mache and using that "mat" to cast one large page from hot metal. This advance allowed for: • Reducing the quantity of fonts necessary for setting • Elimination of recomposition to print copies of the same work on two or more presses • Less wear of type on the press	For a complete description of stereotyping and electrotyping visit the Lucille Project.	2. Steel Plate Engraving The more durable steel replaced copper plates. Used for illustrations, bank notes and postage stamps. Plastic relief plate
3. Lithography “stone printing” Alois Senefelder 1796, Germany Senefelder was a actor/ playwright who was experiencing problems printing the playbill for his new production. He experimented with a etching technique using a greasy, acid resistant ink as a resist on a smooth fine-grained stone of Solnhofen limestone. Shown right a lithographic stone with the reverse reading image, all type had to be written in reverse but it was usually transferred from a right reading image.		Lithography and Type Design Lithography allowed for free-form sketching of type in new shapes and new alignments. A artists and designers used the new medium to mimic the style of the time. (Right) Henri Van de Velde drew art nouveau fonts for lithography. All sorts of lettering scripts were created with embellishments such as outlines, drop shadows and decorative treatments.
5. Press Innovations The introduction of the steam powered press, 1817 (top) increased hourly production from 250 to 1,000 sheets per hour. The Hoe rotary press (bottom right) introduced in 1848 allowed for 8,000 sheets per hour. William Bullock, a Philadelphia printer, perfected the first rotary press able to print on both sides of the paper.		6. The Pantograph Linn Boyd Benton USA 1885 A pantograph machine is used to scale a drawing from a larger or smaller master. In the case of type design is could also compress or expand the charactersas well as vary the weight. This mechanical method sped up production of punches but lost the nuances of an individual artisan who made decisions based upon critical visual observations.
8. Wood Type Metal type casting was limited to just one or two inches in height due to difficulties of casting larger type, the weight and the cost. Darius Wells invented the lateral router, a saw that could cut curves in wood allowing for the production of a lighter, larger and cheaper letterform.	Antique and Gothic were the primary style translated into wood type. All former restraints on size and shape were removed. In addition to elaborate outline curves and swirls, there were elaborate decorative surface treatments.	Egyptian Slab The earliest slab type faces were cast in 1817 by Figgins Foundry in London. The name on their catalog is listed as "Egyptian." Egyptian was a name attached to type around the 1830's when a craze for Egyptian artifacts was sweeping the western world. Other heavy slab faces followed shortly — Latins and Clarendons.		1869 "Women Set Type! Women Run Presses!" Agnes Peterson established the Women's Co-Operative Printing Union in San Francisco in 1868.Wells Fargo bank superintendent James Latham helps women business owners get started by co-signing incorporation papers for the Women's Co-operative Printing Union, formed to provide employment to female typesetters in order to "earn an independent and honest living" when discriminated against by male printers' unions . Elaine Styles, Printer
9. Linotype Machine, 1886 Ottmar Mergenthaler USA Linotype is a machine that produces a solid "line of type." and dramatically increased the speed of type setting. Rather than handpicking cast type, type was cast in brass matrixes. "The operator would hit a key on the keyboard which would trigger the mold for that letter to be placed in position for casting. When an entire line was ready hot metal (about 550 degrees) was injected into the molds, the type was cast as one line and the line was sent out through a delivery channel. The molds were then recirculated back into the machine. Used type was melted down and reused."	A single Linotype operator could produce almost as much type in a day as a good hand compositor could in a week. Traditional typesetters were laid off and non-skilled laborers were hired. Women were considered ideal trainees, because they worked for lower wages and were considered more easily manipulated than men. Women clamored to join the men's typesetters union because the ITU insisted on equal pay for women. (Not so much because printers were concerned about equal rights, but because they feared unfair competition from low-paid women.) NEW!NEW!NEW! Both linotype casting and monotype casting can be seen in action in some excellent video clips on the Typeculture Website...scroll down to the Liontype and monotype movies.	10. Monotype, 1887 Tolbert Lanston USA This device allowed type be cast in individual letters rather than lines. It was comprised of two parts, the keyboard and the casting machine. Based upon a Unit System, every characters had a "unit value" which it shares with the other characters in its row of the matrix case. The basic "unit" in the system is 1/18 of a standard printer's "point" (the basic "unit" is standardized as .0007685 inches; 12 points is standardized as .1660 inches). From this basic unit, all character widths for every point size in the Monotype system are determined. Individual type pieces exit the caster (circled)	Women typesetters at The Riverside Press, NY The Monotype operator cannot see the matrixes from where they are sitting. Their typing produces a spool of paper that becomes perforated by their typing.This spool of paper programs the casting unit where the type is cast . For a complete description of monotype casting visit this page. (..just ignore the use of the word 'he') PS you don't need to know the below for the quiz. "As typing or keyboarding proceeds, a pointer moves along the em scale. When approaching the end of the line measure a bell rings to warn the operator, who then quickly decides where to end the line. Each character or space in the line is a definite number of units in width and the units are registered, or "added," as the line proceeds. In ordinary composition the space between the words is first registered as four units, but when the last word of the line is keyed the remaining space is divided equally and added to the four-unit spaces -- or "variables," as they are termed -- in order to fill out and justify the line to the measure. All this is done automatically by means of the justification scale or drum. The operator simply notes the two numbers indicated on the drum by the pointer (anything from 1 to 15) and taps the corresponding keys on the two rows of red keys (numbered 1 to 15) at the top of the keyboard. He then presses a reversing key at the bottom of the keyboard, which moves the em rack pointer over to the left, ready for commencing the next line."
11. The Typewriter, various Latham Sholes USA The typewriter was originally invented as a means for the blind to write. Over 50 versions were created by as many inventors but Latham Sholes's design (which he later disowned) was the first commercial success. It was produced by Remington just after the civil war.	Women and the Typewriter The word "typewriter" refers to the operator, most likely a woman. By 1910 80% of professional typists were female. Typewriters were decorated with flowers to "feminize " them. The typewriter allowed women to enter the workforce, gain some financial independence and became a contributing factor to the stirrings of the feminist movement. By the 1960's and 70's the typewriting "pool" was seen a trap where talented women languished, unable to break out into management. In 1970 NYC graphic designer Massimo Vignelli designed a corporate identity for Moore College of Art using the typewriter inspired typeface, Courier. Despite Vignelli's prominent status as a designer, the college rejected the design, citing the typewriter face signified secretary, stereotypically a woman's career.	The Typewriter and Type Sholes was the creator of the QWERTY keyboard configuration, named for the first 5 keys on the keyboard. This configuration was based upon the most common 2 letter sequences in the English language. QWERTY Keys were organized to keep frequently used letters separated, avoiding a tangle of key arms when adjacent letters were struck in rapid succession. The typewriter uses a system of type spacing that worked with paper being forwarded horizontally to the left on a cylinder, one equal space at time (escapment.) Fonts had to be designed to work on this system, each letter had to fit the same space in width--- "monospacing." This required large slab serifs to define the width, even on letters as diminutive as a lower case i.	Later more sophisticated typewriters used a proportional system that allowed for different widths of letters and more normal spacing. Digital font makers have kept the mono spacing look alive in a number of nostalgic fonts.
12. Phototypesetting (AKA Cold Type) First patented in the 1890's, but not seriously used until the 1930's — and then just for large headline type with text still coming from metal. In the late 1940's Intertype Fotosetter converted to all film using basic fonts on film negatives and exposing them through lens to set type from 4 – 36 point. A later development, the Photon was an electronically controlled system that utilized a disc with several fonts which were positioned for exposure onto light sensitive paper. Below, fonts on film.		The first book produced using the phototypesetting process.	By the 1970's projection of light was replaced by digitally stored information which was set as a series of small dots or closely spaced vertical lines that appeared solid in the finished product. The output speed was 1,000 to 10,000 characters per second (speed was a factor in the final quality) In the 1980's the entire typesetting industry had become digital.
13. Digital Type "As Gerald Lang has wisely observed, the computer is not a tool but it is a simulator of tools. One of the things it simulates is a typesetting machine. With the spread of the personal computer, millions of people have found themselves transformed into simulations of typesetters, whether or not they wished to be so." A Short History of the Printed Word, Robert Bringhurst & Warren Chappell, Hartley & Marks, 1999.	"By the 1960's a "variety of typesetting machines appeared that could image type directly from a CRT onto photographic film. Images were not generated by photographs of letters; instead mathematical formulas electronically generated the images on the screen. These were the first electronic fonts." "The Complete Manual of Typography" A Guide to Setting Perfect Type" James Felici, Peachpit Press, 2003.
13a. Post Script Language I (Type I ) 1985 A device independent system that allows the transfer of vector art to any output printing device.The quality of the final output will be determined by the printer. The first versions needed to have several sizes installed to appear sharp on screen. Post Script is the most frequently used font system despite the fact that it requires 2 files— a bit map suitcase file and a PostScript font file. Files made in this format are limited to 256 characters in a font which is limiting for special small cap or titling fonts and other international language use. Right: A glyph drawn in the post script format		13b.True Type Jointly developed by Apple & Microsoft Late 1980's This rival system to Post Script also used a scalable curve system —this time quadratic curves. True Type fonts only require one suitcase and are often the default system font for macs and pcs. Because True Type fonts have more points for screen hinting, they appear sharper on screen than Post Script fonts. That is why some of the True Type fonts, such as Matthew Carter's Verdana and Georgia are so well suited to web page design. Hopefully you are reading copy in Verdana because I have asked your computer to render Verdana as the face for this text.	Image from "Digital Typography: A Primer" Keith Tam (permission under request)
13.c Font Hinting Fonts are now designed in outline curves which works well for printing but they also need to be displayed on a screen and a square uses square pixels, not curves for display. Hinting is a process of turning on and off the pixels to give the best screen result. PostScript fonts hint only vertical and horizontal stems while True Type allows for more detailed control.	13.d Open Type Adobe & Microsoft 1990's Open Type is a cross-platform font useable on Macs and PC's. It utilizes Unicode encoding which allows for 65,000 characters in a single font which can accommodate every language in the world plus all of the small caps, and additional sets of characters to make a complete font	Adobe Pro sets include small caps, swash and alternative characters, ligatures, ordinal numbers and letters, ornaments, fractions and Greek and Cyrillic characters. These can be accessed in Adobe products such as In-Design but Quark Express only allows for a limited amount of characters--so don't look for them when working in Quark. ( another reason to not use Quark)