akzidenz-grotesk type specimen

Akzidenz-Grotesk

Akzidenz-Grotesk Type Specimen

Designer/Editor: Melanie Dyson

2010

Typography 1

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Za b c d e f

This book is a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about the original sans and the most influ-ential grotesque, Akzidenz-Grotesk.

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“It is the work of anonymous type cutters: crafts-men, specialists, whose professional back-ground and experience meant they were familiar with the finest subtleties and principals, and not just those of Grotesque. They gave Akzidenz-Grotesk the ultimate accolade a typeface can have: a functional, formal rightness, transcending the whims of fashion.”

-Karl Gerstner, Swiss Graphic Designer

“”

7 History

11 Type Family

17 Characteristics

21 Similarities

C O N T E N T S

H I S T O R Y

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H. Berthold AG

Berthold is a name long associ-ated with type design. H. Berthold AG was one of the largest and most successful type foundries in the world for most of the modern typographic era.

Established in 1858 by Hermann Berthold and based in Berlin, the company played a key role in the introduction of major new type-faces and was a successful player in the development of typesetting machines.

The growth of H. Berthold AG’s large and distinguished library of original typefaces of uniform excel-lence has been directed by Günter Gerhard Lange. Lange supervised the production of the Berthold typeface library, that consisted of a series of exclusive designs as well as typefaces licensed from other foundries – comprising a total of more than 2000 typefaces, including Akzidenz-Grotesk, The H. Berthold foundry’s most celebrated family of typefaces.

The Font

Akzidenz-Grotesk was first re-leased in 1898 under the name Accidenz-Grotesk. In German, Akzidenz means trade type and Grotesque means early sans serif.

Akzidenz-Grotesk is a classic design in the truest sense of the word. It is timeless, authoritative and quietly elegant. It has served as the design foundation for many contemporary sans serif typefaces and was the first sans serif to be widely used around the world.

Max Miedinger at the Haas Foundry used it as a model for the typeface Neue Haas Grotesk, released in 1957 and renamed Helvetica in 1960. Miedinger sought to refine the typeface mak-ing it more even and unified. Two other releases from 1957, Adrian Frutiger’s Univers and Bauer and Baum’s Folio, take inspiration from Akzidenz-Grotesk.

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A

A

A

A A A

A AA

G

G

G

G G G

G GG

10 pt

14 pt

18 pt

24 pt

30 pt

36 pt

48 pt

60 pt

72 pt

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AK Z I

D E N Z

G R O T E S K

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Günter Gerhard Lange

Günter Gerhard Lange was born in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, Germany, in 1921. He was a soldier in the German army in World War Two. He suffered a serious injury, and loss his leg, leading to a medical discharge.

In 1941 he embarked on a mas-ters course at the Academy of Graphic Arts and the Book Trade in Leipzig. He studied calligraphy, typesetting, and printing

In 1949 he moved to Berlin and enrolled at the University of Picto-rial Arts, studying freelance art. After graduation his first major client was the typeface foundry, Berthold AG. He was promoted to artistic director in 1961 a position, which he held until 1990.

He was not only the designer of classic typefaces such as Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ, Berthold Bodoni Old Face BQ, and Imago BQ, but also a communicator and teacher who was an inspiration to many young type designers.

December 2nd, 2008, Günter Ger-hard Lange passed away in Munich at the age of 87. In his obituary he was referred to as one of the important type designers and typographers of the 20th century.

Also appearing in his obituary was a quote from Yvonne Schwemer-Scheddin, a member of the presid-ing committee of the Association Typographique Internationalé.She stated:

“Günter Gerhard Lange relentlessly encouraged the younger genera-tions, teaching and counseling until almost the end. By doing so he opened doors, eyes and hearts to art, architecture, literature and typography. He transmitted the value of education and love for the minute details that are indispensa-ble for the whole to function. We lost a passionate type lover and expert – an authentic man. An era has irreversible come to an end.”

T Y P E _ F A M I L Y

Günter Gerhard Lange originally designed 33 different font styles for the Akzidenz-Grotesk family. Showcased here are 14 of the more popular styles

available today. The typefaces’ font size is default at 11 pt.

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Light

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh IiJj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Light Oldstyle Figures


Regular


Italic


Medium


Medium Italic


Bold


Bold Italic


Super

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

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Light Extended


Extended


Medium Extended


Bold Extended


Bold Extended Italic


Glyphs and Special Characters in Akzidenz-Grotesk. The typefaces’ font size is default at 11 pt. The style Light Oldstyle Figures is ommited for the charac-

ters are the same as Light.

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Light

! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ~ ` _ - + = { } [ ] \ | : ; “ ‘ , < > . / ? ¿ ¡ ¢ £ ¤ ¥ ¦ § ¶ Ø Ð ŁÀ Ã ÄÅ Ç È Ë Ì Ï Ñ Ò Õ Ö Ù Ü Š Ÿ Ž à ã ä å ç è ë ì ï ñ ò õ ö ù ü ÿ ž ƒ œ Œ Þ ß µ Æ

Regular


Italic


Medium


Bold


Bold Italic


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Light Extended


Extended


Medium Extended


Bold Extended


Bold Extended Italic


Super


15

AAAAA

Comparison of weight changes shown through overlapping characters. Type size is 200 pt in various weights. Weights listed from front to back.

MediumBoldSuper

LightRegular

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AAAAAA

ItalicMedium Italic

Bold Italic

Light ExtendedExtended

Bold Extended

C H A R A C T E

These are the identifying features of Akzidenz-Grotesk and what makes the font unique.

- Tail of uppercase Q does not cross the circle

- Right-angle bar/spur at base of the uppercase G

- Capital I is just a straight line

- Middle of uppercase M descends to baseline

- Uppercase J does not descend below baseline

- Uppercase R has a straight leg

- Single-story lowercase g (no lower ball)

- Square dots on lowercase i and j

- Double-story lowercase a

- Uppercase R has a straight leg

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Q G IM J Rg i j a

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R I S T I C S

Akzidenz-Grotesk’s heavy monotonous line and small aperture creates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very little refinement. That coarseness contributes to the typeface’s effectiveness when it comes to headline use but takes away from its readability and usability when it

comes to large amounts of text.

Headlines: Flush Left at 36 pt Akzidenz-Grotesk in various weights.

REGULARMEDIUM MEDIUM ITALICBOLDBOLD ITALIC SUPER EXTENDED

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Akzidenz-Grotesk Italic at 9 pt. Ak-zidenz-Grotesk’s heavy monotonous line and small aperture creates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very little refinement. That coarse-ness contributes to the typeface’s ef-fectiveness when it comes to headline use but takes away from its readability and usability when it comes to large

Akzidenz-Grotesk Medium at 9 pt. Akzidenz-Grotesk’s heavy monoto-nous line and small aperture cre-ates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very little refine-ment. That coarseness contributes to the typeface’s effectiveness when it comes to headline use but takes away from its readability and

Akzidenz-Grotesk Bold at 9 pt. Akzidenz-Grotesk’s heavy mo-notonous line and small aperture creates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very lit-tle refinement. That coarseness contributes to the typeface’s ef-fectiveness when it comes to headline use but takes away

Akzidenz-Grotesk Extended at 9 pt. Akzidenz-Grotesk’s heavy monotonous line and small aperture cre-ates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very little refinement. That coarseness contributes to the typeface’s effectiveness

Akzidenz-Grotesk Light at 9 pt. Ak-zidenz-Grotesk’s heavy monotonous line and small aperture creates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very little refinement. That coarse-ness contributes to the typeface’s ef-fectiven ess when it comes to headline use but takes away from its readability and usability when it comes to large

Akzidenz-Grotesk Super at 9 pt. Akzidenz-Grotesk’s heavy monotonous line and small aperture creates an image of strength, force, persistence, and very little refinement. That coarseness contributes to the typeface’s effectiveness whenit comes to headline use

Text: Justified at 9 pt Akzidenz-Grotesk in various weights.

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S I M I L A R I T I E S

Akzidenz-Grotesk is sometimes at first glance mistaken for the Helvetica or Univers typefaces. The differences between Akzidenz-Grotesk and Helvetica or Univers can be seen on the upper and lowercase C, G, J, R and Q. Akzidenz-Grotesk is generally thought to remain more circular whilst Helvetica and Univers have more consistency in weight.

Aside from the subtle differences in these individual letters, Helvetica has a higher x-height than Akzidenz-Grotesk. The general effect is that Helvetica appears more oblong while Akzidenz-Grotesk maintains circular counters and bowls.

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Cc Cc CcGg Gg GgJj Jj Jj

Rr Rr RrQq Qq Qq2 2 27 7 7

Akzidenz Grotesk

Helvetica Univers

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Melanie Dyson

Akzidenz-GroteskGünter Gerhard Lange

Copies: 2December 2010

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akzidenz-Grotesk

http://new.myfonts.com/foundry/H._Berthold_AG/

http://www.identifont.com/show?13Y

http://www.rightreading.com/typehead/akzidenz_grotesque.htm

http://fontfeed.com/archives/gunter-gerhard-lange-passes-away-at-87/

http://issuu.com/clvj86/docs/type_specimen_book_final

akzidenz-grotesk type specimen

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