A Brief History Of Typography & Typefaces

Guttenburg

1400

In the 1400's, Guttenberg invented Movable Typefaces (a cheaper way to obtain the written word). He also created the first typeface, Blackletter-it was dark, fairly practical, and intense, but not very legible-

Nicolas Jensen

1470

In the 1470's, Jensen created Roman Type- inspired by the text on ancient roman buildings & far more
readable than blackletter-

Aldus Manutius

1501

In 1501, Manutius created Italics-a way to fit more words onto a page- used as a design detail or for emphasis when writing.

William Caslon

1734

In 1734, Caslon created a Typeface- which features straighter Serifs & much more obvious contrasts between thin and bold strokes-

John Baskerville

1757

In 1757, Baskerville created Transitional type(what we call now) -a Roman-style type, with very sharp Serifs and lots of drastic contrast between thick and thin lines-

Firmin Didot & Giambattista Bodoni

1780

In 1780, Didot & Bodoni created the first ‘modern’ Roman typefaces- the contrasts were more extreme than ever before, & created a very fresh look-

Vincent Figgins

1815

In 1815, Figgins created Egyptian (Slab Serif)- first time a typeface had Serifs that were squares or boxes-

William Caslon IV

1816

In 1816, Caslon IV created the first typeface without any serifs at all (what we know now as San Serif typefaces)

Frederick Goudy

1920

In the 1920's, Goudy(world’s first full time type designer)developed various typefaces- Copperplate Gothic, Kennerly, & Goudy Old Style-

Max Miedinger

1957

In 1957, Miedinger(swiss designer) created Helvetica-most loved typeface of our time-

PRESENT

2000

Now, with the internet; we have such a vast variety of old and new typefaces available. All these typefaces give us an abundance of options and looks for our designs today.