/24/
First test version of OCR-B from 1963 with dynamic curved strokes for b g q, alternative m and similar shapes for capital O and the numeral 0.
/25/
First published version of OCR-B from 1965 with curved diagonals for W, greater difference between O and zero and different crossing for 8.
Designing OCR-B The first test version of OCR-B dates from 1963 6 and contained 109 characters /24/. The bowl shapes of the majuscules were static, while there are two types of bowl shapes in the minuscules: a round, static bowl, for instance in c d p, and a flat, dynamic one in b g q. All numerals had dynamic shapes but the curves varied: flat curves in 2 3, leaning towards the diagonal in 5 and clearly diagonal in 6 9. Initially Frutiger designed the majuscules so they were of the same height as the numerals, but for the first test version the former were scaled down to differentiate them more clearly. The version published as Standard ECMA-11 in 1965 contained 112 characters including three additional letters with diacritics /25/. Some characters had undergone considerable correction. This is obvious with the W, whose outer diagonals became curved; with the numeral 0, which received a more oval shape to differentiate itself better from the capital O; with j, which now had a normally placed dot; as well as with the aforementioned b g q, which now featured static bowl shapes. The same was true for the $ sign. The @ had obviously changed, whereas the slight incline in the numeral 1 was hardly visible. Altogether the typeface now had a more consistent shape compared to the test version. A further extension and correction phase took place from 1969 onwards /26/. Five more characters were added: the section mark §, the two Dutch ligatures IJ ij, the German esszett Ă&#x; and the Japanese currency symbol ÂĽ.
/26/
OCR-B from 1971 with horizontal bar for j, curved descender for y, very wide B, and altered shapes for capital O, lower case o and zero.
/27/
Extension of the alphabet from 1994 with additional accents and diacritics for several European languages.
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21.9.2008 15:57:24 Uhr