Bodoni

the king of printers

the printer of kings

a b c d e f ghijklm nopqrstu vwxyzabc defghijklm nopqrstu vwxyzabc defghijklm nopqrstu vwxyzabc defghijklm nopqrstu vwxyzabc defghijklm nopqrstu

Giambattista Bodoni italian printer and typeface designer

1740 – 1813 Born into a printmaking family, early recognition of Bodoni's talent and work ethic eventually led him to his position as the private printer to the court of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma at the Stamperia Reale. There, Bodoni was responsible for the production of official government publications and documents, as well as a variety of fine editions of classical and respected works. The elegance of his compositions and beauty of his letterforms led him to international acclaim in his own lifetime. He enjoyed considerable celebrity and demand for his work, eliciting admiration and commissions from:

Napoleon Bonaparte p o p e

p i u s

v i i

Benjamin Franklin Although it is hard to imagine in the modern age, Bodoni's fame as a typographer could perhaps be compared to that of the late Steve Jobs. Both men attained fame for their singular genius at making beautiful objects, and profoundly affected the way in which information was perceived and consumed by the elite of their society.

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“HARDLY A TYPEFACE OF THE PEOPLE”

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courtly origins Bodoni refers to a series of typefaces produced by Italian designer Giambattista Bodoni in the late 1790s, as well as its various contemporary revivals.

The typeface was initially used in the royal press of Parma, where it could be found on public decrees or advertisements, as well as full volumes of literary classics such as the Iliad or Catholic publications such as the Oratio Dominicana. Hardly a typeface of the people, the original Bodoni typeface was the impractical shoe found exclusively on the belongings or writings of the social elite, and implied, as it does today, a certain level of sophistication.

Bodoni has seen many revivals since its original usage, and many digital interpretations as well as stylish spinoffs for the modern designer. Today Bodoni is rarely used for large amounts of copy, and appears in graphic, illustrative moments on posters, album covers, and glossy magazines.

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characteristics Beatrice Ward likened the perfect type to a crystal goblet – transparent yet supportive of its contents. Bodoni is anything but a crystal goblet – its letters are meant to be looked at, not ignored.

“ANYTHING BUT A CRYSTAL GOBLET”

Bodoni sought to craft letterforms that could be appreciated by beauty of their form alone. He expanded on the work of John Baskerville, an English typesetter whose well-known transitional typeface was a first to dramatically push the contrast between thick and thin strokes. Bodoni's work shifted away from the caligraphic forms that had served as a basis for earlier designers, and began to integrate geometry into his designs. Like many of his contemporaries, he was affected by developments in the quality of metal casting, which allowed for hairline strokes, elongated serifs, and ball terminals.

The 'a' showcases the delicate form of a ball terminal – previously too fragile to be punched from metal – and can be found on the c, f, j, r, and y, as well as on the ear of the g.

The hairline serif in the 'l' differs slightly from the cupped terminal, which swoops up slightly and loosens up the rigidity Bodoni's geometric forms.

The high contrast in stroke weight is particularly evident in the lowercase t.

This dramatic quality of the type led more conservative type designers to claim that Bodoni would leave its readers blind.

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Bodoni has a vertical stress, meaning the thinnest points of the stroke fall on a vertical line. This marks a distinct move away from using handwriting as a basis for letterforms.

g g Didot

g Bodoni

modern cousins While the influences of the work of Firmin Didot and John Baskerville can be spotted in Bodoni, the subtle differences in individual characters as well as design choices across the entire font cause these typefaces to have different feelings and usabilities.

While Baskerville's work led the charge in creating dramatically contrasted letterforms, his designs continued to respond in some ways to a calligraphic basis. Meanwhile, Didot's work, although predating Bodoni's, can be seen as the more radical of the two, with even greater contrast and precisely cut hairline serifs, with none of the subtle bracketing implemented by Bodoni. It is perhaps Bodoni's unique location between the aggressive radicalization of Didot and the more conservative voice of Baskerville that has allowed Bodoni to endure in such a venerated status as the voice of typographic sophistication. Much like the fashionable products it advertises, Bodoni aspires to be daringly unconventional, but never gauche or overwrought.

Each 'g' features a ball terminal on the ear, but vary in approach to the size and shape of the upper and lower counter.

Baskerville

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Didot

Bodoni

Baskerville

Xx Xx Xx Here, Didot, Bodoni, and Baskerville are all set at the same size. The x-height and cap-height, however, vary slightly, causing the number of lines each typeface takes up to vary even for the same amount of text.

Although the differences between the three typefaces are slight and perhaps most easily identified in quirks of individual characters, the choices made by each typographer subtly affect the tone and visual weight of each typeface when used in longer strings of text. The extreme contrast found in Didot gives it slightly more negative space between characters, causing it to read lighter but more frenetically than Bodoni, while Baskerville's more balanced stroke weight gives it a darker typographic texture.

Although the differences between the three typefaces are slight and perhaps most easily identified in quirks of individual characters, the choices made by each typographer subtly affect the tone and visual weight of each typeface when used in longer strings of text. The extreme contrast found in Didot gives it slightly more negative space between characters, causing it to read lighter but more frenetically than Bodoni, while Baskerville's more balanced stroke weight gives it a darker typographic texture.

Although the differences between the three typefaces are slight and perhaps most easily identified in quirks of individual characters, the choices made by each typographer subtly affect the tone and visual weight of each typeface when used in longer strings of text. The extreme contrast found in Didot gives it slightly more negative space between characters, causing it to read lighter but more frenetically than Bodoni, while Baskerville's more balanced stroke weight gives it a darker typographic texture.

Q QQ

The 'Q's vary the most between these three fonts, and serve as an easy identifier for the aspiring type nerd.

LEFT: Didot MIDDLE: Bodoni RIGHT: Baskerville

f f

The 'f's of Didot and Bodoni have hooked terminals, meaning they curve back towards the ascender, while the the terminal in Baskerville floats away from the vertical stroke.

RRR

The leg in Didot's capital R curves at both edges, while that of Bodoni uses a ball terminal. Baskerville's leg maintains fairly even weight, thickening slightly in a more caligraphic style.

The terminals vary slightly in treatment, as illustrated in the 'l's. Didot's serif is completely flat on the top, while Bodoni cups upwards slightly. Baskerville's terminal has a similar upward motion, as well as slight bracketing on the lower curved edge.

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using bodoni

“The Bodoni type style is not an all-purpose workhorse.

It is, rather, a highstrung thoroughbred.”

ALLAN HALEY

Bodoni falls into the ‘modern’ or ‘Didone’ categories, with geometric construction and radical weight shift, choices that seemed rebellious compared to their more organic predecessors. Although initially designed for book type and long form copy, Bodoni is known by contemporary standards as being exceptionally difficult to read in such formats, and is now preferred for display text. Although it is difficult to use in small point sizes, Bodoni lends text copy a sophisticated tone, and creates confident, tasteful headlines. Bodoni reads best at large sizes that maintain the readability of the vulnerable serifs and hairlines, and increased leading emphasizes the letterforms’ verticality. At the proper size, the extreme contrast between strokes and the deftly crafted serifs allow each letterform to stand alone as an iconic image, a stately aristocrat, a typographic celebrity.

THOROUGHBRED. 10

The ratio between Bodoni's strong vertical strokes and its hairline serifs in this font is approximately 10 to 1.

For comparison, the familiar Times New Roman has a ratio of approximately 2 to 1.

THE FORMATION WORLD TOUR

EYONCÉ

Works Cited “Bodoni – Giambattista Bodoni.” ODU Graphic Design Theory. N.p., 04 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

“A Brief History of Type — I Love Typography.” I Love Typography RSS. N.p., 29 May 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Christensen, Thomas. “Bauer Bodoni.” The Typehead Chronicles. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Garfield, Simon. Just My Type: A Book about Fonts. 2nd ed. N.p.: Profile, 2011. Print.

“Giambattista Bodoni | Biography, Designs and Facts.”

Famous Graphic Designers. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

“Moderns.” Families of Type. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Three, Number. “Bodoni.” Illuminating Letters 3 (2009): n. pag. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

This book was made by Nicole Fox in the Spring of 2016 for Typography 1 at Washington University in St. Louis.

The body copy is set in 9 pt. Avenir Book. Headers are set in Bodoni 72 Smallcaps, and captions are set in Avenir Italics. Pull Quotes are set in Bodoni MT Italic and Bodoni MT Regular.

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Bodoni IS A MODERN TYPEFACE THAT HAILS FROM

1790s Italy

Although its readability struggles in large amounts of copy, Bodoni works well when used with generous leading that gives its complex forms space to breathe. Today it is almost exclusively used in large typographic moments such as headers and logos, and is a popular choice in the fashion industry and on the slick shiny pages of glamorous magazines. When used correctly, Bodoni lends large typographic elements a powerful sense of

elegance

and in certain fonts, a bit of

JAZZ