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Overlooked Typefaces

JA February 21

Continuing with type-nerdishness, Imprint mag have written a neat little post on overlooked typefaces.

There is, for example, Icone, designed by Adrian Frutiger (Linotype, 1980):

Icone is one of a trio of innovative types—the others being Iridium (1972) and Breughel (1978)—that Frutiger designed in the 1970s as part of his exploration of what was possible once type was no longer bound by the restrictions of metal casting and composing. It is the most fascinating of the three.

Icone is a monotone design distinguished by exaggerated asymmetric flaring stems that place it—even more uncomfortably than Optima—between a serif and a sans serif face. It also has a large x-height that lends it a squat appearance. Together, these features give text set in Icone an unusual color and rhythm with a strong horizontal feel. At small sizes it is not only very readable but pleasantly lively in a way unmatched by sans serifs.

icone

And, also, Koch Antiqua by Rudolf Koch (Klingspor, 1922):

Koch Antiqua, sold in England as Locarno and in the United States as Eve or Eve Antiqua, has been available since the late 1980s from Adobe/Linotype, Bitstream and Alphabets but not as a complete family. The Adobe/Linotype version only has the roman while the Bitstream version has the bold weight as well. The Alphabets version, which is no longer available, had light, regular, demibold and bold weights—two more than the original design. Phaistos by David Berlow and Just van Rossum (Font Bureau, 1989–1991), an ugly reimagining of Koch Antiqua, consists of roman, italic and bold. The most complete family available is Eva Antiqua by Jim Spiece (Spiece Graphics, 2001) which has light and heavy weights with their italic companions and, oddly enough, Paramount Ultra and Paramount Black as well.

The complete Koch Antiqua family was, like many of Koch’s typefaces, peculiar in its make-up. It eventually consisted of Koch Antiqua (a light roman) Grobe Koch Antiqua (a bolder weight), Koch Antiqua Kursiv (a light italic—almost an oblique—with decorative capitals), Koch Antiqua Oberlängen (excessively large capitals and ascenders as companions to Koch Antiqua), Zierbuchstaben (decorative capitals) for both Koch Antiqua and Koch Antiqua Kursiv, and Initialen. The latter, created by Koch’s associate Willi Harwerth, were the oversize capitals intertwined with floral designs.

Koch-Antiqua-specimen


 

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Comments

by phill
21 Feb 11 at 18:30

Is it just me, or are the js and Qs in Schadow Light just lovely for their angles?

...
by Jess
22 Feb 11 at 9:25

Not just you at all – in agreement.

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