TypeSpecimenBook

Gill’s House of Design

Gill’s House of DesignGill’s House of Design

t

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t Bold Italic, 42.5 pt

Ultra Bold, 100 pt

Bold Italic, 100 pt

Bold

Ital

ic, 1

3 pt

Gill’s House of DesignGill’s House of Design

a-zABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

abcd

efgh

ijklm

nopq

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text by Robert Bringhurst

published by Aracely Dovalina

Bold Italic, 85 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Bold Condensed, 28.6 pt

Bold

Con

dens

ed, 1

4.2

pt

Ultra Bold, 237 pt

Bold Condensed, 15.5 pt

G lCONTENT

Gill Sans Std Point Type Designed by: Eric Gill

1–2:Typography exists to honor content

3–4:There is style beyond style

7–8:Analzing Letterform

5–6:Read the text before designing it

9–10:Typographic attention to incidental detailsi l

Bold, 35 pt

Bold, 15 pt

Bold, 15 pt

Bold, 15 pt

Bold, 15 pt

Bold, 15 pt

Extr

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00 p

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Extr

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Extra Bold Display, 13 pt

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

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life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

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Le

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of th

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n.

One of the principles of durable typography is

always legibility; another is something more than legibility: some earned or unearned interest that gives its living energy to the page. It takes various forms

and goes by various names, including...

serenitylaughter

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

eir

ow

n.

Le

tter

s hav

e a

life a

nd

dig

nity

of th

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n.grace joy

Writing begins with the making of footprints, the

leaving of signs. Like speaking, it is a perfectly natural act which humans have carried

to complex extremes. The typographer’s task has always

been to add a somewhat unnatural edge, a protective

shell of artificial order, to the power of the writing hand.

liveliness

Typography must often draw attention to itself before it will be read.

Yet in order to be read, it must relinquish the

attention it has drawn.

Typography at its best is a visual form of language

linking timelessness and time.

Typography exists to honor content.Typography exists to honor content.

&

1

Bold Italic, 30 pt

Extra Bold, 13.5 pt

Bold Italic,14.3 pt

Regular, 16/19.2 pt

Bold Italic, 22/26.4 ptRegular, 16/19.2 pt

Bold, 16 pt

Bold Extra Condensed, 90 pt


Bold Extra Condensed, 90 pt Bold Extra Condensed, 90 pt



Bold Condensed, 16/19.2 pt

Shadowed, 26 pt

Ultra Bold, 16.5 pt

¤ (0

123456789) ¤

In a well–made book,

where designer, compositor, and printer have all done their jobs, no matter how

many thousands of lines and pages

the latters are alive. They dance

in their seats. Sometimes they

rise and dance in the margins and

aisles. ther

e is

a style

beyo

nd style

.

Literary style, says Walter Benjamin, “is the power to move freely in the length and breadth of linguistic thinking without slipping into banality.” Typographic style, in this large and intelligent sense of the word, does not mean any particular style my style or your style, or Neoclassical or Baroque style – but the power to move freely through the whole domain of typography, and to function at every step in a way that is graceful and vital instead of banal. It means typography that can walk familiar ground without sliding into platitudes, typography that responds to new conditions with innovative solutions, and typography that does not vex the reader with its own originality in a self-conscious search for praise. innovat

ive solutio

ns

{ }123456789Typography

is to literature as musical performance

is to composition: an essential act of

interpretation, full of endless

opportunities for insight or obtuseness.

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Typo

grap

hy a

t its b

est is a slow performing art

worthy of the same informed appreciation

that we sometimes give to musical performances,

and capable of giving similar nourishment and

pleasure in return.

3

Shadowed, 40 pt

Shadowed, 120 pt

Condensed, 60 pt

Con

dens

ed, 4

9 pt

Light, 13/15 pt

Extra

Bold Disp

lay, 42

pt

Bold Extra Condensed, 15.75/18.9 pt

Italic, 20/24 pt

Bold Italic, 28 pt

Extra Bold Diisplay, 30 pt

Extra Bold Display, 16/19.2 pt

Bold, 30 pt

there is style beyond style.

t

the first task of the typographer is therefore to read

and understand the text

the second task is to analyze and map it. only then can typographic interpretation begin.

Only then can typographic interpretation begin.

If the text has many layers or sections, it may need not only heads and

subheads but running heads as well, reappearing

on every page or two–page spread, to remind

readers which intellectual neighborhood they

happen to be visiting.

ABCDEFG

HIJK

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XYZ

12

34

56

78

9

abcdefghijk

lmnopqrstuvwxyz

ABCDEFG

HIJK

LMNOPQRST

UVW

XYZ

12

34

56

78

9

abcdefghijk

lmnopqrstuvwxyz

Read the text before designing it.

Discover the outer logic of the typography in the inner logic of the text.

A novel often purports to be a seamless river of words from beginning to end, or a series of unnamed scenes.

Research papers, textbooks, cookbooks and other works of nonfiction rarely look so smooth. They are often

layered with chapter heads, section heads, subheads, block quotations, footnotes, endnotes, lists and

illustrative examples. Such features may be obscure in the manuscript, even if they are clear in the author’s

mind. For the sake of the reader, each requires its own typographic identity and form. Every layer and level of the text must be consistent, distinct, yet (usually)

harmonious in form.

5

Bold, 20/24 pt

Regular, 18/21.6 pt

Bold Italic, 15.5/22 pt

Bold Condensed, 13.5/16.2 pt

Condensed, 24/28.8 pt Condensed, 24/28.8 pt

Bold Extra Condensed, 35 ptLight Shadow

ed, 15 pt

Regular, 100 pt

Ultr

a Bo

ld, 3

00 p

t

Italic, 20/24 pt

The typographer’s one essential task is to interpret and communicate the text.

Its tone, its tempo, its logical structure, its physical size, all

determine the possibilities of its typographic form. The

typographer is to the text as the theatrical director

to the script, or the musician to the score

**

the typographer must analyze and reveal the inner order of the text, as a musician must reveal the inner order of the music he performs.

But the reader, like the listener, should in retrospect be able to

close her eyes and see what lies inside the words she has been

reading.The typographic performance must reveal, not replace, the inner composition.m

ust a

s a

rule

do

thei

r wor

k an

d di

sapp

ear.

Typographers, like other artists and craftsmen

- musicians, composers and authors as well

chara

cter

Letterforms have

tim

bre

ton

e

just as words and sentences do.The moment a text

and a typeface are chosen, two streams of thought, two rhythmical

systems, two sets of habits, or if you like,

two personalities, intersect. They need

not live together contentedly forever,

but they must not as a rule collide. e

Letters are microscopic works

of art as well as useful symbols.

They mean what they are as well

as what they say.

e

Writing merges with typography, and the text becomes its own illustration.

7

Bold Extra Condensed, 30/37 pt

Condensed, 25/30 pt

Bold Condensed, 20/24 pt

Ultra Bold Condensed, 22/26.4 pt

Italic, 15/18 pt

Ligh

t It

alic

, 29.

5 pt

Bold, 40 pt

Ultr

a Bo

ld, 3

0 pt

Extr

a Bo

ld D

ispl

ay, 3

0 pt

Extr

a Bo

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0 pt

Bold Italic, 27.5 pt

Regular, 16.5 pt; Italic, 16.5/19.8 pt

Light Italic, 15/18 pt

Ultra Bold, 300 pt

Ultra Bold, 100 pt

jjGive full typographic attention

especially to incidental details.

invite the reader into the text

reveal the tenor and meaning of the

textclarify the

structure

and the

order of

the text

induce a state of

energetic repose, which is the ideal condition

for reading

““ ””

typo

grap

hy, li

ke a

mus

ical

perfo

rman

ce o

r a

thea

trica

l pr

oduc

tion,

shou

ld s

erve

two

othe

r en

ds.

It should honor the text for its own sake — always assuming that the text is worth a typographer’s

troublelink the

text with

other

existing

elementsjjIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR

abcdeffghijkmlkjihnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcde123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789

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houl

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and

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*

9

Extra Bold Display, 20/33 pt


Shadowed, 23 pt

Ultra Bold Condensed, 20/24 pt

Extra Bold Display, 16/24 pt Ultra Bold, 15/25 pt Ultra Bold, 15.5/22 pt

Ital

ic, 2

0/25

pt

Light Italic, 20/24 pt

Bold

Ital

ic, 2

0/25

pt

Regular, 150 pt

Bold, 20 pt

Ultra Bold, 175 pt

Extra Bold, 150 pt

iColophon

i

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 Z1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z



ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bold Condensed, 15 pt

Bold, 15 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt


Ultra Bold, 15 pt

{

{Typeface by Eric Gill

Text by Robert Bringhurst

Printed in TH108 5550 HP Color

Design & binding by Aracely Dovalina

Gill Sans Std

Ultra Bold, 50 pt

Ultr

a Bo

ld, 2

00 p

t

Ultr

a Bo

ld, 1

00 p

t

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Extra Bold, 15 pt

Bold Condensed, 250 pt

Gill’s House of Design

Documents

TypeSpecimenBook