• Type founders and composing machine manufacturers expanding series
• About 100 gothics other than modern sans serifs in constant use today
• Many printers find it hard to tell gothics from modern sans serifs

For the past few years advertising designers have been on a “gothic” jag. There appears to be no indication of its letting up, in spite of occasional wishful suggestions from traditionalists who yearn for a return to the classic roman types. A recent issue of Life, for example, showed gothics being used in 45 out of 75 full-page ads, mostly for display.

As a result of this continued interest, the type founders and composing machine manufacturers are hurrying to fill out and expand their series of gothic types, even though a glance through the various specimen books indicates a plentiful array already in existence.

All told, there are over 100 different gothics in use today. This figure does not take into consideration the more modern sans serif letters which stem from the Bauhaus experiments of the 1920’s, such as Futura, Spartan, etc.

The introduction of the wide, or extended gothics, particularly Franklin Gothic Wide and Venus, which occurred about four or five years ago, undoubtedly sparked the continued interest in the gothic letter form. Their successful use prompted demands from type users for variations in set width, but maintaining the design features of the original. This puts the gothics into a family group, and certainly broadens the usefulness of the type, particularly for commercial printing and advertising.

Bauer’s Venus Popular in U.S.

The very successful Venus type, case by the German firm of Bauer, had been a much used family of gothics in Europe for many years, but was relatively unknown in this country until the extended version was brought our in the extrabold weight.

This face caught on immediately. The enthusiastic demand for it prompted the foundry to export the light and bold weights, and subsequently the italic in the normal set width. At present a condensed version is being offered in three weights.

Ever since Cheltenham became the first type to be successful as both a foundry face (ATF) and a slug machine type (Linotype), and thereupon sprang into a dynasty with dozens of variations, the type “family” has been popular. The concept, therefore, of providing such variety is well established and offers dividends to both founder and user.

However, the user may be heard to complain, on occasion, as the necessity of purchasing and providing space for a broad range of types which may subsequently go out of style too soon to completely repay the investment in them.

The well-known Swiss foundry, Haas, has made available for the American market, through Amsterdam Continental, the gothic series Anonce Grotesque which is similar co Venus.

American Type Founders produced Franklin Gothic Wide at the same time Bauer offered Venus. This letter is an addition to the widely used Franklin Gothic family, available in several widths, all of one weight, extrabold. Other than this, the answer by American firms to the European imports has been accomplished in most instances by the addition of extended versions in the sans serif families.

For example, Monotype cut Twentieth Century Ultrabold Extended, Ludlow added Black Extended to its Tempo series, and Baltimore marketed Airport Broad. These types, however, are more readily classified with the modern sans serifs and are not strictly gothics, such as those under discussion here.

Easy to Tell Difference

It is not very easy to answer in a pat phrase the question, “What is the difference between a gothic and a sans serif?” The printer who gives a customer a gothic when a sans serif is requested will quickly learn that the “difference” is the cost of resetting the job, but there are certain design differences which make it relatively simple to distinguish between the two.

The gothic is a 19th century type, with many of the standard features of roman types, except for the lack of serif structure. For example, there is generally a slight contrast in stroke thickness of individual letters. At the joining of curved stroke to straight, as in b, d, m, n, etc., the curved stroke thins as in standard roman. In addition, the roman form of the lower-case a, g, and t stays the same.

In the sans serifs, stemming from the revival of 1925–30, the monotone pattern is more constant, with little or no contrast in the weight of the stroke. The basic design of each letter is of more careful proportion than in the gothics, and the form of such letters as a and g adhere more closely to the written form, although the custom of founders in supplying alternate characters somewhat confuses the matter of selection.

The only other wide gothics made available by suppliers in this country are two versions of the European model, recently announced by Baltimore Type Founders, called Noontime (bold weight) and Nighttime (extrabold weight). These names suggest that inspiration in type naming may be at a low ebb and prompts the thought chat the lightface will be tided Morningtime.

Another gothic group which has seen a great deal of service by American printers since its design by Morris Benton for ATF in 1908, is News Gothic. It has always been popular, but on occasion it runs hot with advertisers. Such a rise in normal use occurred about 1947 and again a year or so ago.

When a type is cut by competing firms, it is a sure indication that printers and users are applying pressure. In about 1950, Ludlow introduced a version of the Morris type, and called it Record Gothic. This year the Extra-Condensed was added. About two years ago Mergenthaler produced Trade Gothic; in 1956 Intertype Corp. also brought out a News Gothic.

Since the Monotype copy was made in the 1930’s, all of the major suppliers in this country now offer News Gothic, a certain indication of the continuing popularity of Benton’s design. Type-conscious printers may have noted that all of the preliminary advertising for the new Edsel car was set in this type.

Probably the workhorse of all the gothic types is Copperplate Gothic, designed by Frederic W. Goudy in 1905 for ATF. Along with its “square-headed” cousins, Bank Gothic and Stationer’s Gothic, this face is a standard in almost every composing room for a variety of small job printing. A few years ago, advertisers began to utilize Copperplate in blow-ups for display, prompting ATF to issue in 30 and 36-point, a version called Steelplate Gothic.

About three years ago in an attempt to cater to the current demand, the well established Berthold Type Foundry, Berlin, Germany, issued a specimen showing of a gothic family called Standard. It is available in five different weights, and in addition to the normal set-width, a condensed and an extended version.

Family Grouping Desirable

The founders are all anxious to provide the family grouping so well established in the sans serif series. From a designer’s viewpoint this grouping is very satisfactory, allowing him a great deal of freedom in the planning of the typographic treatment of a piece of printing. The wide use of sans serifs over the past 30 years has made designers conscious of the visual interest inherent in the contrasts of weight and set width, but at the same time maintaining a relationship difficult to attain with types of varying style.

A glance at current European publications indicates that experiments in the gothic form are continuing, frequently in combination with strong rules placed vertically and horizontally. Those printers who recall the jazz typography of the 1920’s which emphasized black types, rules, bullets, and cubes will be relieved to know that the current crop in this genre is much cleaner and neater typographically. Since American designers have developed the habit of looking across the Atlantic to “see what’s cooking,” we may very well be headed for a similar design trend, with continuing dependence on the gothic types.

This article first appeared in “The Composing Room” column of the January 1958 issue of The Inland Printer.