Originally compiled by J.L. Frazier, this long-running Inland Printer feature was revived in the June 1963 by Alexander S. Lawson. He contributed thirteen examinations in all on a quarterly basis until Archie Provan assumed authorship of the feature in September 1966. This coincided with Lawson’s departure from the staff of The Inland Printer to assume his editorship of the “Typographically Speaking” column of Printing Impressions.

An introduction prefaced the first installment and is presented below the table.  Generally speaking, “Typographic Scoreboard” was most often preceded by the “Composing Room.”

A Revival: Typographic Scoreboard

Popular IP feature comes to life again with statistical study of advertising typefaces in an issue of New Yorker magazine survey will be made quarterly.

In re-introducing the Typographic Scoreboard—for so many years a popular feature of Inland Printer/American Lithographer as compiled by J.L. Frazier—a few changes may be noted. Instead of restricting the study of current type use to two magazines, the field will he broadened to include several periodicals, weekly as well as monthly.

It will be noted that the method of classifying the types has been revised. While it may be pointed out that the classification of types is not at all standardized, the present compiler believes that the system used here is well enough understood by most printers to be practical.

The first three groups, Oldstyle, Transitional, and Modern, encompass the so-called roman types.

The Sans-serif group has been divided into the modernized unseriffed faces, perhaps best represented by the Futura pattern, and the traditional Sans-serifs, called gothics by American printers.

In a similar fashion, the Square Serifs are separated into the standard group with unbracketed serifs and those in which the serifs are joined to the stem of the letter with a filet or bracket (Clarendons).

Finally, the last group is simply listed as Decorative, into which go types which are structurally so different that they do not fit in any of the other categories.

The reader will no doubt he aware of the difficulty of pinpointing a particular type when there are perhaps several versions available. In the case of photolettering, there is no effort to separate the method of composition, hut only the style of the type.

This introduction first appeared in the “Typographic Scoreboard” column of the June 1963 issue of The Inland Printer.