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Serif: Modern

Stephen Coles
S
Last edited May 02, 2014
winter
illustrative
Whatever you do, don’t regurgitate

Modern typefaces refer to designs that bear similarities to Bodoni and other Didone faces, which were first created during the late 1700s. Ed Benguiat developed ITC Modern No. 216 in 1982 for the International Typeface Corporation (ITC). Showing a high degree of contrast between thick and thin strokes, as well as a large x-height, this revival is more suited to advertising display purposes than... Read More

rocket
japanophilia
Braise in soy, burnt sneak away

The Ingeborg family was designed with the intent of producing a readable modern face. Its roots might well be historic, but its approach is very contemporary. Ingeborg’s text styles are functional and discreet. This was achieved without losing the classic characteristics of a Didone typeface, which are the vertical stress and the high contrast. The display styles on the other hand are... Read More

vortex
zygapophysis
Work to live, don’t live to work

A commission from a publishing house for a novel by Hans Christian Andersen led to the creation of FF Holmen. The small family includes the core set of styles: Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. FF Holmen Regular includes a large set of ligatures. There is also a titling style: FF Holmen Headline. Since the novel is set in the late 1820s, the brief was to create a neoclassical face, but... Read More

jungle
enthusiastic
No kicking of balls please

The Century Old Style family was modeled on Century Expanded, which had been cut in 1900. Similar weights and proportions were maintained, but the letter shapes were made more elegant by the introduction of a number of old style characteristics. The Century Old Style family is a useful text design that offers good legibility and economy.

jungle
microphysics
Design munificent assemblaged

The Century Old Style family was modeled on Century Expanded, which had been cut in 1900. Similar weights and proportions were maintained, but the letter shapes were made more elegant by the introduction of a number of old style characteristics. The Century Old Style family is a useful text design that offers good legibility and economy.

replay
japanophilia
Don’t treat me like a potato

The initial concept behind FF Acanthus was to produce a “modern” neoclassical Roman that would have a less stark appearance than most French Didot-esque faces. FF Acanthus Regular takes direct cues from the Henri Didot typeface used in “De Imitatione Christi,” published 1788, but itself introduces more warmth and subtlety – this is especially noticeable at larger sizes. At smaller sizes, the... Read More

replay
japanophilia
You never must sausage a place

Though Albert Boton designed these in 1974 for the Hollenstein collection, what later became FF Cellini only existed as phototype until the 90s. Boton designed the family’s regular in digital during that decade, and added the italic in 2002. For its release, Boton completed the medium and bold weights, as well as a set of small caps for the regular weight. He also drew a separate, two-style... Read More

jungle
hypothenuses
No selling delayed mildew food

Viktor Solt-Bittner began FF Danubia with a study of typefaces from the 18th century. He experimented with the typical elements of neoclassical type – like the abrupt changes in contrast from hairlines to thicker strokes – developing them further, and redrawing them. At times, he departed from these models, for example while defining the basic italic forms. The lower case letters s, v, w, and x... Read More

rocket
conceptional
Everything starts from a dot

An underappreciated serif from a guy known better for his sans serifs. The stems are full of life and motion, unlike many classic Didones.

Iridium™ was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1972 for Linotype. It is in the "modern" style like Bodoni or Didot, in that it has the... Read More

Edward Benguiat
ITC 1982
Michael Hochleitner
Typejockeys 2009
Per Baasch Jørgensen
FontFont 2007
Garrett Boge and Firmin Didot
LetterPerfect
Chauncey H. Griffith
Bitstream
Vladimir Yefimov
ParaType
Jackson Burke
Bitstream
Linn Boyd Benton, Morris Fuller Benton and Monotype.Design Studio
Monotype 1894
Linn Boyd Benton, Morris Fuller Benton and Monotype.Design Studio
Monotype 1894
Akira Kobayashi
FontFont 1998
Albert Boton
FontFont 2003
Viktor Solt-Bittner
FontFont 2002
Gustav F. Schroeder
Bitstream 1890

Shinntype
Gustav F. Schroeder
Bitstream 1890
Heinrich Wilhelm Hoffmeister
Bitstream
Edward Benguiat
Bitstream
Adrian Frutiger
Linotype 1972