2022
Before the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, books were written by hand. Gutenberg’s letterforms were based on the Blackletter calligraphy that was used to write manuscripts. But it limited the amount of text that could fit on a single page. And it’s not that readable.
Romam Typeface is a simpler font than Blackletter, it’s able to fit more text on a single page.
The Italic Typeface is an iteration of the roman typeface, which allows more textual content to fit on the page. While initially invented as a space-saving measure, italics are still used to emphasize text. In the image above, we can see the visual eye-catching feel of italicized text in the text.
Old Style is a typeface with more contrast between the strokes of each letterform, making the letterforms more distinguishable from one another at a glance and thus further improving readability.
Transitional Typefaces was created by John Baskerville. This typeface was blacker than that of his contemporaries. In this image of the Transitional font, we can easily see a clear contrast between the thickness of the Transitional strokes and the other fonts. It is indeed darker and more visible, especially during the period when the printing press was in use.
Modern serifs contrast extremes between strokes, a contrast that showcased the quality of the metal-casting work done by the respective companies, as thinner strokes required much better craftsmanship.
The primary characteristic of Serif Type is the lack of curvature on the serifs. Sans Serif Type in serifs were minimal or missing entirely. They quickly grew in popularity early in the 19th century, alongside the rise in printed advertising.
Early digital fonts were bitmaps, which resulted in less-than-ideal readability at small sizes. Then TrueType fonts were created, which allowed for both computer displays and output devices like printers to use a single file, resulting in better readability at the same time as reducing file sizes.