From the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s to modernized society of the 1900s to present day, cultural shifts and advances paved the way for typographic evolution. As society shifted from the revolutionary machine age to cutting edge technology in the 20th and 21st century, the world of typography strove to achieve the perfect letterform for its time and place in culture. Throughout typographic history, there were changes in technology, the kinds of typographers who created the new typefaces. Through the centuries, the typographic aim was to establish a visual style for written communication that met the needs of the time period, as well as suited the current culture.
THE MACHINE AGE BEGINS
With the invention of the first steam …show more content…
In fact, in 1803, Robert Thorne produced the first “fat face,” meaning type that had vertical stems, which were much thicker than they were tall. Thorne’s fat face was appropriately named “Elephant.” The fat face type was bold and had serifs; it was the first kind of attention-grabbing typeface for Advertising. Boldface type, also allowed for a bold, distinctive appearance that created visual …show more content…
This era began with the creations of Vincent Figgins in 1815, who created the first Egyptian, or Slab Serif typefaces had limited variation of thick and thin strokes, heavy squared off serifs, large x-heights, and vertical stress in rounded strokes. While most of these typefaces were very bold and decorative, some were more refined and remain popular today, such as Clarendon. Clarendon is one of the most popular of the Slab Serif typefaces, and was copied by most of the 19th century foundries. The typeface has a simple, bold design that also met the needs of commercial popularity than aesthetics. A year after Vincent Figgins’s introduction of a Slab Serif to the world of typography, William Caslon IV, William Caslon’s great grandson, cut the first Sans Serif font, called it English Egyptian. It was called “grotesque” and “gothic,” a style of architecture that went through a revival at the time. Although the Sans Serif was made in the 19th century, it did not really pick up in typography until the 20th