Sample of clarendon font series#

Remaining a popular choice for over a century, many of todayвЂ™s most recognized logotypes are based on the Clarendon style.Д¬larendon was also used in the United States on National Park traffic signs, until being recently replaced by NPS Rawlinson Roadway. It was also marketed by the Stephenson Blake foundry as ConsortВ in the 1950s. The typeface was released by Monotype in 1935, and reworked into its modern incarnation in 1953 by Hermann Eidenbenz. Unrelated to type design, Robert Besely later went on to become the Lord Mayor of London in 1869. It provided the attention-getting boldness to highlight a word or phrase, yet at the same time was compact and easier to read than the fat faces and antiques of the period,вЂќ says HiH Retrofonts.Д«ecoming a popular wood type, Clarendon is also notable as a common choice on вЂ WANTEDвЂ™ signs of the old west. вЂњThe reason it was so widely copied is simple: it was extremely useful. Many variations of the typeface, including the popular French Clarendon, appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century. Using his own typeface, this is how Besley reacted:Д¬larendon is considered the first to design a вЂ related boldвЂ™ for emphasizing text (as seen above). Unfortunately, the patent expired three years later, with many competing foundries quickly copying its designВ once the hold was released.

Wanted (dead or alive)Д¬larendon became hugely popular, leading Besley to register the design under Britain's Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. The original Clarendon is considered a condensed face today, visible in typefaces such as Besley Clarendon by HiH RetrofontsВ (a foundry that specialized in digitizing historical fonts). Printed in Fann Street Foundry's 1873 Type Specimen Book They have been made with great care, so that while they are distinct and striking, they possess a very graceful outline, avoiding on one hand the clumsy inelegance of the Antique or Egyptian character, hitherto in use among printers, and on the other, the appearance of an ordinary Roman letter thickened by long use under the machine.

The most useful founts that a printer can have in his office are the Clarendons: they make a striking word or line either in a hand bill or title page, and do not overwhelm the other lines. Notable as one of the last new developments in nineteenth century typography, the letterforms represented a significant change from the slab-serif Antiques and Egyptians that were so popular in that time. Named after OxfordвЂ™s Clarendon Press, the popular slab-serif was created in 1845 by Robert Besley for theВ Fann Street Foundry.

Sample of clarendon font series#

For the fifth installment in our вЂKnow your typeвЂ™ series we look to Clarendon-anВ influentialВ typeface that helped tame the Wild West, and the first to ever be patented.