This blog is a warehouse for design inspiration. The authors of this blog are all current students enrolled in Assistant Prof. Newton's ARTC2303 Typography class at Texas State University San Marcos.
The typeface Jenson was invented in the 1400s by Nicolas Jenson. This roman typeface later on served as the basis for many fonts, the most widely used being Times New Roman and Bembo. Nicolas Jenson was born in Sommevoire, France in 1420 and was a master printer and typographer. During his early career in Tours working as Master of the French Royal mint, King Charles the VII ordered him in 1458 to relocate to Mainz to study the art of movable type and return to France with the technology. Jenson, however, would never return. Who Jenson studied under for three years is still a major question. Some speculate that it may have been Gutenberg, but there were several well-known printers that he could have apprenticed for. By 1461 Jenson had not returned to France. King Charles had recently died and it is unlikely that Jenson wanted to live under the rule of King Louis XI. He moved to Venice in 1467 and spent the rest of his life there developing over 150 fonts. It was in Venice that he used the basis of typographic principles to create his first Roman typeface. Many hail Nicolas Jenson as the creator of the first true Roman style that would later become known as “Venetian Oldstyle”. The typeface Jenson can be described as an overall summary of Nicolas’s 150 designs. As a roman typeface, it is loosely based on the inscriptional capitals used in ancient Rome. The typeface itself features a wide range of forms and inconsistencies that make letters stand out from each other and cause the font to be highly readable. The serifs are angular instead of rounded, while the bowls of most lowercase letters are boxy rather than circular. The harmonious proportion between the letters makes it a very balanced typeface, and evokes renaissance ideals.
As far as a concept goes for the book, I was thinking about maybe doing a literal interpretation of the font’s roman inspiration. Perhaps illustrate columns with the different font families “carved” into the tops. Maybe a Jenson toga party, who knows!
The typeface Jenson was invented in the 1400s by Nicolas Jenson. This roman typeface later on served as the basis for many fonts, the most widely used being Times New Roman and Bembo.
ReplyDeleteNicolas Jenson was born in Sommevoire, France in 1420 and was a master printer and typographer. During his early career in Tours working as Master of the French Royal mint, King Charles the VII ordered him in 1458 to relocate to Mainz to study the art of movable type and return to France with the technology. Jenson, however, would never return.
Who Jenson studied under for three years is still a major question. Some speculate that it may have been Gutenberg, but there were several well-known printers that he could have apprenticed for. By 1461 Jenson had not returned to France. King Charles had recently died and it is unlikely that Jenson wanted to live under the rule of King Louis XI. He moved to Venice in 1467 and spent the rest of his life there developing over 150 fonts.
It was in Venice that he used the basis of typographic principles to create his first Roman typeface. Many hail Nicolas Jenson as the creator of the first true Roman style that would later become known as “Venetian Oldstyle”.
The typeface Jenson can be described as an overall summary of Nicolas’s 150 designs. As a roman typeface, it is loosely based on the inscriptional capitals used in ancient Rome. The typeface itself features a wide range of forms and inconsistencies that make letters stand out from each other and cause the font to be highly readable. The serifs are angular instead of rounded, while the bowls of most lowercase letters are boxy rather than circular. The harmonious proportion between the letters makes it a very balanced typeface, and evokes renaissance ideals.
As far as a concept goes for the book, I was thinking about maybe doing a literal interpretation of the font’s roman inspiration. Perhaps illustrate columns with the different font families “carved” into the tops. Maybe a Jenson toga party, who knows!
Travis...had a hard time finding yours with a comment on a post that had nothing.
ReplyDeleteGood research. As for concept...toga party...um...no. The Roman columns are fine but what is the purpose? Is it a tour book? a history guide?