Garza - Didot

History and Bio

The Didot typeface draws inspiration from John Baskerville's efforts to increase stroke contrast, while adding a more condensed armature. Unlike other modern typefaces such as Bodoni and Baskerville, Firmin Didot, the creator of the typeface, produced this linotype with unbracketed, purely horizontal serifs rather than with gentle, sloped serifs. The typeface's strong and clear forms display both the objective and rational characteristics that are representative of their time, as well as the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment, offering both a classic and elegant look and feel in its aesthetic.

The linotype, Didot, typeface was first created in 1784 by the French printer, Firmin Didot, who had belonged to a family of highly well-known French designers and type producers. The Didot Family were active as designers for around 100 years in the 18th and 19th centuries, containing the likes of printers, publishers, typeface designers, inventors and intellectuals. The Didot typeface was the first modern roman typeface and was designed by Firmin Didot 1784. Pierre Didot, Firmin’s brother and typeface printer, published a document containing Firmin’s various typefaces. Along with Giambattista Bodoni, Firmin Didot is credited with designing and establishing the "modern" classification of typefaces. Throughout his life, he was a punch cutter, type founder, printer, publisher and author. By 1783, at age nineteen, Didot had cut his first typefaces and reworked his father’s roman alphabets. In 1797, Didot was granted a patent for his developments within the field of stereotype printing and his typefaces were published in his brother Pierre Didot’s “Editions du Louvre” series. Firmin Didot was born in 1764 in Paris, France and died in 1836 in Mesnil-sur-I’Estree, France.

The Didot typeface remained the standard typeface in France for an entire century and is still widely used in France today. It is described as "neoclassical," and is evocative of the Age of Enlightenment. "Didot" remains to be France's greatest contribution to the world of type design.

Concept:

I’m thinking my concept will be an attempt to execute a TV Guide listing/information about a French television series/sitcom on CBS called “Didot,” similar to Seinfeld. [Firmin] Didot is the main character and the characteristics of the font will be reflected in the characteristics and personality of the character. Maybe something like the supporting cast of characters will be the various styles within Didot (i.e. bold, italic, regular) , unless I can come up with another idea for this. This relates to my typeface because, for many years, Didot was the official typeface of the CBS logo and from what I’ve researched, this has been its most significant use in popular media of recent time.