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Joanna (typeface)
Encyclopedia
Joanna is a transitional serif
typeface
designed by Eric Gill
(1882–1940) in the period 1930–31, and named for one of his daughters. The typeface was originally designed for proprietary use by Gill's printing shop Hague & Gill. The type was first produced in a small quantity by the Caslon Foundry for hand composition. It was eventually licensed for public release by the Monotype foundry in 1937.
In designing Joanna, Gill took inspiration from the types of Robert Granjon (1513–1589). The underlying armature of both the roman and italics bear strong similarities with Grandjon's type, yet the spare, sharp squared serifs and moderate contrast of strokes, have a twentieth century modernist feeling. The italics are more vertical than Grandjon's with only a 3° slope. The face is, as Gill described it himself "a book face free from all fancy business." Similarities can be seen with Gill's earlier typefaces Cockerel and Perpetua
. A more recent face, FF Scala
designed in 1990 by the Dutch type designer Martin Majoor
(born 1960) is similar in its geometric simplicity combined with the old style letterform. Gill chose Joanna for setting An Essay on Typography, a book by Gill on his thoughts on typography, typesetting, and page design.
Serif
In typography, serifs are semi-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. A typeface with serifs is called a serif typeface . A typeface without serifs is called sans serif or sans-serif, from the French sans, meaning “without”...
typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
designed by Eric Gill
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
(1882–1940) in the period 1930–31, and named for one of his daughters. The typeface was originally designed for proprietary use by Gill's printing shop Hague & Gill. The type was first produced in a small quantity by the Caslon Foundry for hand composition. It was eventually licensed for public release by the Monotype foundry in 1937.
In designing Joanna, Gill took inspiration from the types of Robert Granjon (1513–1589). The underlying armature of both the roman and italics bear strong similarities with Grandjon's type, yet the spare, sharp squared serifs and moderate contrast of strokes, have a twentieth century modernist feeling. The italics are more vertical than Grandjon's with only a 3° slope. The face is, as Gill described it himself "a book face free from all fancy business." Similarities can be seen with Gill's earlier typefaces Cockerel and Perpetua
Perpetua (typeface)
Perpetua is a typeface that was designed by English sculptor and typeface designer Eric Gill .Though not designed in the historical period of transitional type , Perpetua can be classified with transitional typefaces because of characteristics such as high stroke...
. A more recent face, FF Scala
FF Scala
FF Scala is an old style, humanist, serif typeface designed by Dutch typeface designer Martin Majoor in 1990 for the Vredenburg Music Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The FF Scala font family was named for the Teatro alla Scala in Milan...
designed in 1990 by the Dutch type designer Martin Majoor
Martin Majoor
Martin Majoor is a Dutch typedesigner and graphic designer.-Biography:Martin Majoor has been designing type since the mid-1980s. During his study at the School of Fine Art in Arnhem , he shortly worked in a student placement at URW in Hamburg. It was there that he was able to work with the first...
(born 1960) is similar in its geometric simplicity combined with the old style letterform. Gill chose Joanna for setting An Essay on Typography, a book by Gill on his thoughts on typography, typesetting, and page design.