Trinité (typeface)
Encyclopedia
Trinité is a serif
typeface
designed by Dutch
type design
er Bram de Does
. He worked on the design from 1979 to 1982. In 1991, he received the H.N. Werkmanprize
for the design.
machines. In 1978, the printing office
Joh. Enschedé
replaced their phototypesetting
machines (with Autologic machines), for which they wanted to adapt Jan van Krimpen
's typeface
Romanée. The company consulted with De Does, who was against it. He feared that Romanée would lose its character in the translation from metal movable type
to phototype, specifically because Romanée was not a single font but several versions, one for each pointsize, which would not be possible to preserve in phototype. He considered commissioning a new typeface, specifically designed for the new technology, a much better idea. Although it was not his intention, Enschedé invited him to design this new typeface.
s. To design the typeface, De Does studied different solutions to increase harmony on the printed page, and achieve better legibility. He made a list of design principles for an ideal text typeface. These principles were divided into four categories, which according to him could apply to every human production; functionality for the user (legibility in the case of typefaces), harmony (for aesthetics reasons), practical ergonomic applicability for the manufacturer (the type foundry and compositor) and originality (‘because otherwise there is no use in making the thing’).
De Does was of the opinion that harmony on the printed page had been the most powerful in the early Renaissance
incunables, and that they present a stronger, more regular overall image. De Does identified two factors that he thought contributed to this impression: the fact that characters are subtly slanted, and that the serif
s are slightly longer towards the right. He therefore decided to introduce these kinds of features into Trinité as well. All characters have an angle of about 1 degree and firm, asymmetric foot-serifs that are calligraphic in shape. The harmony of words was also increased by what he called 'functional swing', meaning that there is not a single straight line in Trinité. This made the typeface 'systematically sloppy'. Although some of these details were inspired by techniques used in Renaissance printing types, De Does missed them in the typefaces that were available for the composition equipment he had at his disposal. Reintroducing them to a new typeface created specifically for this equipment was how he wanted to be original, or as he labeled it; historical originality.
system) and only kept the old one because of Trinité. Being an important business asset for the firm, they commissioned De Does and Peter Matthias Noordzij (the designer of PMN Caecilia) to produce digital PostScript
fonts of Trinité, using Ikarus M. To distribute the typeface, Noordzij proposed starting a small-scale digital type foundry
, The Enschedé Font Foundry (TEFF), on which they released Trinité in 1992.
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 Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
type design
Type design
Type design is the art of designing typefaces.- History :Although the technology of printing text using movable type was invented in China, and despite the esteem which calligraphy held in that civilization, the vast number of Chinese characters meant that few distinctive, complete fonts could be...
er Bram de Does
Bram de Does
Bram de Does is a graphic and type designer. De Does studied at the Amsterdamse Grafische School in the 1950s. De Does came into contact with the printing trade at an early age, as his father had a printing office in the east of Amsterdam. From 1958 to 1988 he worked, with several intervals, at...
. He worked on the design from 1979 to 1982. In 1991, he received the H.N. Werkmanprize
Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman
Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman was a Dutch artist, typographer and printer....
for the design.
History
Trinité was originally designed for phototypesettingPhototypesetting
Phototypesetting was a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper...
machines. In 1978, the printing office
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
Joh. Enschedé
Joh. Enschedé
Royal Joh. Enschedé is a printer of security documents, stamps and banknotes based in Haarlem, Netherlands. Joh. Enschedé specialises in print, media & security. The company hosts the Museum Enschedé and has branches in Amsterdam, Brussels and Haarlem....
replaced their phototypesetting
Phototypesetting
Phototypesetting was a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper...
machines (with Autologic machines), for which they wanted to adapt Jan van Krimpen
Jan van Krimpen
Jan van Krimpen was a Dutch typographer and type designer. He worked for the printing house Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé.- Type designs :...
's 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....
Romanée. The company consulted with De Does, who was against it. He feared that Romanée would lose its character in the translation from metal movable type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....
to phototype, specifically because Romanée was not a single font but several versions, one for each pointsize, which would not be possible to preserve in phototype. He considered commissioning a new typeface, specifically designed for the new technology, a much better idea. Although it was not his intention, Enschedé invited him to design this new typeface.
Characteristics
The name Trinité refers to the fact that the font family contains three variants, each with different lengths of ascenders and descenderDescender
In typography, a descender is the portion of a letter that extends below the baseline of a font. The line that descenders reach down to is known as the beard line....
s. To design the typeface, De Does studied different solutions to increase harmony on the printed page, and achieve better legibility. He made a list of design principles for an ideal text typeface. These principles were divided into four categories, which according to him could apply to every human production; functionality for the user (legibility in the case of typefaces), harmony (for aesthetics reasons), practical ergonomic applicability for the manufacturer (the type foundry and compositor) and originality (‘because otherwise there is no use in making the thing’).
De Does was of the opinion that harmony on the printed page had been the most powerful in the early Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
incunables, and that they present a stronger, more regular overall image. De Does identified two factors that he thought contributed to this impression: the fact that characters are subtly slanted, and that the serif
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”...
s are slightly longer towards the right. He therefore decided to introduce these kinds of features into Trinité as well. All characters have an angle of about 1 degree and firm, asymmetric foot-serifs that are calligraphic in shape. The harmony of words was also increased by what he called 'functional swing', meaning that there is not a single straight line in Trinité. This made the typeface 'systematically sloppy'. Although some of these details were inspired by techniques used in Renaissance printing types, De Does missed them in the typefaces that were available for the composition equipment he had at his disposal. Reintroducing them to a new typeface created specifically for this equipment was how he wanted to be original, or as he labeled it; historical originality.
Digital typography
Trinité was originally published as an Autologic typeface in 1982. However, at the end of that decade, when De Does had already left the firm, Enschedé once again switched typesetting machines (this time the digital LinotronicLinotronic
The Linotronic imagesetters are a now common type of high-quality printer, capable of printing at resolutions of up to 2540 dots per inch. The Linotronic allowed graphic artists to cheaply set type that exceeded the quality of many phototypesetting systems in use at the time...
system) and only kept the old one because of Trinité. Being an important business asset for the firm, they commissioned De Does and Peter Matthias Noordzij (the designer of PMN Caecilia) to produce digital PostScript
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
fonts of Trinité, using Ikarus M. To distribute the typeface, Noordzij proposed starting a small-scale digital type foundry
Type foundry
A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Originally, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype machines designed to be printed on letterpress printers...
, The Enschedé Font Foundry (TEFF), on which they released Trinité in 1992.