What are some of the characteristics of the blackletter typeface?
What are some of the characteristics of the blackletter typeface?
Blackletter typefaces, sometimes referred to as Gothic or Old English, are characterized by a dense black texture and highly decorated caps. The lowercase consists of narrow, angular forms with dramatic thick-to-thin strokes and serifs. They are highly stylized, yet legible.
What is blackletter used for?
Blackletter In Action As already mentioned, these typefaces are not easy to read in body text so they are best used for headings, logos, posters and signs. If you’ve received a certificate, diploma or degree there is a strong chance some or all of the text was set in Blackletter.
Who created blackletter?
Flavio Biondo, in Italia Illustrata (1474), wrote that the Germanic Lombards invented this script after they invaded Italy in the 6th century. Not only were blackletter forms called Gothic script, but any other seemingly barbarian script, such as Visigothic, Beneventan, and Merovingian, were also labeled Gothic.
What is Blackletter graphic design?
Blackletter is an all encompassing term used to describe the scripts of the Middle Ages in which the darkness of the characters overpowers the whiteness of the page. The basic black letter scripts are textura and rotunda, the former primarily associated with northern Europe and the latter with southern Europe.
What does black lettering mean?
: a heavy angular condensed typeface used especially by the earliest European printers and based on handwriting used chiefly in the 13th to 15th centuries also : this style of handwriting.
What is a blackletter typeface?
Blackletter typeface (also known as Gothic or Old English typefaces) is a family of fonts that are inspired by the dark, saturated calligraphic letters of the Middle Ages. Both the uppercase and lowercase letters are defined by dramatic strokes and elaborate serif swirls.
What is an example of a blackletter font?
1. Cambridge Bold Decorative Gothic Font – Our Top Pick. Cambridge decorative gothic font is a classic blackletter font. If you want your designs to have that quintessential old English look to them, this is the font for it.
Why is blackletter called blackletter?
Its name is derived from the broken curves that distinguish many letters.” Robert Bringhurst, “Blackletter is the typographic counterpoint to the Gothic style in architecture.” During the gothic period churches and universities flourished, greatly increased the demand for books.
When was blackletter first used?
Is blackletter digital or not? This script font was first created in the 12th century and commonly the choice of Western Europe and mainly in Germany.
Why is it called blackletter?
When was blackletter font created?
12th century
Is blackletter digital or not? This script font was first created in the 12th century and commonly the choice of Western Europe and mainly in Germany.
What are the different types of blackletter fonts?
The most used category of blackletter fonts was Fraktur—a much more open and legible design than the original dark and narrow blackletter fonts in medieval books. Fraktur fonts were available in a great variety of designs—from thin and delicate calligraphic typefaces to bold and geometric.
What happened to the German font Fraktur?
In the 1920’s it was considered to be antiquated by German designers and publishers and fell out of favor and was replaced by the “New Typography” of sans serif typefaces. In 1933 Hitler declared the new typography to be un-German and declared Fraktur to be “Volk”, i.e. the people’s font.
What is Gothic / blackletter / Old English fonts?
Use gothic / blackletter / old English fonts on Twitter, Facebook, and more. Blackletter, old English, or gothic text is a style of script used for European languages beginning in the 12th century. This style is now mostly used for decorative purposes, for example, to evoke an old word classical feel.
