Gill S ans

Brittany Clapper Published November 2010 GDES1314.02

Elliott Earls This Monkeys Gone To Heaven-If the Devil is Six then God is Seven.

This Monkeys Gone to HeavenIf the Devil is Six Then God is Seven
Against Anti-foundationalism From Emigre Magazine #65. Published October 2003 Part I by Elliott Earls

Gill Sans
Edited and Designed by Brittany Clapper
Published November 2010 GDES1314.02

ill Sans first appeared in 1926 when Eric Gill painted Douglass Cleverdons doorframe for his new book shop. This typeface was first intended for guides and announcements and later focused on becoming the ultimate legible san serif text face.This typeface was developed in combat of Germanys Erbar and Futura and can be considered Londons Helvetica. Gill Sans brings an artistic and cultural sensiblity to an organizations corporate style.

Where do you begin?

Std Condensed Light Italic

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Bold

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Extra Bold

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Light Shadowed

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Bold Condensed

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Extra Bold Display

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Shadowed

Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg
Standard 45 pt Bold 42 pt Light Shadowed 45 pt Extra Bold Dis 45 pt Italic 45 pt Ultra Bold Cond 45 pt

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Bold Extra Condensed

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Italic

where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Ultra Bold

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Bold Italic

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Light

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Ultra Bold Condensed

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

Where do you begin? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

where do you begin?

It seems there is always one idea or medium that is inescapable.

Std 12pt Std 16pt Std 20pt

Everywhere you turn, there it is. In the mid to late

90s one of those ideas was type design.

shortcut to graphic design

Type design was viewed as THE

Std 25pt

Std 30pt

fame, and everybody

Std 35pt

wanted a piece of

Std 42pt

the action.
Typeface of Penguin Books

Std 76pt

Eric Gill was both a typographer and sculptor, who first became famous for the typefaces he designed: Perpetua (1929-30), Gill Sans (1927-30), and Joanna (193031). Eric Gill attended art college in Chichester before studying under Edward Johnston at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. A devout Christian, Eric Gill converted to Catholicism in 1913. He received commissions from bibliophile publishers, including Golden Cockerel Press, CranachPresse in Weimar, Leipzig publishers Faber & Faber, J.M. Dent & Sons, and the Limited Editions Club (established in 1929). Eric Gill then executed numerous book illustrations, woodcuts, graphics, and watercolors, which are mainly devotional in content.

changed.
Ultra Bold 42 PT

No longer do designers lust for the quick buck and easy fame that a signature font will bestow. The reasons are legion and almost irrelevant. The more interesting question becomes: what did we learn from this episode? Bold Condensed, Light Italic 12 Pt

123456789
Std 31PT

123456789
Ultra Bold 31PT

123456789
Bold 42 PT

In an attempt to understand typographic form from a purely generative standpoint, I have developed my own simple taxonomy. When an individual sets out upon the arduous journey of designing a typeface, I suggest that the generative formal impulse can be located in one of three areas: historical revival, vernacular interpretation, or exclusively formal extrapolation. While historical revival and vernacular interpretation are self- explanatory, the term exclusively formal extrapolation may need some elaboration. When one is giving birth to a font not spawned directly from an existing model, what is needed most is the establishment of a biological discourse between looking and drawingbetween retina and cortex. The Foundation Program at the School of Design in Basel, Switzerland placed clear emphasis on understanding form through drawing. It is in traditional figure drawing studio classes that one learns how to lock the movement of the retina to the movement of the hand. To be successful in this process, one learn at the mind must be quieted.

The hand and retina must move in symbiotic lock step as they both trace the physical line. Its through this process that one can learn to trust not the mind, but the retina.

While making marks on paper, the internal non-linguistic dialog between retina and cortex may go something like this: How thick? How black? How thin? Thinner? Thicker! Bigger! Blacker! Smaller! Whiter! Grayer? Closer? Farther!Tighter?Too tight!
I stress that this process, in order to be successful, is nonlinguistic. The hand moves, the mark changes, and the eye responds. The eye, and how it relates to mark making, or more accurately, how it responds to the mark made, is the most important thing.

Letterforms are in large measure governed by social contract and simple optical principles, such as the ones preached by our now debased and debunked High Priest of Visual Thinking, Rudolf Arnheim. And while there are obviously far hipper and much more contemporary developments within cognitive science and perceptual psychology, issues of balance, harmony, scale, as well as principles of gestalt, all have a bearing on the function and legibility of letterforms.
Standard 8/9

THINGS

HAVE

While making marks on paper, the internal non-linguistic dialog between retina and cortex may go something like this:

123456789
Light 31PT

123456789
Shadowed 31PT

thin?thinner? f a r t h e r ! thick? thicker! Too Tight!

smaller! greyer? closer?

HOW

whiter!
Tighter?

black?

bigger!

As the letterform progresses through successive stages of development and refinement, the process becomes increasingly optical. When the impulse or the idea for a font springs primarily from optical phenomena, such as mark making, drawing, handwriting, or manipulation of formal elements, it may be considered to have sprung from exclusively formal extrapolation. The resolution of a font, the successive development and refinement, is always an optical endeavor. The simple process of making marks on paper is less of an intellectual process than a biological process. One must cultivate a feel for proportion, solidity, balance, etc. Excuse the digression, but when I talk about developing a feel, I know that

some of you are rolling your eyes. Some of you may think that the term feel might be likened to the term taste, with all of its class overtones and attendant critiques. Well, back the f@*k up. Im suggesting that one develops a feel not magically, or through attendance at the finest schools, but through rigorous application, and through working damn hard at acquiring a set of very concrete skills, then forgetting them. And what would those skills be to which one must dedicate him or herself only to eventually forget? Manipulative skills, first person, hand/ eye-coordinated, flesh-based skills. What in jazz they call chops, and in design they call fundamental graphic exercisesline rhythms, gradation, and figure/ground studies.

If at this point you feel the need to accuse me of anti- intellectualism, youd be barking up the wrong tree. Im an advocate of practice informed by theory and life. Its really a question of priorities and balance. Id like to be clear here. I am not suggesting that the type design process necessarily adheres to a strict taxonomic progression. And Im certainly not an advocate of a rigid categorical approach to design of any form. Quite the contrary. Its my contention that the edge condition, the tension that exists in the gap, is where the action is. But for the designer interested in beginning to come to grips with letterform design, locating ones work within the three categories described above is often helpful.

Gill Sans is the typeface of the BBC logo. It is shown here in a graphic logo and on a building. This text is versitile in the real and virtual worlds.

The question I am most often asked by students is some variation of the following:

Where do yo u b egi n?
How do you get an idea or a concept for a typeface? My answer is twofold. First, one should never use the term concept in same sentence as the word typeface. Typefaces are not conceptual, they are formal (1). Second, I tell them to study examples such as Zuzana Lickos Mrs. Eaves, which is an excellent example of an historical revival; Christian Schwartz Los Feliz, which is an excellent example of vernacular reinterpretation; and Frank Hines Remedy, which is based on pure formal extrapolation. But as they say, God (or the Devil, or possibly both) is in the details. Quite possibly the biggest challenge facing type designers who are just starting out is that most cannot see, nor can they draw ( I should amend that slightly; most havent looked, nor can they draw.)Students who begin drawing typefaces must first learn to look at typefaces. I am often shocked and amazed at my students first attempts to construct, for instance,

Music is the appropriate metaphor.

In music, rigorous study of repertoire, theory, and physical application is what allows the musician the improvisational freedom to move the listener. Musical instrument performance represents the perfect synthesis of theory and practice. Theory is study understood and finally applied. But the essence is that theory (or thinking) is forgotten in the moment of performance. In the visual arts, as in music, it is important

to follow a developmental trajectory that after diligent application ultimately includes not so much forgetting, as not paying active attention to these principles.You must trust yourself, and work by feel. Rely on the totality of your experience.

the termination of a stroke. It usually involves a student using Fontographer. And when looking closely at the letterform, one often notices a complete lack of rigor, coupled with a hyper-kinetic line quality, which almost always leaves me with the impression that Im teaching type design to a class of methamphetamine addicts. (Which I have found is usually not the case.) One need look no further than the plenitudinous offerings of foundries such as T-26 or Garage Fonts to find textbook examples of this undisciplined methamphetamine line. n a recent Print magazine article, Kathy McCoy encourages educators to abandon hand-based exercises in favor of the computer. I would absolutely agree if it pertains to typographic skills for tracking, kerning, leading, comping, font selection, etc. I would completely disagree when it comes to the typographic skills of letterform design.
Standard 8/9

Used by Tommy Hilfiger and Disney

The ability to see, (no, to feel) the correlation between the ruling pen, nib, chisel and/or brush and the final letterform is essential. Does this imply that all letterforms must have serifs or strokes that are in some way informed by the ruling pen, nib, or chisel? Of course not! As a matter of fact, some of the most interesting typographic specimens bear no correlation to these tools. The great artist or designer is s/he who is no longer constricted by the rules. But anti-mastery Fontographer (the computer) is a great tool for some, but a terrible tool for the tenderfoot, the greenhorn, the neophyte, novice, rookie, or initiate.

Fontographer has been a pox. It has spawned a plague upon the house of Montague. What is so inherently stifling about drawing on the computer? Tactility and nuance are the first casualties. Drawing with a mouse or a tablet is like driving a tank while looking through a drinking straw. How do you design letterforms? Kick it old skool style. Draw them big, with a ruling pen and Plaka, and some Pro White. Focus on the serifs or the termination of the character. Dont so much understand how a letter is drawn: experience how a letter is drawn.

Then refine the letterforms through successive redrawing. Sit back, evaluate them optically (with your retina). Then draw them again. Making them thinner here and thicker there. Become intimately familiar with the French curve. Is it possible to achieve all of the above using only the computer? Of course, given sensitivity, discipline, and a true biological understanding of some of the preceding issues.

THINGS HAVE CHANGED. No longer do designers lust for the quick buck and easy fame that a signature font will bestow.The reasons are legion and almost irrelevant.The more interesting question becomes: what did we learn from this episode?
Gill Sans Std-Bold

THINGS HAVE CHANGED. No longer do designers lust for the quick buck and easy fame that a signature font will bestow.The reasons are legion and almost irrelevant.The more interesting question becomes: what did we learn from this episode?
Gill Sans Std-Italic

THINGS HAVE CHANGED. No longer do designers lust for the quick buck and easy fame that a signature font will bestow. The reasons are legion and almost irrelevant.The more interesting question becomes: what did we learn from this episode?
Gill Sans Std

THINGS HAVE CHANGED. No longer do designers lust for the quick buck and easy fame that a signature font will bestow.The reasons are legion and almost irrelevant.The more interesting question becomes: what did we learn from this episode?
Gill Sans Std-Condensed

At this point, it would seem prudent to have a lengthy discussion about technical considerations. We should discuss what lead hardness to use in your drafting pencil or the benefits of vellum over plate bristol. I should provide you with a diagram on the proper method of loading a ruling pen with ink, and discuss how to successfully transfer your drawings into Fontographer. The nuance of these activi ties is critically important.

But its precisely because the nuance is so important that any discussion of them would be counterproductive. To borrow from our musical metaphor again, its quite easy to rough out a plan of study for the guitar. Its quite easy for a guitar teacher to communicate to a student the technical aspects of any given musical passage. But it is nuance or feel that separates the chimps from the apes. And no guitar teacher or book or computer program can teach feel. The nuance of the activity mirrors the

nuance of the typographic form, which mirrors the nuance of a life. Gary Griffin, Metalsmith in Residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art, speaks eloquently about the practice of metalsmithing. He places emphasis on the literal definition of the word practice: 1. To do or perform habitually or customarily 2. To carry out in action; observe 3. To do or perform repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill. Its all about craft. And craftsmanship demands practice. It is through the practice of type design that one will develop mastery and come to a deep understanding of all of the technical issues.
Standard 10/12

(2) Wait! I hear you say. Arent you, Elliott Earls, the designer responsible for archetypical typographic examples of the methamphetamine line? Didnt you design Blue Eyeshadow, Subluxation Perma, Dysphasia, and Mothra Paralax? Isnt this a simple case of the pot calling the kettle black? To which I say: Yes and no. If we look at Blue Eyeshadow, for instance, its important to first point out the origin of the name. For to name it is to claim it. In the late 1980s, when I was an aspiring high school Scottish soccer hooligan, living in that midwestern cultural hotbed and bastion of radical liberalism, Cincinnati, Ohio, I wore a mullet. Needless to say, in 1984, in Ohio, we wore mullets without a hint of irony. We thought we were tough and ?new wave,? and we thought the chicks would dig it. Yeah, the chicks. It was all about the girlies. And let me assure you, they had an equally distorted and perverse interpersonal aesthetic. It was the 80s.

We were young, upper middle class, ultraconservative Catholic boys and girls and we had a paucity of suitably fashionable role models. The guys had mullets or ?boy hair,? and the girls wore tons of foundation, white lipstick, and blue eyeshadow. I should point out that these young women wore heavy blue eyeshadow regardless of their complexion or eye color. Because at that historical moment it was an established scientific fact that if one wore enough blue eyeshadow, the eye would look blue! Now, even at the tender age of sixteen, before my acquaintance with Josef Albers or color theory, this seemed all wrong. Even then, I often found my gaze transfixed, nay locked, upon the upper eyelid of a typical brunette with brown eyes. Something was horribly wrong here! The clash of color.

The spurious and questionable folklore or ?weird science? underpinning it all. The font Blue Eyeshadow is in large measure irony. It was meant as a critique. It was a statement about the 1993 mid-cult typographic world on the verge of metamorphosis. It was a reflection on all the horrible emerging grad school typographic cliches BEFORE they made their slow death spiral into the mainstream, and subsequently onto your tray liner at Taco Bell. Blue Eyeshadow was (and is) a funeral dirge, a death rattle.Does that make it superior in kind to the aforementioned aborted undergrad type projects? You be the judge.
Standard 12/11

Purchase Gill Sans

Gill Sans Std Std Condensed
Commercial $29 Commercial $29

Std Bold
Commercial $29

Std Bold Condensed

Commercial $29

Std Bold Extra Condensed

Commercial $29

Std Light Std Italic

Commercial $29 Commercial $29

Std Light Italic Std Bold Italic

Commercial $29

Commercial $29

Std Extra Bold Std Ultra Bold Condensed

Commercial $29

Std Extra Bold Display

Commercial $29

Commercial $29

STD Std Light Shadowed Shadowed

Commercial $29

Commercial $29

Adobe Value Pack Open Type Edition

Commercial $69

Adobe Basic Open Type Edition

Commercial $99

Gill Sans Family

Commercial $373

Gill Sans Std 1

Commercial $149

DESIGNER

PUBLISHER

ORIGINAL FOUNDRY

Eric Gill

Adobe

Monotype

Printing: Laser Jet Printer Binding: Saddle Stich Designer: Brittany Clapper

Typeface: Gill Sans Photo Credits: Google Images Paper Type: Copy