"Classic"
When a type design is good it is not because each individual letter of the alphabet is perfect in form, but because there is a feeling of harmony and unbroken rhythm that runs through the whole design, each letter kin to every other and to all.
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To be honest, I knew instantly, upon reading about Goudy in our book this week. I would choose to pay tribute to someone I respect and greatly admire.
I first became familiar with Fredrick Goudy from one of my favorite children’s books. The classic Winnie The Pooh. I loved the wisdom of that simple bear. I always imagined Christopher Robin and his furry companion writing stories of their adventures together. Of course, they didn’t, the books are written by A.A. Milne. The typeface, Goudy old style, was designed by the famous printer, artist, and type designer Frederic William Goudy.
I was particularly drawn to Goudy Old Style, "designed for American Type Founders in 1915-1916, it is one of the best known of Goudy’s designs, and forms the basis for a large family of variants." https://www.fonts.com/font/linotype/goudy/story
It was only a few years ago that I did a type specimen of old Goudy in a beginning typography class. The instructor was not impressed with my work, to say the least. I had a restless need to fill the page with random typefaces. Not a care in the world for the use of “white space” or any respect for typography “rules.” Rules I am quite certain every Typophile has tattooed, with correct alignment and visual hierarchy on their bodies. In some scared grid-like, literary ritual.
But I digress, so the specimen book did not go over well. At first… I decided at the last minute to change everything I worked on (and thought, at the time, was brilliant). I resolved to create something my instructor would not find offensive. It worked. She liked the damn thing, even asked to use it as a student example for future classes. That was really the beginning of my tumultuous love affair with typography…
Goudy spent his career developing old-style serifs often influenced by the printing of the Italian Renaissance and calligraphy, with characteristic warmth and irregularity.
I love that: “with warmth and
irregularity.” Goudy put a part of himself into his work. And he didn’t care about silly, often snobbish printers, such as Daniel Berkeley Updike, who while respecting some of his work (at least
publicly), commented that his work lacked 'a certain snap and acidity” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Goudy
Preposterous indeed! Frederic Goudy "was the third most prolific designer of metal type in the United States (behind Morris Fuller Benton and R. Hunter Middleton), with ninety faces, actually cut and cast, and many more designs completed. Over the course of his lifetime, he made 124 type designs, more than any other man in history." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Goudy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Goudy
Recognizable Goudy-isms include the upward-pointing ear of the g, the diamond-shaped dots over the i and j, and the roundish upward swelling of the horizontal strokes at the base of the E and L. The italic was completed by Goudy in 1918.
I’d like to think Goudy would appreciate my respect and admittedly, sentimentality for him and his prolific work (I hope). He was eccentric like me, extremely talented…Like I wish that I was. But, more importantly, I’m enamored. The way I believe he was with the written word- How typeface is designed, how it looks, how, in seeing it on the printed page, makes the reader feel. I only hope that I can come to understand the history of typography thus truly appreciating it in the profound manner Goudy showed throughout his life and career.
Please watch me:*http://robertlpeters.com/news/a-salute-fredric-w-goudy/ The graphic at the beginning of this blog "is from a promotion piece published by International Papers that’s been kicking around our design studio for quite a few years (illustrator/designer unknown)". NOTE: If you happen to know who the artist is let me know. I will definitely give credit to them. 😊
https://thegraphicsfairy.com/vintage-clip-art-old-fashioned-spectacles-steampunk/
https://www.fonts.com/font/linotype/goudy/story
https://issuu.com/laurawalter/docs/goudy_spread?epik=dj0yJnU9ZG9qVlM0Mkc4WTVObUdoWkNqSGtvUHl6SjV2amtRRmEmcD0wJm49WmJENFdCV0pGb3J2SHhWMFFZNGNsUSZ0PUFBQUFBR0RyU1JVhttps://newgstudio.com/project/goudy-old-style-posters/
https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/099.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goudy_Old_Style#/media/File:Goudy_ATF_specimen.jpg
https://www.commarts.com/columns/typographic-hate-lists
https://www.youtube.com/
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