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Michael Bierut’s portfolio

‘əpoɔı̣un sı̣ pooɓ ʇɐɥʍ

Why is The Red Cross, Red?

the traditional Latin name for Switzerland

“The emerging International Typographic Style was exemplified by several new sans-serif type families designed in the 1950s. The geometric sans-serif styles, mathematically constructed with drafting instruments during the 1920s and 1930s, were rejected in favor of more refined designs inspired by . . . Akzidenz grotesk. . . . In 1954 a young Swiss designer working in Paris, Adrian Frutiger, completed a visually programmed family of twenty-one sans-serif fonts named Universe. . . .
In the mid-1950s, Edouard Hoffman of the HAAS type foundry in Switzerland decided that the Akzidenz Grotesk fonts should be refined and upgraded. Hoffman collaborated with Mex Miedinger, who executed the designs, andt their new sans serif, with an even larger x-height than that of Univers, was released as Neue Haas Grotesk. When this face was produced in Germany . . . the face name was [changed to] Helvetica, the traditional Latin name for Switzerland. Helvetica’s well-defined forms and excellent rhythm of positive and negative shapes made it the most specified typeface internationally during the 1960s and 1970s.”

—Phil Meggs & Alston Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 2006.

Akzidenz Grotesk

“The Berthold Foundry [at the turn of the twentieth-century] designed a family of ten sans serifs that were variations on one original font. This Akzidenz Grotesk (called Standard in the United States) type family had a major influence on twentieth-century typography. In addition to . . . four weights . . . Berthold released three expanded and three condensed verions. Akzidenz Grotesk permitted compositors to achieve contrast and emphasis within one family of typefaces. It was a major step in the evolution of the unified and systematized type family.”

–Phil Meggs & Alston Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 2006.

medium-weight monoline serifless capitals

“Sans-serif type made its modest debut in an 1816 specimen book issued by William Caslon IV. Buried . . . in the back of the book, one line of medium-weight monoline serifless capitals proclaimed “W CASLON JUNR LETTER FOUNDER.” It looked a lot like an Egyptian face with the serifs removed, which is probably how Caslon IV designed it. . . .
Sans serifs, which became so important to twentieth-century graphic design, had a tentative beginning. The cumbersome early sans serifs were used primarily for subtitles and descriptive material under excessively bold fat faces and Egyptians. They were little noticed until the early 1830s, when several typefounders introduced new sans-serif styles. . . . Vincent Figgins dubbed his 1832 specimen sans serif in recognition of the font’s most apparent feature, and the name stuck.”

—Phil Meggs & Alston Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 2006.

the vision and spirit of the machine age

“Around 1790 [Giambattista] Bodoni redesigned the roman letterforms to give them a more mathematical, geometric, and mechanical appearance. He reinvented the serifs by making them hairlines that formed sharp right angles with the upright strokes. . . . The thin strokes of his letterforms were trimmed to the same weight as the hairline serifs, creating a brilliant sharpness and a dazzling contrast not seen before. . . . Bodoni’s precise, measurable, and repeatable forms expressed the vision and spirit of the machine age.”

—Phil Meggs & Alston Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 2006.

the zenith of the transitional style

“John Baskerville [was] an innovator who broke the prevailing rules of design and printing in fifty-six editions produced at his press in Birmingham, England. . . .
Baskerville’s type designs, which bear his name to this day, represent the zenith of the transitional style bridging the gap between Old Style and modern type design. His letters possessed a new elegance and lightness. In comparison with earlier designs, his types are wider, the weight contrast between thick and thin strokes is increased, and the placement of the thickest part of the letter is different. The treament of the serifs is new: they flow smoothly out of the major strokes and terminate as refined points. His italic fonts most clearly show the influence of master handwriting.”

—Phil Meggs & Alston Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 2006.

Caslon Old Style with italic

“After apprenticing to a London engraver of gunlocks and barrels, young [William] Caslon opened his own shop and added silver chasing and the cutting of gilding tools and letter stamps for bookbinders to his repertoire of engraving skills. [He was encouraged] . . . to take up type design and founding, which he did in 1720 with almost immediate success. His first commission was an Arabic font for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. This was followed closely by the first size of Caslon Old Style with italic in 1722, and his reputation was made. For the next sixty years, virtually all English printing used Caslon fonts, and these types followed English colonialism around the glove. Printer Benjamin Franklin introduced Caslon into the American colonies, where it was used extensively, including for the offical printing of the Declaration of Independence. . . .
Beginning with the Dutch types of his day, Caslon increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes by making the former slightly heavier. . . . Caslon’s fonts have variety in their design, giving them an uneven, rhythmic texture that adds to their visual interest and appeal. The Caslon foundry continued under his heirs and was in operation until the 1960s.”

—Phil Meggs & Alston Purvis, Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 2006.