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Why doesn't Swift have a Bold Italic?
Posted by hashimpm in
5 Dec 2004 — 8:23pm
5 Dec 2004 — 8:23pm
Gerard Unger's Swift is a trend setting typeface, marred only by its lack of a Bold Italic, like many other of Unger's type designs. Why did he choose not to design Bold Italics? Any ideas?
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6 Dec 2004 — 1:08am
Hello Hashim, there's a bold italic here:
http://www.gerardunger.com/fontstore/store-swift.html
6 Dec 2004 — 11:01am
Some designers don't make a Bold-Italic as a form of functional romanticism, or you could call it capricious (or rebellious) anachronism.
hhp
6 Dec 2004 — 11:29am
An OpenType version of Swift 1.0, as well as several other typefaces from the Dr.-Ing Rudolf Hell archive, will be available in OpenType format shortly. I just rekeyed Swift into the database a few weeks ago; can't remember if the OpenType version had a bold italic though. I'll check tomorrow.
7 Dec 2004 — 6:59am
The OpenType version of Swift (1.0) which will appear on Linotype's site imminently will have a bold italic weight.
7 Dec 2004 — 4:09pm
Bold is typefounders buff. Usually, anyway!
8 Dec 2004 — 3:57am
?
8 Dec 2004 — 8:42am
Bold is type on junk food. Usuaully, anyway!
8 Dec 2004 — 10:28am
And as a type designer it's hell to make the bold itallic weight. Not only do you have to make adjustments from regular, but also count for all the changes of details and angels as well.
I wonder if the old masters felt the same (apart from the general opinion that body copy didn't needed a bold italic)?
Cheers/SH
8 Dec 2004 — 11:13am
Yves, we are converting our Hell Typefaces archive to OpenType. Most of those typefaces were designed by Hermann Zapf and Gerard Unger. Swift is just part of the general archive, whose fonts will now finally be available in OpenType. Unger's selling of Swift 2.0 is a separate enterprise.
On another note, there are several versions of many typeface families within the Linotype Library. Helvetica has Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, and Helvetica Linotype (OpenType fonts optimized for Office use). Palatino also has the old digital version, the Palatino Linotype done for Microsoft, and soon the new Palatino nova. When new releases of old fonts are brought into the library, the old ones normally stay in, too. There are still good typefaces, too.
8 Dec 2004 — 11:20am
From what I've heard the difference between Swift 1 & 2 is not huge. But if you can afford to help out the designer directly, that's always good - and you will get something better.
hhp
6 Dec 2004 — 10:57am
Sounds like you need to license Swift 2.0 ... the first version did not have a bold italic.
6 Dec 2004 — 11:11am
I don't know about Swift 1.0 or its history, but don't you think that in some cases the client simply didn't want/need a bold italic and so it wasn't in the budget?
8 Dec 2004 — 10:43am
As far as I can remember Gerard was quite unhappy with
Swift 1.0 - why is it being rereleased by Linotype while the
superior 2.0 is available from Unger himself?
8 Dec 2004 — 10:48am
The people from The Foundry are also being divas when it
comes to italic weights. Only Foundry Monoline has them
for other weights than Regular or Book.