New to Typophile? Accounts are free, and easy to set up.
Classification Question- Didone Sans?
Posted by Jeremy Dooley in
3 Oct 2011 — 11:40am
3 Oct 2011 — 11:40am
What would you call a "Didone" (high thick/thin contrast) sans-serif? There doesn't appear to be a class that I am aware of.
User login
Support our Sponsors
3 Oct 2011 — 1:07pm
The story goes that first sans serif types were based on didone proportions. So I am guessing that a sans serif didone would be one of those.
3 Oct 2011 — 4:02pm
This is because the classification doesn’t consider this element. A sans with high contrast between thin and thick could be a geometric, like my Noir. Or it could be a humanist like Optima. Or a grotesque, like Giorgio. *
Even in a serif, the contrast isn’t really that big a part of the classification. It’s more about the shift in skeletal form and writing tool, and this again plays out in the rythm and contrast and the details.
* Of course, very few faces are spot on. Many geometric designs incorporate grotesque or humanist traits, for example.
3 Oct 2011 — 8:39pm
Sang Bleu is the closest I can think of:
4 Oct 2011 — 2:09am
Contrast is just one characteristic of a typeface. Didones have high contrast, but by most definitions they also have a specific type of unbracketed serif. So, too, would a sans with high contrast have other traits. It could be "high contrast humanist sans" or "high contrast Grotesque". They are also sometimes called "stressed sans".
5 Oct 2011 — 7:57am
Thanks for the comments. Although "Stressed Sans" and "high contrast Grotesque" are correct, they aren't very marketable as font names. ala XYZFont Stressed Sans, etc.
5 Oct 2011 — 8:04am
But they didn’t need to call it Helvetica Grotesque either, did they?
5 Oct 2011 — 9:15pm
I didn't know you were seeking a name for your typeface. Frode's right. Don't force it.