Tuesday, September 9, 2008

*John Baskerville




John Baskerville was a well-known type designer and printer of the 18th century. He is and Englishman from Worcestershire and was born in 1706. He is known for his creation of a text that is modern, with level serifs and emphasizes the contrast of light and heavy lines. He discovered his talent while engraving tombstones at the age of 17. He began his business at the age of forty-four, which included his elegant styled Baskerville fonts and his invention of fine printing on woven paper. 


After many years of practice and after Cambridge University Press hired him as his printer, he produced a very successful Bible in 1763. He was known to be quite the perfectionist, which helped him out with creating such a successful technique that made such an impression on typography. His books were known to be quite large, with wide margins, and printed with excellent paper and ink. The styles of his page layouts were very basic when compared to Italian and French Renaissance printers. But after his death his basic style influenced Italy and France where Giovanni Battista Bodoni and the Didots used his ideas with their printing and font techniques. He was a very successful man who has impacted made a lasting impression on typography!

http://typophile.com/node/14119?




No comments: