The Journey of Digital Type

Carl Shank • June 13, 2021

It all started with Gutenberg. Johannes Gutenberg’s 42–line Bible unleashed a typesetting revolution transforming movable type into today’s digitized computer formats. The printing press, Gutenberg, and the Bible have all played a primary role in the type you see everyday. As a matter of fact, Gutenberg could be credited with the printing "reformation." Movable type, that is, individual pieces of type for each letter, had been used by the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese. Yet, Johannes Gutenberg’s work stands out in both art and printing history as the first exquisitely, practically produced print job.


Type styles the reflected the scribal penchant for bold, heavy script letters. As art and technology grew together, the “modern” style developed with serifs and contrasting thick and thin strokes, such as seen in Adobe's Caslon Pro font — ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890.  With the nineteenth century, and the Industrial Revolution, Ottmar Mergenthaler’s Linotype (1886) introduced mechanical typesetting through the use of a keyboard control device. More styles of type followed for the growing business of mercantile advertising. Most of these typefaces followed the “serif” style, but the Bauhaus Design School in Germany, as well as the Art Deco style, gave us “sans serif” faces, such as the ever popular Helvetica. Designed by Max Miedinger in 1956 — ABCDEFGHIJKLMabcdefghijklm1234567890. Helvetica can be seen on road and street signs. It was later included as one of the first Apple LaserWriter fonts.


Individual letters of type striking paper through an inked ribbon took hold as the typewriter flooded the business market. But, the letters were monospaced, uninteresting, and unequalled to the printed page. In seeing the importance of typefaces as communication, IBM introduced the IBM Executive typewriter in 1954. Now the office typist could use special fonts and even true proportional spacing. The copy also looked much better than the traditional typewritten efforts.


Another step toward professional typesetting came in 1961 when IBM came up with the Selectric and a variety of interchangeable type balls. The IBM Selectric Composer became the typesetter of choice. Text was typed onto a magnetic roll of tape and the roll was then placed in the Composer, a key pressed and there it was—justified, book-like text that looked really sharp! But, the font choices were severely limited and the Composer only produced certain limited sizes of type. Headlines and other display faces had to be set differently.


Through the efforts of Rene Higonnet and Louis Moyroud in 1949, their machine, the Photon, helped push typesetting toward photocomposition. This electronic method of setting type directly on light sensitive paper started the “cold” typesetting revolution. Faster and more flexible than all previous technologies, photocomposition freed typesetters from the physical limitations imposed by hot-metal type processes.


Digital phototypesetters introduced in 1972 projected letterforms onto a CRT (cathode ray tube). This type image was then flashed onto photosensitive paper. Soon the electron beam was turned on a drum generating an electrostatic charge. Toner particles, attracted to the charged areas, were fused onto paper by heat. Dry typesetting had begun, and the laser printer was born.


Apple Computer, in its development of the Macintosh computer in the early 80’s, also introduced the Apple LaserWriter™ and the LaserWriter Plus. Using a new tech-nology called “Postscript,” licensed from Adobe Systems, a built-in font description language in the Laser-Writer’s ROM (read-only memory) converted screen fonts on the computer screen, through a mathematical process, to 300 dpi (dots-per-inch) output.


Users wanted, and soon got, true WYSIWYG (pronounced wizzy-wig— what-you-see-is-what-you-get) operating environments. With the advent of Adobe’s ATM (Adobe Type Manager™), and Apple’s TrueType fonts, the on screen font “jaggies” were replaced by the outline representation of the font, so that the screen faithfully represented the final printed output. Fonts could be “downloaded” per job to the Post-script printer, even if the printer did not have the specified fonts inherent in its ROM files.


“QuickDraw” gave the added advantage of producing laser-like output even from a nonPostscript printer. With QuickDraw, the font outlines are processed by the computer and sent to the printer for output. Software packages now skew, bend, shrink, condense, expand, rotate and manipulate typeforms.

Apple’s System 7.x and Windows 3.1x included several TrueType fonts that were installed with the system software. What a journey to digitized type—and it’s not over, as indicated in other blogs on this site.

Successful Layout & Design

More Fournier

By Carl Shank • August 20, 2025
(UPDATE FROM POST DECEMBER 23, 2024) Pierre-Simon Fournier — In our history of typography series, Pierre-Simon Fournier (1712–1768) was a French typographer and type designer, renowned for his contributions to the field of typography in the 18th century. He is best known for his work in creating typefaces that reflected the elegance and sophistication of the time. Fournier's work in type design focused on creating typefaces that were both visually appealing and functional. His types were characterized by their clarity, beauty, and legibility. The typeface Fournier is an aristocratic roman typeface. It is transitional, almost modern, in character, with a distinct French flavor, but with more grace and style than traditional French oldstyle designs. This modern character influenced the later work of Bodoni.(See Sample) One of Fournier's significant contributions to typography was his establishment of a typographic point system. He invented a system that standardized measurements for type, which provided consistency and made it easier for printers to produce high-quality texts. This innovation helped printers achieve consistency in their work. Fournier published a seminal work in the history of typography titled Manuel de la Typographie ( Manual of Typography , two volumes published in 1764 and 1766), which included detailed descriptions of his typefaces along with examples. This work served as a reference for printers and typographers. The Introduction gives an overview of the principles of typography. In his Classification of typefaces, Fournier emphasizes the distinction between different styles, such as Roman, Italic, and Gothic types. The manual includes practical tips for setting type, including spacing, alignment, and layout, aimed at improving the quality of printed materials. Fournier includes numerous type specimens, showcasing his designs and providing examples of how different types can be used effectively in printing. Throughout the text, Fournier discusses the historical development of typography and its evolution, reflecting on the influence of various cultures and periods on the art of type. Other contemporaries elsewhere, such as J.M. Fleischman and J. Enschedé, started imitating Fournier's style. In the 1750s, his career was at its peak. He advised royalty in Sweden and Sradinia on types, and set up a printing shop for Madame de Pompadour. He developed musical types in cooperation with J.G.I. Breitkopf in 1756. Fournier's designs influenced future generations of typographers and established a foundation for modern type design. His methods and styles contributed to the evolution of typography, leading to the development of various typefaces we see today. The ORNAMENTS display is a careful digitized reproduction by CARE Typography of Fournier's original ad as seen in the "Fournier Specimen Book" by Lanston Monotype, 1927, in London.

A Cross Inspired Typeface

By Carl Shank • July 24, 2025
A Cross Inspired Typeface. CARE Typography has been able to craft a typeface of Christian crosses from the history of the Christian Church throughout the world. We named it CrossesTwo to simply distinguish it from other writings. It is a FREE font, available to all who ask. Christian crosses are used widely in churches, on top of church buildings, on bibles, in heraldry, in personal jewelry, on hilltops, and elsewhere as an attestation or other symbol of Christianity. Crosses are a prominent feature of Christian cemeteries , either carved on gravestones or as sculpted stelae . Because of this, planting small crosses is sometimes used in countries of Christian culture to mark the site of fatal accidents. Not far from where we are, there is a huge Christian cross built by a Virginia church marking not merely the site of the church building, but announcing the central message of the Bible there. Christian crosses are powerful symbols that convey theological meaning, cultural identity, and historical legacy. Over centuries, many distinct styles of the cross have developed across Christian traditions, regions, and periods. Some of the most prominent crosses are the traditional Latin Cross (Letter "L" in CrossesTwo typeface), where the vertical beam extends beyond the horizontal cross bar, the Greek Cross , a cross with four arms of equal length (Letter "V" in the typeface), the Orthodox (Eastern) Cross (Letter small "o" in typeface), with three horizontal bars — the top for the inscription (INRI), the middle for the hands, and the slanted bottom bar for the footrest, the Celtic Cross (Letter "1" in the typeface), which is a Latin cross with a circular ring connecting the arms. The traditional Latin cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus, with the empty cross signaling that He rose again from the dead, and is used in Western Christianity, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and many global Christian contexts. The Greek Cross is common in early Christian art and Byzantine Christianity and used in Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine, and early Christian monuments and mosaics. In the Orthodox Eastern Cross the slanted bar represents the two thieves crucified beside Christ — one rose to heaven, the other descended. It is used in Russian, Greek, Serbian, and other Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Celtic Cross had its origins in early medieval Ireland and Britain, associated with Celtic Christianity. It has been used in Irish Christianity, Anglican, some Protestant denominations, and decorative gravestones. The Coptic Cross (Letter "5" in the typeface and note Letter "e" where the Ethiopian Cross is a close match to the new Coptic Cross) is a a variation with intricate, symmetrical designs — sometimes with equal arms or surrounded by circles. It is used by Christians in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Jerusalem Cross (Letter "j" in the typeface) has a large central cross surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, used by the Crusades in the eleventh century, is the Heraldic symbol of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and used by Franciscans and in modern Jerusalem-related contexts. The Russian Orthodox Cross (Letter "o" in the typeface) Features three horizontal bars — top (INRI), middle (hands), and slanted bottom (feet). The Tau Cross (Letters "T" and "t" in the typeface) is shaped like the Greek letter tau and has been adopted by St. Anthony and Franciscans to symbolize Old Testament sacrifices and God's protection (Ezekiel 9:4). St. Andrew's Cross (Saltire) (Letter "s" in the typeface) is an X-shaped cross from the tradition that Andrew the Apostle was crucified on a diagonal cross. It is the symbol of Scotland and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Papal Cross (Letter "P" in the typeface) is a vertical staff with three horizontal bars, decreasing in length, representing the pope’s triple office: bishop of Rome, patriarch of the West, and successor of Peter. The Cross of Lorraine (Letter "l" in the typeface) is a vertical bar crossed by two horizontal bars — the lower one longer, has been used in Western Europe during the Crusades and was a symbol of French resistance in World War 2. The Patriarchal Cross (Letter "p" in the typeface) is similar to the Cross of Lorraine, but primarily associated with ecclesiastical hierarchy, and used by archbishops and patriarchs in Eastern and Western churches. Each cross reflects regional theological emphases, cultural aesthetics, and historical developments. While the Latin Cross remains the universal Christian emblem, the variety in form reveals Christianity's global and historical richness. Note the CrossesTwo typeface below with the description of these and many other crosses. (Credit for the opening image is given to Matteo Corti - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Muiredach_s_Cross.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1393567)
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