Typografie als voertuig van de wetenschap - Universiteit Leiden

24
RVendôme
text, typeset in Swift and Capitolium News (2006), which I also designed.
The Lutetia R is one of the first letter forms I not only perceived consciously,
but also copied. It is a very classic R with a rather large upper
counter. Lutetia well illustrates the extent to which Van Krimpen followed
classic examples while simultaneously leaving his personal mark on it. The
Vendôme R is much sharper and idiosyncratic, and less formal than Lutetia.
This R too struck me quite early on and must have shown me how much
space type designers have to make a particular letter their own. This typeface,
then, is very French: it is a gesture, slightly nervous. Morris Fuller
Benton’s R is in fact not pretty, with its slightly slack twist as a tail. But the
Century Schoolbook I always considered very fine as a whole indeed. It
taught me that type designs and typography are not just about aesthetics
and details, but that there are also many other qualities, such as warmth
and solidity, and that you may adapt letter forms to influences from
technology or to special demands from readers. I added the Swift R
because it is easy to see that Vendôme served as one of its sources of
inspiration. The sharpness and the speed of Roger Excoffon are traceable
in Swift.
These four R’s already show how rich and versatile typography can be as
a source of conscious visual pleasure, aside from its unknowingly enjoyed
function as a vehicle of science, knowledge, opinions, news, and literature.