TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Mon Mar 25 15:24:24 EDT 2024

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Edwin W. Shaar

American type designer, designer, writer, b. 1906 or 1915. For some time he was assistant art director at Monotype and art director at Intertype. He made several phototype typefaces. His typefaces include:

  • 1939: Czarin (lowercase only by him), done at Baltimore Type.
  • 1939: Flash and Flash Bold (Lanston Monotype), a signage or supermarket script typeface of limited beauty. Linotype has a similar fat brush typeface called Okay. I assume it has the same genetic roots. See Slager (2012) and Falcon by SoftMaker, LTC Flash by Colin Kahn for LTC/P22, Flash SB by Scangraphic, and Flash EF by Elsner and Flake for a digital version of Flash, Brush Hand (by WSI), Brush Hand New (a free font by Keith Bates) and 0670 Script (also by SoftMaker) for a digital version of Flash and/or Okay. Mac McGrew: Flash is an informal brush-drawn script letter, cut by Monotype in 1939. It was the first typeface designed by Edwin W. Shaar, who designed Flash Bold the following year. The lighter weight is somewhat similar to Dom Diagonal, cut later by ATF. Also compare Balloon.
  • 1940: Valiant (Lanston Monotype), a display face. Mac McGrew: Valiant is a vigorous thick-and-thin letter with the appearance of having been lettered quickly but well with a broad pen. It was designed by Edwin W. Shaar for Monotype in 1940, and is similar to Lydian Bold Condensed, though a little heavier. It is suggestive of Samson, but condensed.
  • 1952: Futura Extra Bold (Intertype), followed by Futura Extra Bold Italic in 1955 at Intertype as well. For a digital version, see Function Script by SoftMaker.
  • 1952: Nuptial Script (Intertype).
  • 1954: Futura Script (Scangraphic). See Future Script EF by Elsner & Flake, and Function Script in the Softmaker collection.
  • 1954: Imperial (+Bold, +Italic), done at Intertype, and called Gazette by Linotype in 1977. The New York Times uses Imperial for its text since 1967, but it is based on in-house scans of the old metal Imperial (an Intertype design from 1954), not on the digital versions from Intertype or Linotype. The typophiles discuss Imperial: Kent Lew states The New York Times text is Imperial. Has been for at least the last several years. Koppa points out that the NY Times Imperial designed by Intertype looks like an ATF Century Old Style rip-off. [...] I will stick with my opinion that the original, the metal Century Old Style, credited to M Benton, is better than the copy-cat Intertype Imperial and most definitely better than the copy-cat digital Imperial I saw on myfonts.com last night. Bitstream made a digital version of Imperial. Mac McGrew: Imperial was designed by Edwin W. Shaar in 1954 as a newspaper text face. Like most other news typefaces it has a large x-height with short descenders. but unlike most news typefaces of the time, it blends certain oldstyle and contemporary characteristics, and is a little narrower and more closely fitted. This gives a feeling of friendliness and warmth, but retains a high degree of legibility.
  • 1960: Royal (+Italic, +Bold): a sans family that is easy to read in small point sizes.
  • 1960: Windsor (+Bold) (Intertype, New York), a newspaper face.
  • Vogue Extra Condensed (Intertype).
  • 1974: Satellite (+Italic, +Bold), done at Intertype. Mac McGrew: Satellite is a newspaper typeface designed by Edwin W. Shaar for Intertype in 1974. With large x-height and sturdy hairlines, especially in the bold version, it is designed for legibility under the rigors of high-speed newspaper production, but without sacrificing a stylish appearance.
  • Shaar Diane, a Photo-Lettering calligraphic face.

Linotype link. FontShop link. P22 link.

View Edwin Shaar's typefaces.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Edwin W. Shaar
 [Designer info]
Monotype link
Dafont page
Klingspor Museum page
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Fontspring search
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INTERNAL LINKS
Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Photo and film type era ⦿ Calligraphic typefaces ⦿ Fashion mag typefaces ⦿ Signage typefaces ⦿ Brush script typefaces ⦿








file name: Edwin Shaar Flash 1939 Elsner Flake Version Flash E F


file name: Colin Kahn Flash after Edwin Shaar Flash 1939


file name: Edwin Shaar Futura Script E F 1954


file name: Edwin W Shaar Imperial 1954


file name: Edwin Shaar Imperial Version by Bitstream


file name: Edwin Shaar Imperial Bold Version by Bitstream


file name: Linotype Gazette 1977 based on Edwin Shaar Imperial


file name: Linotype Okay based on Edwin Shaar Flash 1939


file name: Edwin Shaar Intertype Nuptial Script 1952


file name: Edwin W Shaar Pic







Luc Devroye ⦿ School of Computer Science ⦿ McGill University Montreal, Canada H3A 2K6 ⦿ lucdevroye@gmail.com ⦿ http://luc.devroye.org ⦿ http://luc.devroye.org/fonts.html