TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Mon Apr 15 06:00:36 EDT 2024

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ABOUT

University Roman

University Roman is usually attributed to Michael Daines and Philip Kelly at Letraset who designed it from 1972 until 1983. However, the origins go back much further. There are two sources that are contradictory, so I will cite both:

• FontShop gives it to George Hunt in 1937.
• Bitstream writes: A fanciful burlesque of an old typeface revival designed by Ross F. George after the principles of his mentor, William Hugh Gordon. It appears in Speedball lettering catalogues of the late thirties as Stunt Roman. This typeface is the culmination of Gordon's style, stated in Cincinnati in 1918 as "Use full round ovals, condense the vertical elements", and a slightly broken alignment adds to the unique appearance of the entire production. Revived in the late sixties by Paul Bailey at Lettergraphics as Forum Flair, a film font for headlines, the design was widely copied, with Letraset achieving the greatest popularity with their slightly more disciplined version, University Roman.

Implementations include University Roman (Letraset), University Roman (Tilde), University Roman (Monotype Imaging), University Roman (ITC), University Roman (Bitstream), University (Adobe), Hacky Sack NF (Nick Curtis), Finura (Dino dos Santos), and Speedball (Intellecta).

View the most representative digital versions of University Roman.

EXTERNAL LINKS
University Roman
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INTERNAL LINKS
History of type ⦿ Typography ⦿