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Robert E. Smith
Artist and art director in New York, b. 1910, Chicago. As a lettering designer, he was associated with ATF from 1933-1942. He was the art director of the New York World's Fair in 1939. Smith created - The light script font Park Avenue (ATF, 1933). This typeface is available at Bitstream as Ribbon 251, and at Corel as Paradise, at Infinitype as Park Avenue, and at SoftMaker as Park Avenue. Mac McGrew: Park Avenue is a distinctive script design by Robert E. Smith, cut by ATF about 1933. It is not quite a joining script, although some letter combinations seem to do so. Lowercase is rather small, with long ascenders, some of which have an open loop. This is probably one of the most successful designs in the founder's project of replacing the delicate traditional scripts with more contemporary interpretations. It was adapted to Intertype in 1939, in a version that departs remarkably little from the original, considering that it is duplexed with the totally dissimilar Bernhard Fashion, the only obvious differences being the lining figures, the narrowing of a few capitals, and straightening of the lowercase {and I to fit the straight, non-kerning matri- ces. However, some capitals have excess blank space on the left side. It is popular for stationery and announcements. Baltimore copied the foundry version as Belair, while several other suppliers cast fonts from Intertype matrices. Compare Parkway Script, Piranesi Italic, Raleigh Cursive.
- Brush Script (ATF, then Berthold, 1942). This signage script is available at Bitstream as Brush 451 and as Brush Script. It has been imitated countless times: Brush (Mecanorma), Brush Script (URW++), Brush Script (Linotype), Brush Script (Tilde), Brush Script (Adobe), Brush Script EF (Elsner & Flake), Brush Script SB (Scangraphic), Brush Script Pro (Softmaker), Banty (ClickArt Fonts), Banff (Corel), Brussels (Fontbank), Bankoli (Fontbank), Tropical (Greenstreet), Motif (SSi), Brush Stroke (WSI), ATF Brush (2015, American Type Founders Collection). In a more general sense, extensions and close cousins among digital typefaces include Wisdom Script, Mission Script, Marketing Script, Motion Picture, Thirsty Script, Lobster, Lauren Script, Deftone Stylus and Ritts Cursive. Mac McGrew: Brush was designed in 1942 by Robert E. Smith as one of ATF's group of contemporary scripts, intended to replace designs from the early part of the century. This one has a handlettered, freely-drawn appearance, with the letters joined skillfully so the connections are not obvious. The availability of the typeface on Monotype mats has given it a much greater range of popularity and usefulness. A heavier weight was projected but not completed. Compare Brody, Hauser Script, Kaufmann, Repro Script.
Linotype link. FontShop link. Klingspor link.
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EXTERNAL LINKS
Robert E. Smith
 [Designer info]
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Klingspor Museum page
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INTERNAL LINKS
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