TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Fri Dec 13 00:57:41 EST 2024
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Clearface
[Morris Fuller Benton]
Clearface is an extremely popular traditional American typeface from the turn of the century. McGrew writes: Clearface was designed by Morris Benton with his father, Linn B. Benton, as advisor. The bold was designed first, in 1905, and cut the following year. The other weights and italics were produced through 1911. As the name implies, the series was intended to show unusual legibility, which it certainly achieved. The precision of cutting and casting for which ATF is noted produced a very neat and handsome series, which had considerable popularity. Clearface Heavy Italic has less inclination than the lighter weights, and is non-kerning, a detail which helped make it popular for newspaper use; the specimen shown here is from a very worn font. Some of the typefaces have been copied by the matrix makers. But the typeface Monotype calls Clearface and Italic is the weight called Bold by other sources. Monotype also includes Clearface Italic No. 289, a copy of the lighter weight. Revival and expansion by Victor Caruso for ITC called ITC Clearface, 1978. Other digital descendants: Opti Clearface Gothic Agency (Castcraft), Opti Clearface, TS Clearface (TypeShop Collection), Clearface Serial (Softmaker), Clearface Old Style (Softmaker), Clearface (Softmaker), Clearface (Infinitype), Revival 814 (Bitstream), Clearface (1973, Phil Martin). Metal descendants include Ludlow's Clearface Bold. Clearface Gothic (1907-1910). McGrew: Clearface Gothic was designed by Morris Benton for ATF in 1908, and cut in 1910. It is a neat, clean gothic, somewhat thick and thin, which incorporates some of the mannerisms of the Clearface (roman) series. However, it can hardly be considered a part of that family. There is only one weight, and fonts contain only the minimum number of characters. Digital revivals of Clearface Gothic include Clear Gothic Serial (ca. 1994, SoftMaker), Cleargothic Pro (2012, SoftMaker), Clearface Gothic (Softmaker), Clearface Gothic (Linotype, Monotype), Clear Gothic (Infinitype). View and compare most of the digital versions of Clearface in existence today. |
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Luc Devroye ⦿ School of Computer Science ⦿ McGill University Montreal, Canada H3A 2K6 ⦿ lucdevroye@gmail.com ⦿ https://luc.devroye.org ⦿ https://luc.devroye.org/fonts.html |