Medical Advice, 1959, no. 23

The AIGA design archives provided the example of a book design entitled Medical Advice, 1959, no. 23. The typeface used in this book, designed by Milton Glaser for Push Pin Graphic, provides a typeface example that is a combination of both a blackletter (fraktur) typeface and a roman typeface.

Example of a blackletter typeface:
The blackletter typeface is distinguished by the tightly-packed, heavy strokes of the characters that are meant to mimic the stroke of a quill pen that would have been used in the 1400's. Blacklettering could be considered a pre-humanist typeface as it was used in the time before the Renaissance and lent itself to exclusive readers, not to the public in general.

Example of a roman typeface:

The roman typeface is much more "user friendly" in that it is easier to read than the blackletter style, with letters that are more open and wider spacing between the words. The roman style was used during the Renaissance and its ease of use is indicative of the humanistic ideal that strove to make the written word more accessible to the masses.

Here is a link to the Medical Advice, 1959, no. 23 from the AIGA site. The combination font used in this piece is, I believe, an excellent font choice. The influence of blacklettering on the font brings to mind a time of old and the "beginning of medicine" and as this book is dealing with a medical subject the font itself lends credibility to the book. The influence of the roman style in the font helps with legibility so that the material is easily read. However, the "combination" of fonts (fonts that were, in a sense, at odds with each other) is ideal: the subject matter of the book is satirical in nature, presenting serious medical subjects in a comical, ironic way. So the font choice mirrors the irony of the subject matter...all in all the font chosen is perfect for this book.

kristen


sources:
http://designarchives.aiga.org/?s1=2|s2=1|eid=19894
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/507251/roman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter
Esksilson, Stephen J. (2007). Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.