Typography

The Bembo, a Font Type

When I first heard about typography, I did not really see a difference between it and printing. Now, I've come to realize that my initial confusion is primarily due to the two being very intertwined (and, of course, my knowledge at the time greatly lacking). Printing is the actual making of the book, where as typography is the type of print it was produced in; typography is the appearance and style of what was printed. There are many different types of fonts, all of which goes under typography, and publishers have a reason why they use these different styles of word representation. What we will focus on is my book of study's typography, the font type Bembo.

The Bembo was first created in 1495, by Francesco Griffo. Griffo, who was from Venice, Italy, was considered one of the first modern type designers, meaning he created types for the mechanical craft of printing. He created the Bembo, which is considered one of the modern in its appearance compared to all types created in the 15th century.

Francesco Griffo, also known as Francesco da Bologna

The Bembo, after its initial creation, was brought back in 1929, by British typographer, Stanley Morison, along with a few other types. The Bembo is considered one of the best book typefaces ever produced for machine printing, especially when paired with Monotype printing. Each letter in the Bembo type has been altered in a way that the type, whether small or large, would be clearly legible and appealing to the reader, while remaining compact. The Bembo, at its time of creation, only had four weight (thickness of letters relative to height) with no italics, but now, within the Bembo style itselfs, there are many variations (check them out). 

Stanley Morison, the man credited for the revival of the Bembo.

Different Bembo Styles

Different Bembo Styles

Different Bembo Styles

Different Bembo Styles

Different Bembo Styles