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Slab41 3A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T

ROCKWELL

The story of Rockwell begins with a

little history. The Rockwell typeface i s

classified as a slab serif. A slab serif type-

face is defined as a typeface with thick,

block like serifs. The terminals of a slab

serif t ypeface can be either blun t or

angular.

{Rockwell features angular terminals.}

The thick & bold na-ture of slab serif typefaces makes them suitable for use as headlines, but slab serif typefaces are often difficult

to read as body copy.

In the early 1800’s the world of print

began to expand beyond book printing.

Printers needed a typeface to use for post-

ers and flyers. Something bold, and eye-

catching. It was the beginning of print

driven advertising.

And so the slab serif was born, first

introduced by Vincent Figgins under the

name Antique. Slab serif typefaces have

been further broken down into four sub-

classifications:

The Clarendon Model is for slab serifs

which have some bracketing and contrast

within their serifs. Then there are Typewriter

typefaces. These faces have a monospaced

format with a fixed width, because of the

nature of a typewriter, which these faces

are modeled after. The Italienne Model

features heavy serifs, such as Playbill.

Finally, the fourth sub-classification is the

SER

IF2modernist approach to the letterform that

Futura did.

According to many texts on the subject of

Rockwell, it’s predecessor wa s a design called

Litho Antique, which was produced by

the Inland Type Foundry in 1910. Litho

Antique was then revived in the 1920’s

by the American Type Founders as

Stymie, with Morris Fuller Benton cut-

ting many new weights. Frank Hinman

Pierpont with the Monotype Foundry

introduced Rockwell in 1933.

Rockwell is a typeface which

uses heavy, unbracketed slab

serifs. The letters with counters

have a more circular shape, rather

than oval. Letters which feature an

open counter, such as c,h,m and

n have half serifs. Rockwells equal

spacing and geometrtic design

make it easy to read. Which is

why it i s such a great choice for

posters, headlines and logos.

Today Rockwell is available

in nineweights; light, light italic,

regular, italic, bold, bold italic,

condensed, condensed light

& extra bold, Rockwell is a

wonderful typeface for large display work.

The geometric design lends Rock-

well a straightforward appearance, which

ensures it’s message is clearly communi-

cated. Rockwell is also considered to be

legible in short text blocks, making the

typeface quite versatile for a slab serif.

Neo-grotesque Model, which is what Rock-

well falls under. Neo-grotesque typefaces

are the most common. They are evenly

weighted and have no bracketing.

Fast forward to the 1920’s and 1930’s

and we find the slab serif typeface design

beginning to experience a revival. Paul

Renner’s geometric sans serif typeface

Futura was released in 1927, and it was

quickly followed with mono line slab serif

designs that clearly reflected the same

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Type designer Frank Hinman

Pierpont was born in 1860 in New

Haven, Connecticut. Pierpont is an

American designer, he spent the

majority of his career as the manager

at Monotype in London. He remained

there from 1899 until his retirement

in 1936. Pierpont helped develop exist-

ing typefaces to be suitable for the

Monotype Foundry’s machines. In

1913 he oversaw the design of the

Plantin typeface. In 1925 he designed

Horley Old Style. Just p rior to

retirement, he oversaw the desig n

of the Rockwell typeface.

PierpontFrank