Īkzidenz-Grotesk's design descends from a school of general-purpose sans-serifs cut in the 19th century. The sans-serif type is used in a secondary role underneath a more decorative heading face.
) The differences in proportions between different sizes and weights of Akzidenz-Grotesk has led to a range of contemporary adaptations, reviving or modifying different aspects of the original design, discussed below.Ī 1905 advertisement for Berthold in a Swedish printing journal, offering Royal-Grotesk, later branded as the light weight of Akzidenz-Grotesk, for sale. (Berthold literature from the 1900s marketed the light and regular weights as being compatible, light at the time called 'Royal-Grotesk'. This is common with 19th-century sans-serifs, which were not designed with the intention of forming an extended family that would match together. In addition, there is variation between weights: Karl Gerstner notes that even comparing one size (20pt), the medium and bold weights have different x-height, cap height and descender length to the light and regular weights. The metal type of Akzidenz-Grotesk shows variation between sizes, with adaptation of letter-spacing and proportions such as looser spacing at smaller text sizes, something that was normal practice in the design and engraving of metal type.
Walter Tracy describes this style of 'g' as a common feature in German sans-serifs of the period and apparently influenced by the tradition of blackletter, still very popular for printing extended texts in Germany in the late 19th century, which uses a single-storey 'g' in upright composition. The 'g' of Akzidenz-Grotesk is a 'single-storey' design, like in many other German sans-serifs, but unlike the double-storey 'g' found in most serif faces and in many of the earliest sans-serifs that had a lower-case sans-serif types first appeared in London, but became popular in Germany from the mid-19th century onwards. The capitals of Akzidenz-Grotesk are wide and relatively uniform in width. This is most visible in the quite folded-up apertures of letters such as ‘a’ and ‘c’. Modern type designer Martin Majoor has described the general design of Akzidenz-Grotesk and its ancestors as similar in letterforms to the Didone serif fonts that were standard printing types in the 19th century, such as Didot, Walbaum and their followers. This gives a sense of simplicity and an absence of the adornment and flourishes seen in the more decorative sans-serifs of the late 19th century influenced by the Art Nouveau style. Like most sans-serifs, Akzidenz-Grotesk is 'monoline' in structure, with all strokes of the letter of similar width. Design characteristicsĭigital variants of Akzidenz-Grotesk, showing the slight inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies between different weights and widths If it had an intended meaning, it may have reflected the "primitive" feel of sans-serifs, or their roots in archaic Greek and Roman inscriptions, and was commonly used to mean "sans-serif" without negative implication. Grotesque (German: Grotesk) was a standard term that had become popular in the first half of the 19th century for sans-serifs, initiated by the London type-founder William Thorowgood.
Akzidenzschrift was by the 1870s a generic term meaning typefaces intended for these uses. Both words were everyday, descriptive terms for typefaces of the time in the German language: Akzidenz meaning trade printing or printing for some occasion or event a modern German-language dictionary describes it as work such as advertisements and forms, from Latin accidentia (occurrence, chance happening). It has sometimes been sold as Standard or Basic Commercial in English-speaking countries, and a variety of digital versions have been released by Berthold and other companies.Īkzidenz-Grotesk is often translated into English as "jobbing sans-serif" (in the sense of "used for jobs"). Its simple, neutral design has also influenced many later typefaces. Relatively little-known for a half-century after its introduction, it achieved iconic status in the post-war period as the preferred typeface of many Swiss graphic designers in what became called the 'International' or 'Swiss' design style which became popular across the Western world in the 1950s and 1960s. Originating during the late 19th century, Akzidenz-Grotesk belongs to a tradition of general-purpose, unadorned sans-serif types that had become dominant in German printing during the 19th century. Akzidenz indicates its intended use as a typeface for commercial print runs such as publicity, tickets and forms, as opposed to fine printing, and "grotesque" was a standard name for sans-serif typefaces at the time. Akzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface family originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin.