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Erbar

{{Short description|Geometric sans-serif typeface}}

{{Infobox font

| name =Erbar

| image = Die schöne Erbar-Grotesk.jpg

| style = Sans-serif

| classifications = Geometric

| releasedate = 1922-30

| creator = Jakob Erbar

| foundry = Ludwig & Mayer

|foundries= Linotype, Continental Type Founders Association

}}

Erbar or Erbar-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface in the geometric style, one of the first designs of this kind released as type.{{cite web|last1=Kupferschmid|first1=Indra|title=On Erbar and Early Geometric Sans Serifs|url=http://cjtype.com/dunbar/|publisher=CJ Type|access-date=20 October 2016}} Designer Jakob Erbar's aim was to design a printing type which would be free of all individual characteristics, possess thoroughly legible letter forms, and be a purely typographic creation. He concluded that this could only work if the type form was developed from a fundamental element, the circle.Tracy, Walter.Letters of Credit: a View of Type Design. Gordon Fraser, 1998 Erbar-Grotesk was developed in stages; Erbar wrote that he had originally sketched out the design in 1914 but had been prevented from working on it due to the war. The original version of Erbar was released in 1926, following Erbar's "Phosphor" titling capitals of 1922 which are very similar in design.{{cite book|author=Christopher Burke|title=Paul Renner: The Art of Typography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfT0Iam0q7AC&pg=PA100|date=December 1998|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=978-1-56898-158-1|page=100}}{{cite book|author=Walter Tracy|title=Letters of Credit: A View of Type Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8NssjbqNcsC&pg=PA93|year=2003|publisher=D.R. Godine|isbn=978-1-56792-240-0|pages=92–4}}

The typeface first explored Bauhaus geometric letterforms with centered text and compact layouts.{{Cite web |last=George |first=Tanya |date=2022-04-28 |title=Typefaces Inspired by the Bauhaus |url=https://letterformarchive.org/news/bauhaus-typefaces-part-two/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=Letterform Archive |language=en-US}} Under Jakob Erbar's influence, it then evolved to look similar to Bauhaus principles and asymmetrical design of New Typography.

Font

Erbar was originally cast by the Ludwig & Mayer foundry of Frankfurt, Germany, with machine composition matrices later being offered by German and then American Linotype.Jaspert, Pincus, Berry and Johnson.The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. Pp. 269-70{{cite book|author=Neil Macmillan|title=An A-Z of Type Designers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jxV4qEolEo8C&pg=PA78|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-11151-7|page=78}} Erbar was later exported to the United States and sold by the Continental Type Founders Association.Specimen Book of Continental Types, Continental Type Founders Association, N.Y.C., 1929. A digital version is sold today by Linotype.

Erbar was cast in four weights with italic and condensed faces. Other variants were offered:

  • Lumina, an open face version.
  • Lux, a version with contrasting outlines.
  • Phosphor, an ultra-bold/inline display version similar to Neuland, released slightly before Erbar itself.

Gallery

File:Erbar-1.jpg|Light weight

File:Erbar-2.jpg|Regular weight

File:Erbar-3.jpg|Regular weight

File:Erbar-4.jpg|Bold weight

File:Erbar-5.jpg|Bold weight

File:Erbar-6.jpg|Condensed weight

File:Erbar-7.jpg|Condensed bold

Influence on other typefaces

The success of Erbar inspired the creation of many new geometric sans-serif faces by competing foundries, including Futura, Metro, Vogue, Spartan and Twentieth Century among others. Of those, Futura proved to be the most successful. That, Jakob Erbar's early death, the small size of Erbar's Ludwig & Mayer Foundry and the international reach of Futura's Bauer Type Foundry led to Erbar becoming less well known than Futura.

Phosphor, an ultra-bold and inline display that was design similar to Erbar but was released first, was particularly popular, and several imitations and revivals were created.

Zhurnalnaya roublennaya (Журнальная рубленая), or Journal Grotesque, was a Russian sans-serif that was created in the Soviet Union by Anatoly Schukin and others and released from 1947 onwards, was quite loosely inspired by Erbar and with Cyrillic and later Latin characters.{{cite web|last1=Sakk|first1=Ivar|title=Zhurnalnaya Roublennaya: A Poor Man's Futura|url=http://fontsinuse.com/uses/12774/zhurnalnaya-roublennaya-a-poor-man-s-futura|website=Fonts In Use|access-date=23 June 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Korolkova|first1=Alexandra|last2=Selezeneva|first2=Maria|title=Journal Sans New|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/paratype/journal-sans-new/|website=MyFonts|publisher=ParaType|access-date=23 June 2016}}{{cite web|title=GrilliType Eesti|url=https://www.grillitype.com/typefaces/gt-eesti|publisher=Grilli Type|access-date=23 June 2016}}

Digitisations

File:Jakob Erbar font specimen.png

A leading unofficial Erbar digitisation is Dunbar, released by CJ Dunn in late 2016 as an unofficial digitisation in a choice of x-heights named Dunbar Low, Dunbar Text and Dunbar Tall.{{cite web|last1=Dunn|first1=CJ|title=Dunbar|url=http://cjtype.com/dunbar/|publisher=CJ Type|access-date=20 October 2016}} It is also offered as a variable font, in which the x-height and the weight can be varied smoothly, and as such is the first variable font on sale.

As of 2016, several Erbar digitisations exist under this name. URW++ has released a revival of seven weights (of the normal width only), and a "Neo Mini" digitisation optimised for small sizes, with an enlarged x-height and solid weight.{{cite web|title=URW++ Erbar|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/urw/erbar/|website=MyFonts|publisher=URW++|access-date=23 June 2016}}{{cite web|title=Erbar Neo Mini|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/urw/erbar-neo-mini/|website=MyFonts|publisher=URW++|access-date=23 June 2016}} Linotype has digitised light and bold weights of the condensed style.{{cite web|title=Erbar LT|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/erbar/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Linotype|access-date=23 June 2016}}

Stephen Coles, an expert on digital fonts, has been critical of the Erbar digitisations on the market, writing that "there is no recommendable digital version...existing revivals neither capture the spirit or breadth of the original family. Still, if you really have a Erbar hankering, URW’s version is the most complete."{{cite web|last1=Coles |first1=Stephen |title=Alternatives to Futura |url=https://www.fontshop.com/people/stephen-coles/fontlists/futura-alternatives |publisher=Fontshop |access-date=2 October 2015 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316221104/https://www.fontshop.com/people/stephen-coles/fontlists/futura-alternatives |archive-date=March 16, 2015 }}

Because of Phosphor's popularity, several revivals exist independently of the latter Erbar rereleases (none of which include it), by Monotype and others.{{cite web|title=Phosphor MT|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/phosphor/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype|access-date=23 January 2016}} Phosphate, an unofficial revival created by Red Rooster Fonts, is bundled with OS X.{{cite web|title=Phosphate|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/redrooster/phosphate/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Red Rooster Collection|access-date=23 January 2016}} Zamenhof, by CastleType, is a large revival inspired by Russian adaptations of the style.{{cite web|title=Zamenhof|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/castletype/zamenhof/|website=MyFonts|publisher=CastleType|access-date=23 June 2016}}

Zhurnalnaya roublennaya has itself been digitised by Grilli Type as GT Eesti and (much more loosely) for ParaType as Journal Sans by Olexa Volochay, Maria Selezeneva and Alexandra Korolkova.

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

  • Friedl, Ott, and Stein, Typography: an Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Throughout History. Black Dog & Levinthal Publishers: 1998. {{ISBN|1-57912-023-7}}.
  • Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. {{ISBN|0-7137-1347-X}}.

External links

  • URW++ [http://www.fonts.com/font/urw/erbar Erbar]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erbar (Typeface)}}

Category:Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1926

Category:Geometric sans-serif typefaces

Category:Letterpress typefaces

Category:Digital typefaces