Semplicità

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

{{Infobox font

| name =

| image = Semplicità typeface sample.png

| style = Sans-serif

| classifications = Geometric

| creationdate = c. 1928

| foundry = Nebiolo

}}

Semplicità is a sans-serif typeface of the geometric style. It was published by the Nebiolo type foundry of Turin, Italy from around 1928.{{cite web|title=Semplicità. Geometria semplice e razionale|url=http://www.tipoteca.it/portfolio/semplicita/|publisher=Tipoteca|access-date=18 April 2017}}{{efn|Sources differ with dates from 1928 to 31 printed in various sources. If not a mistake, this may reflect the long production process common with metal type, in which the journey from design to commercial release could often take several years, or the production of various weights.}}

Semplicità, named for the Italian for "simplicity", is an example of the new wave of "geometric" sans-serifs such as Erbar and Futura appearing in the late 1920s and early 1930s.{{cite web|last1=Kupferschmid|first1=Indra|title=On Erbar and Early Geometric Sans Serifs|url=http://cjtype.com/dunbar/#research|publisher=CJ Type|access-date=20 October 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Ulrich|first1=Ferdinand|title=A short intro to the geometric sans|url=https://www.fontshop.com/content/short-intro-to-geometric-sans|publisher=FontShop|access-date=17 December 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Ulrich|first1=Ferdinand|title=Why we need a new Kabel|url=https://www.fontshop.com/content/why-we-need-a-new-kabel|publisher=FontShop|access-date=19 December 2016}} These designs were based on the proportions of the circle and the square and the influence of Roman square capitals, breaking from traditional "grotesque" designs of the nineteenth century. Semplicità, however, has a number of unusual features, including a 'U' with an angle, following the classical model, and an 'f' which descends below the baseline.{{efn|Both features, although the 'u' only in lowercase and the 'f' not in all versions, are also seen in Wagner & Schmidt's Kristall-Grotesk, dated by Biľak to 1936–37 and later offered in Czechoslovakia as Universal Grotesk.{{cite web|last1=Biľak|first1=Peter|authorlink1=Peter Biľak|title=Universal Grotesk|url=http://ilovetypography.com/2016/02/01/universal-grotesk/|website=i love typography|access-date=19 April 2017}}}} It is also a "spurless" design, similar to the contemporary Bernhard Gothic and more recently FF Dax, in which most strokes end without terminals. These features give Semplicità an appearance similar to some of the flamboyant, modernist Art Deco lettering of the period.{{cite journal|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|title=Fascism on the Facade|journal=Print|date=2004|pages=78–81|url=http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Fascism-on-the-Facade-Shaw.pdf|access-date=20 April 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|author-link=Paul Shaw (design historian)|title=Overlooked Typefaces|url=http://www.printmag.com/imprint/overlooked-typefaces/|website=Print magazine|access-date=2 July 2015}}

The design of Semplicità has sometimes been credited to type designer Alessandro Butti,{{cite web|last1=Kupferschmid|first1=Indra|title=The story of Nebiolo|url=https://djr.typenetwork.com/news/article/the-story-of-nebiolo|website=TypeNetwork|access-date=18 April 2017}} but Colizzi and Olocco do not credit it to a single designer, although Butti may have been the final draughtsman.{{cite book|author=Victor Margolin|title=World History of Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1epgBwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA331|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4725-6928-8|page=331}}{{cite book|author=Neil Macmillan|title=An A-Z of Type Designers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jxV4qEolEo8C&pg=PA59|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-11151-7|page=59}}{{cite web|title=Società Nebiolo|url=http://www.klingspor-museum.de/KlingsporKuenstler/Schriftgiessereien/Nebiolo/Nebiolo.pdf|publisher=Klingspor Museum|access-date=18 April 2017}}{{cite web|title=Alessandro Butti|url=http://blog.giofugatype.com/?tag=semplicita|publisher=Gio Fuga Type|access-date=18 April 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Colizzi|first1=Alessandro|last2=Olocco|first2=Riccardo|title=Novarese and Butti, a story to be (re)written|url=https://articles.c-a-s-t.com/novarese-and-butti-a-story-to-be-re-written-37ab38ac64c6|website=CAST|access-date=18 April 2017}}

Digitisations are available in commercial releases from Durotype and Canada Type, and an open-source version (shown) from Studio Di Lena, who require attribution as a condition of its use.{{cite web|title=Semplicita Pro|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/canadatype/semplicita-pro/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Canada Type|access-date=18 April 2017}}{{cite web|title=Simplo|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/durotype/simplo/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Durotype|access-date=18 April 2017}} A proprietary digitisation has also been used by the French clothing company Céline.{{cite web|last1=Famira|first1=Hannes|title=Céline Sans|url=http://famira.com/portfolio/celine|website=Hannes Famira|access-date=18 April 2017}}