International Typeface Corporation
Encyclopedia
The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) was a type
manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin
, and Edward Rondthaler
. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of metal type
. It is now a wholly owned brand or subsidiary of Monotype Imaging.
and computer set types internationally. The company issued both new designs
and revivals of older or classic faces, invariably re-cut to be suitable for digital typesetting use and produced in families of different weights. Although it is claimed that the designers took care to preserve the style and character of the original typefaces, several ITC revivals, such as ITC Bookman
and ITC Garamond
in particular, have received criticism that the end result was related in name only to the original faces.
ITC's revival designs frequently followed a formulary of increased x-height
, multiple weights from light to ultra bold, multiple widths and unusual ligature combinations, sometimes with alternate characters. Critics sometimes complain that, while the dramatically higher x-height increased legibility in smaller point sizes, in normal text sizes the extreme height of the lowercase characters imparted a commercial, subjective voice to texts. In recent years several new revivals have been praised for showing more historical accuracy, and for not increasing the x-height to the dramatic heights of earlier ITC typeface revivals.
until his death in May, 1981. Because of its extraordinary blend of typographic design
, illustration
and cartoons (sometimes by world-renowned artists and cartoonists such as Lou Myers
), verse
and prose
extolling the virtues of well-designed type
, as well as contributions by amateur or semi-professional typographers, the magazine was avidly read by type enthusiasts and sought after by collectors the world over.
A web version of the magazine started in 1998, along with a brand-new sans-serif logo by Mark van Bronkhorst (replacing the famous swash lettered logo by Herb Lubalin). In an editorial, John D. Berry wrote: "There’ll be plenty of overlap between the print magazine and the online magazine, but they won’t be identical: some things are best done with ink on paper, others are best done on screen." Yet the paper edition, which in 1998 had shrunk in format from tabloid pages to 8.5" x 11", did not survive for long. The final printed edition was vol. 25 no. 2, dated fall 1999. It had more pages than other issues in the new format, by virtue of inclusion of a catalog of the ITC font collection. The web version carried on until around 2003.
A book celebrating U&lc, U&lc: Influencing Design & Typography by John D. Berry (the magazine's final editor) ISBN 0972424091, was published by Mark Batty in 2005.
In October 2010 Allan Haley announced on the Fonts.com blog that the complete run of U&lc had been digitized and would be made available, one year's worth per month, via PDF download from that same blog..
, who had taken over Letraset
, originally makers of the first dry transfer lettering, and later to become developers of new typefaces for filmsetting and computer applications. In 2000, Agfa Monotype Corporation announced the acquisition of the capital stock of International Typeface Corporation (ITC) from Esselte. The transaction included ITC’s complete library of over 1600 typefaces, all typeface subscriber and distributor agreements, the itcfonts.com Web site, and typographic software. At this point ITC ceased to operate as an independent entity.
In November 2005 Agfa Monotype was incorporated as Monotype Imaging, with a focus on the company's traditional core competencies of typographic design
and professional printing. Famous contemporary typographers associated with Monotype include Adrian Frutiger
, Hermann Zapf
and Matthew Carter
.
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
manufacturer founded in New York in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin
Herb Lubalin
Herbert F. Lubalin was a prominent American graphic designer. He collaborated with Ralph Ginzburg on three of Ginzburg's magazines: Eros, Fact, and Avant Garde, and was responsible for the creative visual beauty of these publications...
, and Edward Rondthaler
Edward Rondthaler
Edward Rondthaler was a typographist as well as a simplified spelling champion and chairman of the American Literacy Council. He was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania...
. The company was one of the world's first type foundries to have no history in the production of metal type
Hot metal typesetting
In printing and typography, hot metal typesetting refers to 19th-century technologies for typesetting text in letterpress printing. This method injects molten type metal into a mold that has the shape of one or more glyphs...
. It is now a wholly owned brand or subsidiary of Monotype Imaging.
History
The company was founded to design, license and market typefaces for filmsettingPhototypesetting
Phototypesetting was a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper...
and computer set types internationally. The company issued both new designs
Type design
Type design is the art of designing typefaces.- History :Although the technology of printing text using movable type was invented in China, and despite the esteem which calligraphy held in that civilization, the vast number of Chinese characters meant that few distinctive, complete fonts could be...
and revivals of older or classic faces, invariably re-cut to be suitable for digital typesetting use and produced in families of different weights. Although it is claimed that the designers took care to preserve the style and character of the original typefaces, several ITC revivals, such as ITC Bookman
Bookman (typeface)
Bookman or Bookman Old Style is a serif typeface derived from Old Style Antique and designed by Alexander Phemister in 1858 for Miller and Richard foundry. Several American foundries copied the design, including the Bruce Type Foundry, and issued it under various names. In 1901, Bruce refitted...
and ITC Garamond
Garamond
Garamond is the name given to a group of old-style serif typefaces named after the punch-cutter Claude Garamond . Most of the Garamond faces are more closely related to the work of a later punch-cutter, Jean Jannon...
in particular, have received criticism that the end result was related in name only to the original faces.
ITC's revival designs frequently followed a formulary of increased x-height
X-height
In typography, the x-height or corpus size refers to the distance between the baseline and the mean line in a typeface. Typically, this is the height of the letter x in the font , as well as the u, v, w, and z...
, multiple weights from light to ultra bold, multiple widths and unusual ligature combinations, sometimes with alternate characters. Critics sometimes complain that, while the dramatically higher x-height increased legibility in smaller point sizes, in normal text sizes the extreme height of the lowercase characters imparted a commercial, subjective voice to texts. In recent years several new revivals have been praised for showing more historical accuracy, and for not increasing the x-height to the dramatic heights of earlier ITC typeface revivals.
U&lc magazine
The company published U&lc (Upper and Lower Case), a typographic magazine dedicated to showcasing their traditional and newer typefaces in particularly creative ways, originally edited and designed by Herb LubalinHerb Lubalin
Herbert F. Lubalin was a prominent American graphic designer. He collaborated with Ralph Ginzburg on three of Ginzburg's magazines: Eros, Fact, and Avant Garde, and was responsible for the creative visual beauty of these publications...
until his death in May, 1981. Because of its extraordinary blend of typographic design
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
, illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
and cartoons (sometimes by world-renowned artists and cartoonists such as Lou Myers
Lou Myers
Lou Myers was a cartoonist and short story writer.He was the first person since James Thurber to contribute both cartoons and articles to The New Yorker...
), verse
Verse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
and prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
extolling the virtues of well-designed type
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
, as well as contributions by amateur or semi-professional typographers, the magazine was avidly read by type enthusiasts and sought after by collectors the world over.
A web version of the magazine started in 1998, along with a brand-new sans-serif logo by Mark van Bronkhorst (replacing the famous swash lettered logo by Herb Lubalin). In an editorial, John D. Berry wrote: "There’ll be plenty of overlap between the print magazine and the online magazine, but they won’t be identical: some things are best done with ink on paper, others are best done on screen." Yet the paper edition, which in 1998 had shrunk in format from tabloid pages to 8.5" x 11", did not survive for long. The final printed edition was vol. 25 no. 2, dated fall 1999. It had more pages than other issues in the new format, by virtue of inclusion of a catalog of the ITC font collection. The web version carried on until around 2003.
A book celebrating U&lc, U&lc: Influencing Design & Typography by John D. Berry (the magazine's final editor) ISBN 0972424091, was published by Mark Batty in 2005.
In October 2010 Allan Haley announced on the Fonts.com blog that the complete run of U&lc had been digitized and would be made available, one year's worth per month, via PDF download from that same blog..
Acquisitions and mergers
In 1986 the company was acquired by Esselte LetrasetEsselte
Esselte is privately held company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. It is a holding company, specializing in office products. It owns several companies, including Pendaflex, Leitz, Oxford, Xyron, Rapid, and an operating company also called Esselte....
, who had taken over Letraset
Letraset
Letraset is a company based in the Kingsnorth Industrial Estate in Ashford, Kent, UK.It is known mainly for manufacturing sheets of artwork elements which can be transferred to artwork being prepared. The name Letraset was often used to refer generically to sheets of dry transferrable lettering of...
, originally makers of the first dry transfer lettering, and later to become developers of new typefaces for filmsetting and computer applications. In 2000, Agfa Monotype Corporation announced the acquisition of the capital stock of International Typeface Corporation (ITC) from Esselte. The transaction included ITC’s complete library of over 1600 typefaces, all typeface subscriber and distributor agreements, the itcfonts.com Web site, and typographic software. At this point ITC ceased to operate as an independent entity.
In November 2005 Agfa Monotype was incorporated as Monotype Imaging, with a focus on the company's traditional core competencies of typographic design
Type design
Type design is the art of designing typefaces.- History :Although the technology of printing text using movable type was invented in China, and despite the esteem which calligraphy held in that civilization, the vast number of Chinese characters meant that few distinctive, complete fonts could be...
and professional printing. Famous contemporary typographers associated with Monotype include Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger is one of the prominent typeface designers of the 20th century, who continues to influence the direction of digital typography in the 21st century; he is best known for creating the typefaces Univers and Frutiger.-Early life:Adrian Frutiger was born in Unterseen, Canton of Bern, as...
, Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf is a German typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany. He is married to calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf von Hesse....
and Matthew Carter
Matthew Carter
Matthew Carter is a type designer. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Carter's career in type design has witnessed the transition from physical metal type to digital type...
.