Today, August 3, 2012, Adobe introduced its first open source type family, called “Source Sans Pro.” The family is a set of sans serif text fonts based on Morris Fuller Benton’s gothic forms, especially Franklin Gothic, released by the American Type Founders Company (ATF) in 1902, and News Gothic, released in 1908. Adobe’s Paul Hunt wanted to “create … Read more
Rick von Holdt gave a talk in Phoenix June 2013 that set people talking. It was published in several printing journals as “Morris Fuller Benton, Type Designer: Fact or Fiction?” This short excerpt gives von Holdt’s argument in a nutshell: It has long been my contention that he was a brilliant engineer and organizer and headed … Read more
Why would anyone today care about what the Bentons were doing with metal type more than 100 years ago? (These days I’m in the last stages of tweaking my book about them, and I must confess that sometimes this question still haunts me.) But in fact, I’ve found that plenty of people do care, especially … Read more
Linn Boyd Benton’s No. 55 matrix engraver, as described in the American Machinist for December 16, 1909, consists of “two housings between which swings a long pendulum or arm … delicately suspended in a compound yoke by means of gimbal screws which gives it a toggle-joint effect.” At the Dale Type Foundry last Saturday, the No. 55 … Read more
Next week the American Printing History Association (APHA) will hold its annual conference at RIT. This year’s theme is “Printing on the Handpress & Beyond,” and the lineup of speakers and workshops looks great. It will also be the perfect place to debut my new children’s book about letterpress printing, Amelia Prints a Greeting Card. With photographs and simple language, the book follows Amelia … Read more