Grotesk / Grotesque

Daniel Riley
Daniel Riley Posts: 3
in Type History
Hi Everybody,

I am curious to know what were/are the main stylistic differences between a German Grotesk and a British Grotesque?

best
Daniel
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Comments

  • Mark Simonson
    Mark Simonson Posts: 1,760
    There are a few exceptions, but usually German Grotesk faces feature a single-story /g, British Grotesque faces feature a double-story /g.
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,295
    The “continental/infant” version of Gill Sans is discussed here.
  • jeremy tribby
    jeremy tribby Posts: 277
    I wonder if part of the reason for the british association with the two-story /g is stephenson & blake's "grotesque" series, which both features it heavily, and may come to mind first when thinking of british grotesques, even if it that form of /g wasn't terribly more-common overall. there are indeed plenty of examples of it in dan's german archive
  • Mark Simonson
    Mark Simonson Posts: 1,760
    I've long had the impression (although I don't know for sure if it's true) that late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century German type designers favored the one-story /g (and sometimes /a) due to their comfort and familiarity with fraktur.
  • Dan Reynolds
    Dan Reynolds Posts: 181
    edited May 2022
    Mark Simonson said:
    I've long had the impression (although I don't know for sure if it's true) that late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century German type designers favored the one-story /g (and sometimes /a) due to their comfort and familiarity with fraktur.
    Yes, I think that there must be something to your suggestion about the one-story /g feeling more “familiar,” since Fraktur versions of /g always look that way. People seemed to have been quite happy mixing a one-story /g with a two-story /a, though.
  • Daniel Riley
    Daniel Riley Posts: 3
    Thank you all for the information!

    @Mark Simonson @Nick Shinn @Dan Reynolds @jeremy tribby

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