Regular vs Book

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Comments

  • Michael Rafailyk
    Michael Rafailyk Posts: 157
    Yeah, I got it, the Book usually performs the function of optical size, but is not separated into another subfamily (like without leaving home, that makes sense). So the question is, is it always true or could it be just a naming (like Book instead of Light/Regular/Medium)? But Mark already answered that.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,945
    “Book” has meant different things from different vendors. BOTH Savard and Simonson are right.

    Too bad, because it is a fine word and if not for ITC (and folks who later followed their lead), it would be a good label for “text size, and intended for extended reading.”

    But this diversity of meanings makes it a less useful label. I might be more likely to use “Text” instead of “Book” for the optical size meaning; it serves just about the same purpose, but with less ambiguity.
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,317
    From what I can see, Euphemia Book look lighter (closer to Regular) than if Medium were in its place, right?
    It is pretty close to where Medium would be, relative to the inherited Regular and Bold weights from the original version of the family. Overall, the family tends towards a lighter appearance than many Latin-first types: the Regular is quite light, and the Bold is not very heavy.
  • Cory Maylett
    Cory Maylett Posts: 250
    This is only a personal definition, but I've always considered book to be less of a weight designation and more of a modification or tweaking of a typeface to increase readability in long text passages, such as in a printed book or magazine. That being the case (at least for me), book might be a bit lighter or heavier than regular, or it might even be roughly the same weight as regular but modified for use in text.
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,317
    edited January 20
    Book can be either a weight designation within a type family or a family-level label for a distinct design (possibly within a broader ‘super family’, although I think that is primarily a branding exercise).

    The fact that Hermann’s ‘Palatino Book’ design could be marketed by Linotype as ‘Aldus’ tells you everything you need to understand about the family-level nature of ‘Book’ in that context.

    That is independent of the use of Book as a weight designation within a family, but obviously it would look wierd to combine the two uses such that one would have e.g. ‘Palatino Book Book’ as both family-level label and weight designation. That’s why I say it can be either, not both.
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,247
    edited January 20
    I’m imagining a variable font with a <book> axis.
    At one end, the War & Peace setting, at the other, Baby Shoes.

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