When did high-waisted (and low-waisted) fonts/lettering first appear?

Craig Eliason · June 11

There's a period charm to typefaces with intentionally high middles of letters like /B/E/F/H/K/S. Sometimes A/P/R join in, or sometimes they instead have intentionally low middles. /M and /W and maybe /N might get in the act too.

I associate this quirk with Jugendstil (central European Art Nouveau) around the turn of the twentieth century, as in these examples:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/gn/fkky06la3b5a.png

But it can be seen in Charles Rennie Macintosh's Arts & Crafts work,and American Arts & Crafts folks like Dard Hunter, and later in proportional games played by Art Deco designers. I also guess that this style was adopted into type from sign-painting and hand-lettering practices.

Any ventures as to when and where it first came about (in type and/or lettering)? (And when you think it peaked?)

Florian Hardwig · June 11

Interesting question! I don’t know about “first”, but there are a couple of American typeface designs that (partly) precede the mentioned trends and protagonists. Here’s Eccentric (1881) and Dynamo (1891):

Stephen Coles · June 14

Love the question too! I haven’t found a typeface example before Florian’s 1881, but there were plenty that arrived later that decade. Other prominent early ones below. All but one of these (Typo) are credited to John F. Cumming at Dickinson. Thanks to this exercise, I think we can now say he was one of the originating, and certainly most prolific, designers of the genre.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/tr/zius25zf21zs.jpg

Jagged (1888)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/tt/43lv6quul494.jpg

Outing (1888)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/hj/867a2ceos9io.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/s6/srlb06l7hqgg.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/j7/8e771vr6xnji.jpg

Quaint (1888)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/8t/ap8j858miiz6.jpg

Typothetæ/Skjald (1889)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/qi/9le5tn9eep9a.jpg

Elandkay (c.1892)

Typo (1892)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/ab/0r3i61uxl3bs.jpg

Florentine (1894)

I would guess the peak was around the turn of the century – as you say: Arts & Crafts/Jugendstil/Nouveau – and then it faded out in the late Deco period, circa 1935.

Chris Lozos · June 14

Do you think there was an influence by Runes?

John Hudson · June 14

Indirectly, I think, Chris. One river of inspiration feeding this style flows from the Middle Ages, from manuscript titling letterforms that are inluenced by runic scripts.

When did high-waisted (and low-waisted) fonts/lettering first appear?

Comments

Categories