Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
by María Ramos Silva
Dissertation submited in partial fulilment
of the requirements for the MA in Typeface Design
Department of Typography & Graphic Communication
University of Reading, United Kingdom
September 2015
he word utopia is the most convenient way to sell of what one has not the will,
ability, or courage to do. A dream seems like a dream until one begin to work on
it. Only then it becomes a goal, which is something ininitely bigger.1
-- Adriano Oliveti.
1
Original text: ‘Il termine utopia è la maniera più comoda per liquidare quello che non si ha
voglia, capacità, o coraggio di fare. Un sogno sembra un sogno ino a quando non si comincia
da qualche parte, solo allora diventa un proposito, cio è qualcosa di ininitamente più grande.’
Source: fondazioneadrianoliveti.it
-Abstract
he history of the typewriter has been covered by writers and researchers.
However, the interest shown in the origin of the machine has not revealed a further
interest in one of the true reasons of its existence, the printed leters. he following
pages try to shed some light on this part of the history of type design, typewriter
typefaces. he research focused on a particular company, Oliveti, one of the most
important typewriter manufacturers.
he irst two sections describe the context for the main topic. hese
introductory pages explain briely the history of the typewriter and highlight
the particular facts that led Oliveti on its way to success. he next section,
‘Typewriters and text composition’, creates a link between the historical
background and the machine. It shows the typewriter as a subsidiary cause of
social changes and new habits in typography. he core contents of this research are
included in the last two sections. hey ofer a description of the type design process
in Oliveti, a comparison between typefaces, and some examples of the inluence of
the typewriter in digital type.
Due to the large number of typefaces included in this dissertation, there is no
room for an exhaustive analysis of the letershapes. Instead, this paper provides an
overview of type design in the 20th century for a speciic product, typewriters.
contents
Methodology
-- 1 -Historical background
1.1 - Origin of the typewriter
1.2 - Evolution of the typewriter
-- 2 -‘Oliveti style’, the identity of the company
2.1 - he product, the company from the inside
2.2 - he advertising, the external communication
2.3 - he social and cultural activity
-- 3 -Typewriters and text composition
3.1 - Oliveti typewriters
3.2 - he typist and the typewriter, the social changes
3.3 - he limitations of the machine
3.4 - he typewriter manual
-- 4 -Type design for Oliveti typewriters
4.1 - Oliveti type designers
4.2 - he brief, the peculiarities of the typewriter
4.3 - Oliveti typefaces, evolution and classiication
4.4 - Comparison with other typewriter typefaces
-- 5 -Digital typewriter typefaces
5.1 - Typefaces based on Oliveti models
5.2 - Other examples of digital typewriter typefaces
9
11
15
19
27
59
Conclusion
69
Appendix
Bibliography
Sources of the illustrations
73
81
85
-Methodology
here is not much writen about type design for typewriters. In the search of
information for this research, only a couple of magazines on this particular topic
were found: the article ‘Typewriter type faces’ by Alan Bartram in Typographica 6,
and the typewriter type issue of Print, the magazine of the graphic arts. he article
in Typographica 6, ofers a visual collection of typewriter typefaces in the 60s, but
the information it provides is extremely brief. he especial issue of Print was a
useful source for understanding the process of designing type for typewriters, but
the story is told from the perspective of the American industry with no speciic
mention to European manufacturers.
he search for literature on the topic broadened to publications about the
history of the company, Oliveti, and the typewriter; which could ofer a context
for the main topic. Some of the books consulted also included information about
type design: Century of the typewriter, he typewriting dictionary, and Design Process:
Oliveti, 1908–1978.
he information and images compiled from books and magazines was far
from being enough for the analysis of letershapes. he visit to the Arquivio Storico
Oliveti in Ivrea (Italy) provided a good background for the topic. he documents
and images examined there were an important part of the research process, and the
solid grounds of some of the ideas expressed in the following pages.
Type designers were mostly ignored in the sources consulted. Many typefaces
discovered in this research do not mention their author. he two interviews to
type designers who worked for Oliveti showed another perspective of the design
process for typewriters. hey created a good balance, a designer who worked as an
external contractor, Wim Crouwel, and a designer who still works in the company,
Gianmaria Capello.
he analysis of letershapes needed some extra material to look at. Colección
Sirvent provided access to 38 Oliveti mechanical typewriters, and printed samples
were created from the diferent models (see appendix 1, p. 73). he Special
Collections at the department of Typography and Graphic Communication of the
University of Reading provided 22 typewriten samples from other typewriter
manufacturers (see appendix 2, p. 75).
9
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 1 - he irst writing
machines commercially
manufactured were the
Skrivekugle (top) and the
Type Writer (botom).
10
-- 1 -Historical background
he history of the typewriter is long and complicated. It is out of the scope of this
research to explain in detail the origin of the machine. he next pages will ofer a
brief outline of the evolution of the typewriter as an introduction to the main topic,
type design in Oliveti.
1.1 - Origin of the typewriter
he irst known writing machines were developed in diferent places during the
irst half of the 19th century. None of these inventions reached the market. In the
1870s the irst typewriters were sold in Europe and America.
he Skrivekugle (writing ball) invented by Rasmus Malling-Hansen, and
the American Type Writer by Sholes and Glidden were the irst two successful
machines (ig. 1). he ‘writing ball’ started to be manufactured in 1870, and sold
throughout Europe during the next decades. A few years later, in 1874, Remington
released the machine of Sholes and Glidden. he mass-produced Type Writer
reached also Europe, and overtook the market of the Skrivekugle.
he value of the Remington 1, name given to the Type Writer, was not just being
one of the irst typewriters ever manufactured; this model was also the father of the
QWERTY keyboard. he purpose of this arrangement, invented by Christopher L.
Sholes, was to avoid the jam of the typebars when typing; so the most used leters
were separated one from the others.
he new invention was soon adopted in oices as a useful tool for doing
paperwork more efectively and faster. In the next decade, Remington released
improved models of the machine and many more companies joined the growing
market. he 1890s was a time for expansion in the typewriter industry, hundreds of
patents were approved and the competition was rough.
Most typewriter manufacturing plants were located in the United States
until the beginning of the 20th century, when the European companies started to
produce their own machines. Germany was one of the main operational centres,
with companies like Adler, Triumph, or Olympia. In other countries like Italy,
trained entrepreneurs saw a niche on the market and opened new factories.
1.2 - Evolution of the typewriter
he irst decades of the 20th century were a period of stif competition. he
companies concentrated their eforts in diferentiating their products and ofering
advantages over the others.
he American industry had already solved some of the limitations of the
Remington 1. his machine wrote only in uppercase leters and the text was no
visible while typing. he Remington 2 was the irst machine that included a shit key
for using both uppercase and lowercase leters.
he Caligraph (1883), the Columbia Bar-Lock (1888) and the Wagner (1893)
were the irst models that included visible writing.
11
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 2 - he Blikensderfer 5.
Printing wheel
Fig. 3 - he index
typewriter Victor.
12
he Blikensderfer 5 (ig. 2), released in 1893, can be considered the irst
portable typewriter. he portability of the machine opened new opportunities in
the market. he typewriter started to be sold also for personal use.
he electric models had an independent evolution. Blikensderfer in 1906,
Mercedes in 1921, or IBM in 1935, are a few examples of companies that
manufactured electric typewriters in the irst half of the 20th century. All these
early models used the typebars for printing. he main innovation happened in
1961, when the IBM Selectric introduced the ‘typeball’, a new printing method that
allowed for the use of diferent typefaces in the same machine.
he next big technical advance arrived in the 70s: the electronic typewriter.
he new machines included a diferent printing device, the ‘daisy wheel’. A similar
element had been already used in 1890 in the index typewriter1 Victor (ig. 3).
he electronic typewriters were the logic transition between the electric
machine and the new technology to come, the computer. When the irst Apple
computer was released, in 1976, the sales of typewriters started to decline. he
typewriter era was coming to an end.
here were companies that linked their history to the machine. Oliveti,
founded in Italy in 1908, became one of the most popular typewriter
manufacturers. he company got international recognition for the special atention
paid to design. his interest was not only focused on the shape of the machine, but
also on the architecture of the factories and the advertising of the products.
1
he index typewriters did not have keyboards. he characters were selected from an index with a
pointer, and a lever activated the movement of the type for printing.
13
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
a
b
c
d
e
Fig. 4 - One of the main factories of
Oliveti was located in Glasgow. In
the pictures diferent stages in the
production of typewriters.
a. he drawing oice.
b. he tool room.
c. Polishing the typebars.
d. Operators checking the
assemblies of the Lexicon 80.
e. Final checking of the Leterra 22.
-- 2 -‘Olivetti style’, the identity of the company
he personality of a company is deined by the image that people perceive. he
messages that the company sends about the products are the basis of its identity.
he diicult task lies in making a coherent communication through the diferent
channels used to transmit the message. he identity of Oliveti was created using
three main vehicles of interaction with the audience: the product, advertising, and
the social and cultural activity.
2.1 - he product, the company from the inside
Since Adriano Oliveti started to be part of the management team,1 the internal
communication became essential for the good functioning of the production
process. he factory was a small community with its own rules and facilities.
Cultured, sophisticated and public spirited, Adriano Oliveti was an engineer
who was fascinated by art, design and architecture, and drew on his knowledge
of those ields in his corporate role.
-- Alice Rawsthorn, ‘Oliveti’s Artful Breakthroughs.’
he operators, designers, engineers, researchers, administrators and managers were
all members of a interconnected manufacturing network. Adriano was politically
active and had his own vision of society. He used the company as a mirror of
his ideology. For geting a greater efectivity, the production of typewriters was
organised in diferent stages with a clearly deined order (ig. 4).
In 1929 the allied factory S.A. Hispano Oliveti was founded in Barcelona.
Oliveti was built into a multinational business with production centres around the
world: Buenos Aires (1932), Glasgow (1949), Johanesburg (1949) and Sao Paulo
(1952). he sales network grew fast and the company started to export typewriters
to countries like France, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, United States,
Australia, Colombia, Canada, Venezuela, or Cuba.
he typewriters evolved with time, they adapted to diferent economic and
social contexts. Both the technological improvements and the design of the
machine were important. All the details of the product were carefully studied.
Every new model was an opportunity to create a beter typewriter: functional,
modern, innovative and beautiful.
2.2 - he advertising, the external communication
As the company grew the communication campaigns became more
complex, they had to adapt the message to diferent cultures. But the
structure of the design department remained the same. he corporate
identity and the advertising campaigns were planned from Ivrea, the small
town in the north of Italy were the company was founded. Oliveti had
changed and the visual identity needed to change as well (ig. 5).
Unknown (1908)
1
X. Schawinsky (1934)
G. Pintori (1947)
Adriano Oliveti (son of the founder of the company, Camillo Oliveti) became the director
of the Advertising Department in 1928. He was the president of Oliveti from 1938 to 1960.
Fig. 5 - he changes
in the logo is just
an example of the
evolution of the
identity of the
company.
W. Ballmer (1950)
15
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 6 - his ad of 1933 for the
MP1 describes the identity
created for Oliveti typewriters:
he modern taste is not satisied just
by the beauty of artwork. It looks for
the original design and style, in the
mechanical products too. In its simple
and captivating beauty, the Portable
Oliveti shows not only the science of
the engineer but also the taste of the
Italian artist.
Be modern, use the Oliveti Portable.
Light, elegant, robust, fast
Fig. 7 - he designers and
artists who worked for Oliveti
contributed to generate the
visual identity of the company.
On the right, some samples of
the work of Giovanni Pintori
for the Letera 22, one of
the most successful Oliveti
typewriters.
Oliveti wanted to create a modern image of the typewriter and talk to the audience
in a contemporary language. Many international designers, photographers and
copywriters worked in the advertising campaings. hey were involved in the
creation of what was called the ‘Oliveti style’ (ig. 6 and ig. 7).
Under the direction of Adriano a new advertising style was created,
characterized by geometric igures, photography and collages, with the most
careful design of the typography and texts. A connection between product,
graphics and text was sought to playfully extend and enrich the onlooker’s
image of the product.
-- Sybille Kicherer, Oliveti: a study of the corporate management of design, 32.
Type design was also part of the identity of the typewriter. he catalogue of
typefaces created for Oliveti included important designers like A.M. Cassandre or
Wim Crouwel. hey worked for the company as freelancers. From Wim Crouwel’s
point of view ‘they picked up the right people everywhere (…) Oliveti was an
example, a great example. Every designer would love to work for Oliveti.’1
In the 50s Adriano Oliveti established an in-house oice for typeface design.
Arturo Rolfo was named head of the department. Gianmaria Capello, who was a
member of his team, is currently the only type designer in Oliveti. He points out
that ‘as there was the necessity to have a speciic design for the typewriter they
thought that also the typeface had to be fashionable.’2
Like any other detail of the typewriter, the typeface should show an image of
modernity, beauty and functionality.
2.3 - he social and cultural activity
he cultural activity played also an important role in Oliveti. he company
invested in research, sponsored artists and work as a publishing company.
Oliveti was seen as a reference in design and many museums exhibited its
products and printing material. In 1952 the Oliveti Exhibition was shown at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York. For the irst time an European industry
was invited by the MoMA to show its products and graphic work.3 London, Paris,
Zurich and Tokyo are just a short list of the cities where the work of Oliveti
was exhibited. he MoMA made a clear statement in the press release for the
exhibition, ‘the purpose of the exhibition Oliveti: Design in Industry, is to give
recognition to the achievement of this manufacturer of business machines in
organising all the visual aspects of its industry under a single high standard of taste,
and to encourage American industry to follow his leadership.’4
he international recognition came also through design awards. And still
today, some Oliveti typewriters and printing material are part of the permanent
collections of important museums.
As Emanuele Piccardo remind us in the ilm Letera 22, Adriano thought that
‘the company has the duty to spread beauty around’. And that was one of the main
objectives that Oliveti tried to get with its particular style.
1
2
3
4
Interview by the author.
Interview by the author.
Musati, Bigiareti, and Soavi, Oliveti 1908–1958.
Museum of Modern Art of New York, press release (22.10.1952).
17
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
s
M1 - 1911
s
M20 - 1920
p
MP1 - 1932
ss
Studio 42 - 1935
Camillo Oliveti
he irst typewriter made in Italy.
It was not a copy of any other model.
he margin unlock is on the keyboard.
he typebars were placed one by one.
he shit key moves the platen.
Domenico Burzio
Similar to the M1 in appearance, but
with improved mechanics.
he margin unlock is near the scale.
he typebars are in a type basket.
he shit key moves the type basket.
Levi & Magnelli
he irst Oliveti portable.
Flater keyboard.
Manufactured in 9 diferent colours.
Special series: e.g. Invicta Harrods.
Luzzati, Schawinsky, Figini & Pollini
he irst semi-standard typewriter.
Diferent series: e.g. Studio 46 (Spain).
s
Lexicon 80 - 1948
p
Letera 22 - 1950
ss
Praxis 48 * - 1964
p
Valentine - 1969
G. Beccio & M. Nizzoli
Rounded corners and compact design.
Part of the MoMA collection.
Series: Oliveti Graphika (1957),
includes proportional typefaces;
Lexicon 80E (1950), the irst
electric model.
G. Beccio & M. Nizzoli
More compact and lighter than the
MP1. he mechanism was simpliied.
Part of the MoMA collection.
Diferent series: e.g. Scribe (England)
and Pluma 22 (Spain).
E. Sotsass & H. Von Klier
Electric model that uses typebars.
he main advantage of the
electromechanical typewriters was
that the typebars always struck the
paper with the same force, giving the
text an even colour.
E. Sotsass & P. King
It became a design icon. he
advertising of this machine brought
pop-art into the typewriter industry.
Part of the MoMA collection.
s
Linea 98 - 1971
p
Letera 35 - 1974
ss
Studio 46 - 1974
s
Lexicon 90 * - 1975
Mario Bellini
It included a touch regulator and a
quick space bar. he last standard
mechanical typewriter designed
by Oliveti.
Mario Bellini
Model evolved from the Letera
22, bigger in size and mechanically
optimised. he keyboard was more
compact. Diferent series: e.g.
Letera 37 and Italia 90.
Mario Bellini
Smaller than previous semi-standard
Oliveti models.
Since the Linea 98 the trend was to
design the keyboard in light colour.
E. Sotsass & A. Leclerc
he irst electric standard using
the typeball. Like in mechanical
typewriters, the carriage moved and
there printing point was ixed.
s
ET 101 ** - 1978
p
Letera 10 - 1979
p
ET 55 ** - 1987
Mario Bellini
he irst electronic typewriter
manufactured in the world.
It could write in bold and underline
text. It included a line memory for
correcting mistakes.
Mario Bellini
he smallest Oliveti typewriter.
It used a cartridge ribbon.
he colour selector was removed.
Part of the MoMA collection.
M. Bellini & A. Chiarato
his model allowed right and
centered alignment, underlining
words and correcting mistakes.
*
**
s
p
ss
Electric
Electronic
Standard
Portable
Semi-standard
Table 1 - Featured
models of Oliveti
typewriters and notes
about their mechanism
and design.
-- 3 -Typewriters and the composition
3.1 - Oliveti typewriters
his dissertation does not intend not go into detail about the technical side of the
typewriters, but for the further analysis of type design, it is interesting to have an
overview of the machines designed by the company (table 1).
his research focused mainly on mechanical typewriters, but electric and
electronic models were also considered to explain the technological advances in the
machine and the inluence on type design.
Oliveti manufactured mechanical, electric and electronic typewriters. he
three technologies used diferent printing elements: the mechanical typebars,
the electric typeball, and the daisy wheel in electronic models. he new printing
methods (typeball and daisy wheel) allowed to introduce proportional typefaces in
typewriters and to create new machines with interchangeable fonts (ig. 8).
Fig. 8 - From let
to right: detail of
typebars, a typeball
and a daisy wheel for
Oliveti typewriters.
Typewriters can be classiied in three main categories:
Standard, bigger in size and weight. hey were used in oices and repair shops.
Sometimes they included a big roller to work on documents larger than A4.
hey usually included tabulators for column work.
Semi-standard, average size and weight. hese machines were designed for
both private and professional use.
Portable, lighter and smaller. hese typewriters were cheaper and easier to
carry, they were always sold with a suitcase/bag for their transport.
he new models brought in simpliied mechanisms, which tried to increase the
speed of the machine and minimise its weight. he evolution in the design of the
typewriter led to a stronger separation between the internal structure and the
external appearance. he keyboard became smaller and the casings were built into
an identity feature of the machine.
he Oliveti Linea 88 and 98 introduced the touch regulator, which allowed
the user to select the striking force of the typebars on the paper. his new option
was specially useful when using carbon paper for multi-copy documents.
Most typewriters used a standard typeface, so just a few models used type
design as a sales pitch. he quality of printing and the speed of the machine were
essential aspects to consider before buying a typewriter. he external appearance
had also an important value, especially in portable machines.
19
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 9 - George Lois was
commissioned to create a
campaign for Oliveti in the
United States. Ater its release
in 1967, Oliveti increased
the sales in America. his
campaign was controversial
and the National Organization
for Women described it as
sexist. he public response
of the company was an
adaptation of the irst idea,
with the actor Joe Namath as
an ‘Oliveti girl.’
he market appreciated the design of Oliveti typewriters and the company got
international recognition. Two of its most famous typewriters, the Letera 22 and
the Oliveti Valentine, received several design awards. Together with the Lexicon
80 and the Letera 10, they belong to the permanent collection of the MoMA.
he particular case of the Oliveti Graphika
he Oliveti Graphika is of special interest because it is one of the few mechanical
typewriters with proportional type ever manufactured in the world.
he design of Graphika evolved from the standard Lexicon 80. Its external
appearance is very similar, but the new machine was created to use characters with
four diferent widths.
One of the main problems of this machine was the diiculty in making
corrections. he user had to calculate the width of the typed characters to come
back to a previous printing point. he backspace moved the carriage just one unit
back (0.8 mm); for instance, the correction of a wide character like ‘M’ (4.8 mm)
required to press the backspace ive times.
he Oliveti Graphika, released in 1958, was a market failure. It only lasted in
production for two years, but due to the special typefaces used, it became later a
coveted item for collectors.
3.2 - he typist and the typewriter, the social changes
By the beginning of the 20th century the typewriter was an essential element in
modern business. he oice had a new professional igure, the typists. hey were
usually secretaries who learned to use the typewriter. hey acquired this new
skill atending classes in technical schools, receiving specialised education in the
company, or teaching themselves at home. his new professional role enabled
the social promotion of many women. It was the dreamed opportunity to move
to the city and join the business industry. he image of independent women was
repeatedly used for advertising typewriters (ig. 9).
he international speed championships caused great excitement every
year. he manufacturers improved their machines and the typists were trained
in the best typing techniques. Speed and accuracy were the main goals. hese
competitions were a sales window for the typewriter companies and a road to fame
for the winner.
However, typewriters were not for the exclusive use of secretaries. Writers
and, later on, artists found in the typewriter a wonderful partner. he charm of the
machine was also appreciated by ilmmakers who created memorable scenes with
the typewriter as one of the main characters.1
Typography was inally accessible to everybody and the user became a text
compositor. It was possible to create customised layouts and, in electric and
electronic models, one could choose the font. Every typeface was designed for a
speciic purpose. It was the user responsibility to select it properly. Personal and
professional documents were set in typewriters. he sales network ofered several
type styles, and users made the choice. Manufacturers, like Oliveti, designed their
own typefaces and used them as a tool to diferentiate their products.
1
he scene of Who’s minding the store? (1963), where Jerry Lewis writes in an
imaginary typewriter, is especially famous.
21
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 10 - he arrangement of the
keyboard adapted to diferent
languages and scripts. he
character set could also change
from one model to another.
a. Spanish, Letera 35
b. Italian, M40
c. German, Dora
d. Russian, Lexicon 80
Fig. 11 - Type sample (200%). It
was common to see typewriten
texts where the characters lost
the horizontal alignment.
Fig. 12 - Type sample.
he appearance of the
printed leters was
conditioned by the
ribbon, the typebars,
and the pressure applied
on the keyboard.
a
c
b
d
he new technology allowed the relatively cheap production of printed
material. Social movements, like the punk in the 70s, used the typewriter in
publications created to promote their ideas.1
3.3 - he limitations of the machine
he new technology had its own limitations. he typefaces available for printing
could not be used in typewriters. he carriage of the machine always moved the
same distance when pressing a key, what allowed the typist to move the paper
to a previous printing point, so corrections and tabulations were easier to make.
Monospace typefaces were born with the typewriter. For beter or for worse, they
were part of the idiosyncrasy of the machine. Later on, this new style became
especially useful for computer coding and screenplays.
he limited keyboard2 asked for creative solutions to create some characters.
he two hyphens oten replaced the en dash, and the lowercase ‘l’ was used also
as number ‘1’. here were models where the typist even needed to create the
exclamation mark from a straight quotation mark and a period. hese conventions
may not be well seen by the type industry; but typewriters were inventive in inding
similarities in the design of the characters, in order to optimise the keyboard to the
minimum size. Diferent languages asked for diferent arrangements, diacritics and
extra leters replaced other characters (ig. 10).
he mechanical typewriters only enabled the use of one typeface at a time
(one weight - one style). If the typists wanted to emphasise words, they used one of
the most common techniques, the underlining or uppercase leters. Even though
typewriter manuals warned on the abusive use of capital leters.
he operator is warned against the too liberal use of capital leters. In business
correspondence, they are oten altogether too conspicuous by their
promiscuous appearance.
-- Isaac Pitman, A manual of the typewriter, 76.
he electric and electronic typewriters made possible to switch between diferent
fonts. Several weights and styles could be used in the same document. However,
this change was made manually with a consequent waste of time. he typist
removed the typeball from the machine and replaced it by a new one.
he alignment of text was another concern for typists. Professional machines
included tabular keys for column work, but creating tabulations in portable
machines was a challenging task. he horizontal alignment was also problematic.
Typewriter manufacturers had to carefully measure the typebars and placed them
properly in the machine, in order to get a clear baseline for the leters (ig. 11).
he uneven texture of the inked page was also characteristic of typewriten
documents. In electric and electronic machines, the typebars applied the same
striking force into the paper. In manual typewriters the typists needed to train their
ingers, if they wanted to get an acceptable text colour (ig. 12).
3. 4 - he typewriter manual
Early typewriter manuals were focused on the mechanics and maintenance of
the machine, but they soon became educational books for typists. hey included
recommendations and deined some rules for text composition.
1
Popular magazines like i-D or Emigre used the typewriter as type compositors, enlarging and
reducing the text with photocopy machines. Source: Tullet, Typewriter art, 82.
2 A standard typewriter usually included just 88 characters.
23
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
a
b
c
Fig. 13 - hree examples of
standard layouts (40%):
a. Fully-block method.
b. Semi-block method.
c. Traditional method.
One of the irst typewriter manuals was writen by Isaac Pitman in 1893,
who stated ‘regularity is the essence of all good typewriting’.1 He named a list of
irregularities found in typewriter documents and ofered advice to solve them.
Pitman pointed out that, in order to achieve excellence in typewriten documents,
the typist should consider the regularity of impression, the touch,2 the method of
ingering, the regularity of the leter, the line and margin spacing, the placement of
the paper, and general accuracy.
Some of the recommendations learned by the educated typist are still now
acquired habits wrongly used in digital documents; for instance, the use of three
spaces ater a period or two ater the comma. here was just one space width
available in the typewriter, so words and sentences were separated by the same
distance. he double space was used to diferentiate sentences and improve the
readability of the text.
he straight quotation marks are another example of the legacy of typewriter
typography. he typewriter character ('') avoided the curved shape of printing
typefaces (‘’). his design enabled the used of the same key for creating diferent
characters (ig. 14). Nowadays diferent countries have diferent conventions. he
straight quotation marks are preferred to the curved ones in Hebrew. he second
ones are more used in western countries.
here were also standards in text composition (ig. 13). Big companies had a
training program to teash the typist how to create corporate documents.
Type composition could sometimes be considered a craty work. he typist
needed to be skilful and smart in the use of paper space. hey needed to plan
the document in advance if they wanted to do special arrangements, like vertical
alignments or tailpieces.3
1 Pitman, A Manual of the typewriter, 8.
2 his aspect just applied to manual typewriters. he touch refers to the force applied by the typist
when depressing the keys. Pitman mentioned that it was important to apply the right amount of
force for each character. he quality of touch was also essential, ‘the depression of the keys should
be “touch and go”, and the work done as quickly as possible.’ (Ibid., 11)
3 Decorative endings to articles, programmes, book chapters, sections, etc.
Fig. 14 - From
top to botom,
some functions
of the typewriter
quotation marks:
– Diaeresis (¨)
– Dito mark (″)
– Exclamation (!)
– Feet (′)
– Inches (″)
– Minutes (′)
– Seconds (″)
25
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Design
Ergonomics
Oice
Automation
Systems
Telecommunications
Furniture
Machining
Tools n/c
Typeface
Design
Corporate
Identity
M. Bellini
S. Sotssas
R. Boneto
A. Rolfo
H. von Klier
Fig. 15 - Structure of the
Design department in
Oliveti in the 50s.
Fig. 16 - Type body
measurements:
a. Distance between baselines.
b. Type body width.
c=a
d. Slot witdh.
f. Distance of the aligning cut.
i. Type body height.
l. Type body length.
r. Radius of the curvature =
radius of the platen.
k. Distance between the baseline
and the centre of the platen
(dependent on the type style).
W. Center of the platen.
26
-- 4 -Type design for Olivetti typewriters
he information showed in previous chapters provided a description of the
context in which the main topic of this research took place. In the subject at hand,
type design for Oliveti typewriters, it is especially important to understand the
circumstances and the environment where the typefaces were created; as well as
the special features of the machine which the fonts were made for.
he following sections will focus on type design, showing the typefaces made
for Oliveti and shedding some light on the tools and people who created them.
4.1 - Oliveti type designers
he typefaces used in Oliveti typewriters were created by designers both inside
and outside the company.
As it happens today, when the design is created inside the company the name
of the author is usually unknown. he collective recognition is favoured at the
expense of the individual. In the following list, the designers who worked for
Oliveti are included as a group and the freelance designers are treated separately.
When possible, the names of the type designers will be mentioned.
Oliveti oice for typeface design
he company started to operate as a typewriter manufacturer without a specialised
team in typeface design. During the irst 50 years of production, designers and
engineers were responsible for the creation of typefaces. he characters were
designed in the drawing room (see p. 14, ig. 1a) and then converted into metal
type at the factory.
he company worked in the design of new typefaces for the machine. Ater all,
the function of typewriters was producing pieces of text, which should be clear and
legible. One of the earliest examples of the company’s interest in type design and its
history, was the promotional booklet published in 1938, Storia della scritura. his
publication showed the evolution of writing from the Roman inscriptions to the
typewriter characters.
In the 50s type design started to have its own status in the company. It was then
when Adriano Oliveti reorganised the departments and established an in-house
oice (ig. 15). Arturo Rolfo was named head of the new department. Gianmaria
Capello highlights that ‘he had a long experience in design, so he could manage to
create quality work.’1
he main purpose of this oice was to create new typefaces and adapt the
drawings of external designers for production. Freelance designers did not received
technical speciications, like the appropriate measurements of the strokes or the
actual size of type (ig. 16). he team of Arturo Rolfo adapted these drawings,
‘guided by strict criteria guaranteeing that the results correspond exactly to the
original designs.’2
he design of new typefaces not only included the Latin alphabet, but also
other scripts. Oliveti researched and developed a considerable number of
1
2
Interview by the author.
Zorzi, Design Process: Oliveti, 1908–1978, 226.
27
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Greek
Hebrew
Devanagari
Cyrillic
hai
Arabic
Amharic
Cree
Fig. 17 - Samples of some of
the scripts included in the
Oliveti font library.
28
writing systems to make the machines accessible to diferent cultures. Arturo Rolfo
himself designed typefaces for the Arabic, hai and Cree1 script. (ig. 17)
Typeface design involves constant research not only in traditional alphabets
such as the Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek or the Japanese Katakana, but also those of
ancient nations and civilizations emerging today into the technological world,
like the Korean, Hindi, Singhalese, Burmese, Nepalese and hai.
-- Renzo Zorzi, Design Process: Oliveti, 1908–1978, 226–227.
he design of alphabets for minority languages allowed some communities to use
the typewriter as a tool to maintain their writing systems in printed texts.
In 1969 Oliveti created the Libro Cassinelli, an internal manual with useful
information for the design of typefaces in Oliveti. More than 100 typewriten
pages that included texts and visual samples. It covered diferent areas in type
design; from legibility and classiication of typefaces, to technical speciications
about the design of leterforms. he book had two main objectives: to give
information about the peculiarities of the machine, and to ofer a wider knowledge
about the history and trends in type design. Nevertheless, the most important
part was the speciic rules for the design of characters: ‘those are not just
recommendations but an important condition for achieving a good result.’2
By the end of the 70s, when Gianmaria Capello joined the type design oice,
the company was living the transition between the electric and the electronic
typewriter. He explains the design process in Oliveti, ‘generally we were asked by
the marketing department to draw a new typeface. We made suggestions, making
photographic reductions of our drawings to the actual size the typeface would have
in the typewriter. he marketing department decided if the design was approved
(…) when the design was approved the typeface was manufactured.’3
Oliveti liked to work with international designers. Imre Reiner and A.M.
Cassandre were commissioned to design a typeface for the Oliveti Graphika,
and Wim Crouwel, Müller-Brockmann, and Lindinger created new typefaces for
the company. All of them were designers whose work was not only focus on type
design. his circumstance probably led them to try a more experimental approach
to leterforms, which they used as a vehicle of graphic expression.
Imre Reiner
Reiner studied in Germany and worked as a graphic designer in New York, Paris,
London, and Chicago, but he spent most of his life in Switzerland working as a
painter, illustrator, and type designer. However, he never identiied himself with the
International Swiss Style.
In 1957 Reiner got the commission from Oliveti to design a proportional
typeface for the new typewriter Oliveti Graphika (see p. 21). he characters had
to be designed within four width possibilities. he four groups were created from
a basic unit, 0.8 mm; and from there the width options were 1.6 mm, 2.4 mm, 3.6
mm, and 4.8 mm. Reiner designed a proportional typeface whose appearance
difered greatly from the standard typewriter type. he colour of the typewriten
1
he Cree is a syllabic script used by nearly all Cree-speaking First Nations in Canada. Initially
an invention of the English missionary James Evans to create a non-Latin writing system for Cree
and Ojibwe, it was readily adopted because its appearance was unlike that of the Latin alphabet
and therefore free of the stigma of colonialism. Source: ancientscripts.com.
2 Aso, Libro Cassinelli, ‘Introduction’.
3 Interview by the author.
29
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 18 - Sample of Reiner typeface.
Fig. 19 - Sample of Reiner Consilium typeface.
Fig. 20 - Sample of Cassandre typeface.
Fig. 21 - Samples of Cassandre and Reiner typefaces for the Oliveti Graphika.
30
text was quite even. His design introduce a new style in the font library for Oliveti
typewriters (ig. 18).
Oliveti worked in a long-term basis with some external designers. he
commission for the Graphika was not the only typeface that Reiner created for
the company. He also designed Consilium (ig. 19) and started a new design
that Oliveti called ‘Senatus’. In a leter sent to Reiner1 it was mentioned that this
typeface was inspired by the Elzevir type. he reasons are unknown, but this
typeface was never released.
Reiner showed in his career an experimental and creative approach to
leterforms. He was a productive type designer and most of his typefaces are now
available in digital format.
A. M. Cassandre
Cassandre was a painter and a graphic designer. He worked also as a teacher and
devoted part of his career to typeface design.
Like Reiner, in 1957 he was asked to design a typeface for the Oliveti
Graphika. he typewriter was manufactured in two series, one with the typeface
designed by Reiner, and the other one with Cassandre’s type.
Some theories found the roots of Cassandre’s typeface for Oliveti in the
Carolingian minuscule.2 It seemed like the rather static appearance of typewriter
typefaces did not it Cassandre’s ideas of leterforms.
Each leter is a rhythmic element (like an isolated gesture in choreography).
It communicates this rhythm to the word, the phrase, the line as a whole and,
lastly, the page.
-- A.M. Cassandre, Cassandre, 148.
he limitations of the machine were not a problem for Cassandre. He found the
way to create an expressive typeface. Some unconventional leterforms, like the ‘a’
and the ‘g’, gave the text a distinctive appearance (ig. 20).
It is interesting to see how Reiner and Cassandre used diferently the four
widths available in the machine. For instance the leter ‘r’ is a wide character in
Reiner typeface and narrow in Cassandre’s (ig. 21).
he designers were asked to adapt their designs to a monospace typeface,
but later on an experts commission in Oliveti decided to dismiss the monospace
design and keep the original proportional typefaces of Reiner and Cassandre.3
Some sources mentioned another typeface designed by Cassandre for Oliveti
(Nuova Pica),4 but it was no possible to ind further information about this design.
Wim Crouwel
Wim Crouwel is a Dutch graphic and exhibition designer who based a big part of
his work on grids and experimental leterforms.
Wim Crouwel was not a type designer, but he created a large number of
customised alphabets. His design of the Neu Alphabet captured the atention of
Oliveti, the head of the design department contacted him and said ‘your way of
thinking is quite interesting for us, for a typewriter typeface.’5
1
2
3
4
5
Aso, correspondence with I. Reiner and A. M. Cassandre.
Mouron, Cassandre, 147.
Aso, correspondence with I. Reiner and A. M. Cassandre.
Mouron, Cassandre, 147.
Interview by the author.
31
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
a b
c
Fig. 22 - Samples of the typeface that
Wim Crouwel designed for Oliveti.
a. Drawings of ‘a’ and ‘m’.
b. Grid for the design of the characters.
c. Printed proof of the typeface.
Fig. 23 - Sample of Oliveti Candia,
designed by Müller-Brockmann.
32
When Oliveti approached Crouwel in 1974, the electric and electronic
typewriters were replacing the mechanical models. he new machines worked with
proportional type.
he typeface that Crouwel created was designed using diferent widths for the
leterforms. he characters were based on a rectangle with 45° cuts, had angled
endings, and rounded corners (ig. 22).
Crouwel mentioned that the company was not involved in the design process,
so he was able to create the typeface on his own style, ‘it was a fantastic job, no
restrictions just go on.’1
In 1976 the company sent him a proof of the design in a typewriten text, but
the typeface was never released, and Crouwel got the rights of the design back.
Some time later, he received a commission for designing post stamps for the Dutch
post service. He used the typeface he had created for Oliveti, introducing some
small changes in the design.
J. Müller-Brockmann
Müller-Brockmann was a graphic designer who worked in advertising and taught
in several design schools. He is probably the main reference of the International
Swiss Style born in the 40s. His work was inluenced by diferent design and
art movements like the Constructivism, De Stijl, or the Bauhaus. he use of the
rational grid and the asymmetrical layouts were part of his design identity.
Oliveti was probably trying to ind a new approach to the design of typewriter
typefaces. In the 70s, the company asked Müller-Brockmann to design a new
typeface for the machine. He was another example of an important igure in the
design industry who worked for Oliveti.
Müller-Brockmann had been working as a graphic designer for other
typewriter companies, like Hermes and IBM. his previous experience in
the industry were related to advertising, but they were probably helpful in his
commission for Oliveti.
he typeface that Müller-Brockmann designed for Oliveti was called Candia,
which was the name of a municipality in the region of Canavese, in the north of
Italy. Candia was a monospace sans serif that showed the rational design style of
Müller-Brockmann (ig. 23).
Candia was a 12 pitch typeface, created for iting 12 characters to the inch.2
Oliveti also released a pitch 10 version of Candia, it was called Livius.
H. Lindinger
Lindinger was an industrial and graphic designer directly involved in the Ulm
School of Design, founded in Germany in 1953. In operation from 1953 to 1968,
this school was very inluential in design education.
Most likely, Oliveti got in touch with Lindinger through this institution.
People like Müller-Brockmann and Herbert Bayer, who worked with Oliveti, had
been visiting lecturers of the Ulm. he connection between Oliveti and this school
went even further, as they worked together in some collaborative projects. Hans
von Klier, who was head of the corporate design department in Oliveti, had also
studied at the Ulm.
1
2
Interview by the author.
In typewriters, pitch is a term that referred to the size of the typeface. he two most common
pitch were pica (10 characters to the inch) and elite (12 characters to the inch).
33
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 24 - Sample of the
typefaces Ulm and Sirio,
shown together with Candia
and the conventional Pica.
Fig. 25 - Comparision
of leter ‘a’ in diferent
Oliveti typefaces.
Fig 26 - Comparison
between monospace
and proportional type
in typewriters.
34
Ulm
Sirio
Candia
Silva
Livius
Pica
Cicero
Elite
Lindinger designed a couple of typefaces for Oliveti, Sirio and Ulm (ig. 24),
both of them were monospace typefaces. Sirio was a pitch 12 typeface, and Ulm
was created for pitch 10.
It is hard to conceive Sirio as a text typeface because the readability would
be compromised in a long piece of text. It was a design that contrasted with the
conventional typewriter type Pica. In the ig. 25 there are a few samples of the
design of leter ‘a’ in diferent Oliveti typefaces, the designs by Lindinger stand out
for their originality.
he Ulm typeface, which had a rational and constructive appearance, showed
the design approach of an industrial designer. It was a design that Lindinger
probably created following the ideas of the Ulm school, pioneer in the integration
of science and art.
It is important to remember that type designers had to consider the particular
features of the typewriter before creating a typeface. In the following section
there is a explanation of the peculiarities of the machine. he text will provide the
reader with a beter understanding of typewriter leterforms; and it will explain the
reasons for their particular style.
4.2 - he brief, the peculiarities of the typewriter
he design of typewriter typefaces was inluenced by the mechanical limitations of
the machine. he size of the characters had to be thoroughly deined. here were
three main dimensions to consider: the width of the characters, the height of the
design and the width of the strokes.
he width of the characters
he irst and most obvious atribute of typewriter typefaces is the use of a single
width for the design of all the characters. his width included the white space
around the leterforms. To make the space between characters as even as possible,
some narrow characters like ‘i’ included long serifs; and wide leters like ‘m’ were
compressed to the size of an ‘n’. (ig. 26)
he size of a typewriter typeface was measured with a diferent method from
the printing type. It depended on the characters that it horizontally in one inch.
he most common sizes were pitch 10 (10 characters to the inch) and pitch 12 (12
characters to the inch). here were smaller and bigger sizes, from pitch 17 to pitch
5; but these were typefaces just used for special purposes.
he improved methods for printing in electric and electronic machines
enabled the use of several character widths. he new models ofered four width
possibilities, a range that was still far away from the proportional type used in the
printing industry.1
he height of the design
he characters were cast in metal for manual and electric machines and in plastic
for electronic models. he dimensions of the metal or plastic type deined the
limits for the design of the characters.
1
he Linotype machine used from 12 to 17 diferent widths.
35
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 27 - Typewriten
‘a’ printed with
ribbons made of
diferent materials.
Actual design
Coton
Silk
Nylon
spread of the ink
Fig. 28 - Drawing of leter
‘d’ with a visual reference
to the spread of the ink.
he spread of the ink had a non-uniform
behaviour in the narrow areas
a
c
Fig. 29 - Two diferent
corner adjustments
for the design of
typewriter typefaces.
a. Conventional design.
b. Adjustment of the
drawing in a.
c. Conventional design.
d. Adjustment of the
drawing in c.
b
d
Polythene
he leters were drawn at a big scale (50:1 or 90:1), and later reduced to the
dimensions of the actual type to have an idea of the inal result.
In typewriter type the proportions of the leters were diferent from printing
type. he x-height was normally larger, generally between 2 and 3 mm in the actual
size. And descenders and ascenders were smaller. he type slugs had a limited space
and the two characters of each key had to it in it.
he dimensions of the type slug created a frame for the characters. hen the
proportions of the leters and the thickness of the strokes had to be deined.
he width of the strokes
In manual typewriters the inal appearance of the leters depended on diferent
factors: the pressure into the keys, the ribbon, and the condition of the machine.
he pressure applied into the keys afected the result obtained in the printed
leters. If the pressure was too light the ink would not reach the outlines of the
design. On the other hand, if the pressure was too strong, the leters would lose
their modulation. It was diicult to create high-contrast characters in a typewriter.
In electric and electronic machines, the pressure applied into the keys was not
a problem anymore. he type reached always the paper with the same striking force
and the appearance of the characters was more uniform. However, this was not the
only factor that caused the irregularity of the leters.
Typewriters printed the characters through a ribbon. his transfer method
caused the spread of the ink, and consequently, the lack of sharpness in the printed
leters. he ribbons used in typewriters changed with time and diferent materials
ofered diferent printing qualities (ig. 27).
It was important that the designer adjusted the design to the printing
conditions of the machine. he thickness of the stroke was calculated, considering
that the leters would look diferent when printed (ig. 28).
he spread of the ink was the main reason for the monolinear appearance
of typewriten leters. Type designers tried to ind solutions to achieve an
acceptable quality of the printed text. And some manufacturers had their own
recommendations on type design for typewriters.
Oliveti speciications for typeface design: Libro Cassinelli
In 1969, Oliveti created an internal manual with guidelines for obtaining an
optimum result in typewriter typefaces, the Libro Cassinelli. he drawings of the
letershapes needed some special adjustments.
he ink did not always reach the sharp corners of the outlines. he designers
used sometimes the distortion of the corners to solve this problem (ig. 29). his
adjustment was not new, it was also used in type design for phototypeseting.
he typewriter and the printing industry shared some concerns about type
design. In both cases, the ink tended to thicken the joints of the strokes. he sharp
corners had to be avoided to minimise the problem (ig. 30).
Fig. 30 - Example
of how to draw the
joints of the strokes
in leter 'M'.
37
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
0.35 minimum
0.50 minimum
minimum 0.35
overshoot from 0.03 to 0.07
minimum 0.40
overshoot from 0.03 to 0.07
angle not
too sharp
from 0.20 to 0.30
0.35 minimum
lower joint
minimum 0.35
Fig. 31 - Speciications for
the design of typefaces
for Oliveti typewriters.
here were not strict rules about the proportions of letershapes. In typewriter
typefaces the x-height of the letters was generally bigger than in printing type. In
leters like ‘a’ and ‘e’, the spread of the ink could close the countershapes, so they
were usually enlarged.
he Libro Cassinelli described also some optical adjustments and reference
dimensions for leters like ‘e’, ‘a’, ‘g’ and ‘s’ (ig. 31). hese rules were born from the
knowledge and experience of the company in typewriter type.
he internal manual was mainly focused on the Latin alphabet. Other scripts
were mentioned, but there were not speciic recommendations for the design.
Multi-script challenges of type design for typewriters
Typewriters allowed the user to get direct access to printed type in many writing
systems. In some cases, like Chinese and Japanese, the text was not even composed
by leters but by symbols.
Many designers who created typewriter typefaces for foreign scripts did not
know much about them. hey needed to do research and looked at other designs
and manuscripts as a reference for their work.
Some scripts were more complex than others. hey required not only
the design of the characters and adapting the keyboard, but also creating new
mechanics for the machine.
Chinese, Korean and Japanese were probably the most challenging case. It
was very diicult to ind an efective solution for the arrangement of the keyboard.
Some typewriter companies tried to simplify these writing systems, but the
solutions they ofered never got a big popularity in the Asian market.
Other scripts, like Devanagari or Arabic, create the words with joining leters.
hey needed to correct the broken appearance of the typewriten text. he machine
had to ofer a good horizontal alignment, and avoid the gaps between leters.
he ‘dead keys’ were created for placing diacritics and other marks above and
below the main character. When one of these keys was pressed the carriage did not
move, so the typist could create the complete character before typing the next one.
Typewriter typefaces had to ofer character sets for diferent scripts, but also
for diferent languages. he keyboard varied from one country to another, and the
alphabet had to be completed with new leters, symbols and marks.
39
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Pica, conventional
Italico, italic
Letera, imperial
Simplicitas, sans serif
Reiner, proportional
Hindi, non-Latin
Perforante, special purposes
Fig. 32 - Examples of
Oliveti typefaces for every
group of the classiication.
Above the images, name of
the typeface and group.
40
he previous pages have shown the particular circumstances that made typewriter
typefaces became an unique style. However, the typefaces designed for typewriters
do not look all the same. Diferent companies ofered diferent designs.
4.3 - Oliveti typefaces, evolution and classiication
Oliveti designed and manufactured type for their own machines. his fact helped
the company to built the identity of its products and diferentiate the typewriters
from the competitors.
here was not a standard classiication for typewriter typefaces; every company
had a diferent system. he metal type usually included a reference number, which
was used for identifying the typefaces. hey were organised in the specimens by
size or just alphabetically.
Oliveti tried to classify the font library several times. In 1958, a specialised
commission organised the typefaces in four main groups:1
Pica. It was the most common style used in typewriters, which could be
considered a branch of slab serif typefaces.
Italic. here were not typeface families in typewriter type design, every style
and weight was independent from the others.
Imperial. hey were the designs with contrast in the thickness of the strokes.
Sans serif. hey were initially only used for special purposes. By the second
half of the 20th century, sans serif typefaces became popular in typewriters,
and manufacturers ofered new designs of this style.
One of the last Oliveti type classiications was made by Gianmaria Capello in
1977. His chart included more than 100 typefaces.2 Some groups that were not
included in the previous classiication complement the list:
Proportional. hese typefaces were designed with diferent character widths.
Non-Latin. he designs for writing systems other than the Latin alphabet.
Protective-writing and handwriting. hese two groups included typefaces
with a speciic function. hey will be explained more broadly in ‘typefaces for
special purposes’.
he two classiications shown above will be used for arranging the Oliveti
typefaces in diferent groups (ig. 32). he irst group mentioned, pica, will be
renamed ‘conventional typefaces’. he word ‘pica’ was very confusing in typewriter
terminology. It was commonly used as an equivalent to pitch 10, and to refer to one
of the most common typefaces used in typewriters.
Typewriters evolved with technology, and the typefaces designed for them also
changed. It is not easy to create a complete list of typefaces designed for Oliveti.
Some of them were never released and some others lasted in the market for a short
time. Moreover, when the company bought Underwood in the 60s, some of the
American typefaces started to be used in Oliveti typewriters. he designs that
were not originally created for the company will not be included in this research as
Oliveti typefaces.
1
2
Records of a meeting held in Oliveti (20.01.1958). he type design commission was composed
by the engineer Berla, the professor Pampaloni and the engineer Rozzi.
Elenco scriture e tasti, Uf. Tec. Oliveti (1977).
41
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 33 - Typewriten
samples of Pica (top)
and Elite (botom).
Pica (400%)
Fig. 34 - Comparison
between Pica and
Elite letershapes.
he scale of the Elite
characters is bigger,
in order to get the
same x-height in
both samples.
Fig. 35 - Samples of the
Oliveti conventional
typeface ofered in
diferent sizes. From top
to botom, name of the
typeface and width of
the characters:
– Elite Pica (2.6 mm)
– Pica Large (2.6)
– Roman Medium (2.6)
– Roman Large (2.8)
– Ministero (3.14)
– Roman Large (3.14)
Elite (460%)
Conventional typefaces
he typewriter was born in a late stage of the industrial revolution. he 19th
century was a time of technological and social changes. he population was
concentrated in the cities. he lifestyle was fast, and advertising needed to ind a
way to atract the atention of people running to the oice. In this context a new
type style was born, the slab serif. It happened that slab serif typefaces ofered
optimum results in typewriters. he square serifs and the low-contrast design
suited the printing peculiarities of the machine. Since the early years of the
industry, this style was used as the unoicial standard for the machine.
he conventional typefaces for typewriters were designed with long serifs.
hey reinforced the horizontal alignment of the leters, and illed in the gaps
created by narrow characters, like ‘i’ or ‘l’.
Probably because the irst typewriters only ofered one typeface, manufacturers
did not give it a name. hey referred to it by the size of the type. Pica and Elite were
the two irst typefaces used in Oliveti typewriters (ig. 33). Pica stands for pitch
10, and Elite for pitch 12.
he characters of Pica and Elite were based on the same design and adapted to
several sizes. To it the Pica typeface in the pith 12 size, the letershapes were scaled
but also slightly modiied. For instance, leters like ‘a’ and ‘f ’ shortened their top
terminals, and some other characters like ‘w’ and ‘M’ changed their shape (ig. 34).
In the irst half of the 20th century the typewriter was a growing industry.
Oliveti released new models, and the conventional type mutated into diferent
sizes (ig. 35). In some cases like Pica Large and Roman Medium, the vertical
proportions of the design were modiied, while the width of the leters was the
same as Pica. In some others like Roman Large and Ministero, the width of the
characters also changed.
hese conventional typefaces were used in typewriters throughout their
history. he design of the letershapes sufered some adjustments, but the overall
appearance remained the same. A few examples of these small changes are shown in
ig. 36. In older machines some countershapes, like the top bowl of ‘g’, were smaller;
some uppercase leters, like ‘G’, were narrower; and the tail of ‘Q’ was shorter.
he character set of conventional typefaces was usually bigger than other
styles. Pica and Elite were adapted to diferent languages and scripts. Pica was the
‘default’ typewriter typeface before the II World War. In the 40s Elite became more
popular, and the typewriter manufacturers started to ofer new type styles.1
Fig. 36 - (400%) Examples of the
evolution of the Elite typeface in
Oliveti. he top row of leters
were typewriten in a Sudio 42
(1935) end the botom one in a
Letera 22 (1950).
1
Beeching, Century of the typewriter, 78.
43
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 37 - Samples of the
Oliveti italic typefaces.
From top to botom:
– Italic
– Large Italic
– Elite Italic
Fig. 38 - Typewriten
samples of the
Oliveti typefaces
Elite (top) and
Letera (botom).
Elite (400%)
Fig. 39 - Comparison
between Elite and
Letera characters.
Fig. 40 - Extra variants
of the Letera typeface,
Letera Pica (top) and
Imperial (botom).
Letera (400%)
Italic typefaces
he term ‘typeface family’ did not apply to the typewriter industry. Diferent sizes
and weights were new typefaces that were independent designs.
Italic typefaces were created for personal correspondence and other informal
documents. hey were not intended for professional use.
he design of uppercase leters was normally a slanted version of the
conventional typeface Pica. Instead, most lowercase leters and numbers were
designed with cursive shapes. here were three Oliveti typefaces in this group,
Italic, Large Italic and Elite Italic (ig. 37). he irst two were pitch 10 size and the
last one was pitch 12.
Imperial typefaces
A new type style appeared in Oliveti by the 50s. he new typeface Letera1 was a
design with some contrast in the letershapes. It ofered a darker and more severe
appearance to the text (ig. 38).
he market demanded new typefaces, but the mechanics of the machine and
the low-quality printing were built into big walls for the evolution of typewriter
type design. he imperial typefaces were one of the irst atempts to create a new
style for the machine.
Letera, like Elite, was a pitch 12 type. Comparing the two of them, the
characters in Letera were narrower and smaller, so the leters looked more widely
spaced. he shapes of the numbers were substantially diferent. While Letera used
lining igures, Elite used old-style numerals.2 (ig. 39)
here were a couple of variants of Letera: Imperial, bigger in width and height,
and Letera Pica, which was basically the design of Letera placed in type slugs for
the pitch 10 size. (ig. 40)
Letera was widely used in Oliveti. It was included, together with Pica and
Elite, in the group of standard typefaces used in typewriters.
he variety of typewriter styles grew quickly ater World War II. New trends in
type design and changes in the taste of users favoured the arrival of new typefaces.
Sans serif typefaces
Sans serif typefaces had been part of the printing industry for a long time. he
typewriter manufacturers also wanted to include this style within the possibilities
of the machine.
Sans serif typefaces were diicult to adapt to a monospace design. he white
space created around narrow characters, like ‘i’, broke the rhythm of the text and
had a negative impact on legibility. Most of the early sans serif typewriter typefaces
were alphabets with only uppercase leters.
he irst Oliveti sans serif typefaces were created for speciic purposes.
he font library included designs of special sizes, smaller and bigger than the
conventional pitch 10 and 12.
he smallest sizes were used to accommodate text in narrow columns, usually
statistical tables. Without serifs, the letershapes could be condensed maintaining
an acceptable legibility. Oliveti created two typefaces for small sizes: Mikron and
1
2
Also called Imperial Elite in some of the sources consulted.
he lining igures have all the same height and they are designed over the baseline. Old-style
numerals have not all the same height, some extend above or below the baseline.
45
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 41 - Samples of
the Oliveti typefaces
for small sizes. From
top to botom:
– Mikron
Piccolissimo
– Mikron Piccolo
– Mikron
– Perla
– Perla Elite
Fig. 42 - Samples
of diferent sizes of
Stampatello. From
top to botom:
– Stampatello Elite
– Stampatello Piccolo
– Stampatello
– Stampatello Grande
Fig. 43 - Samples of
Telegrama (top),
Avvisi (middle) and
Gigante (botom).
Fig. 44 - Sample of
Simplicitas.
Fig. 45 - Design of four
lowercase leters of
Quadrato (10:1).
Perla. he characters of Perla were less condensed and the x-height was shorter.
Both of them were ofered in several sizes (ig. 41).
Another group of sans serif typefaces were the alphabets without lowercase
leters. hese designs only included uppercase leters and small caps. Stampatello
was the name used by Oliveti to refer to these typefaces (ig. 42).
hree sans serif typefaces designed for speciic purposes that are worthy to
mention: Telegrama, whose name is self-explanatory; Avvisi, a display typeface;
and Gigante, a shitless alphabet1 created for advertising. (ig. 43)
Simplicitas is an interesting example in this group. For many years, it was the
only sans serif text typeface for Oliveti typewriters. he simplicity of the design
conferred the leters a gentle look (ig. 44). Nonetheless, it seems like it was not
a popular design. here were not many references to the use of this typeface in
Oliveti typewriters.
he typefaces mentioned above were only secondary options barely used in
manual typewriters. he history of typewriter type design changed in the 60s,
when a new style of sans serif typefaces started to be used in the machine. It was the
‘techno’ type. he geometric appearance of this new style suited the machine.
Quadrato, released in 1963, was a good example of this new trend in typewriter
type. It was a design by Arturo Rolfo that turned into one of the most popular
typefaces of Oliveti typewriters. Quadrato was irstly designed for the Oliveti
Valentine and used later in other models.
he typefaces by Aldo Novarese, Microgamma (1952) and Eurostile (1962),
were the reference for the design. he characters were based on a square shape with
round corners. he endings of the strokes were also round and the countershapes
were relatively big (ig 45). However, Quadrato was not strictly a sans serif
typeface, and some leters like ‘i’, ‘l’, or ‘r’ included serifs (ig. 46). his was not the
last sans serif typeface designed for Oliveti. he design of Notizia was created
later. he design included the same round endings as Quadrato, but the characters
were narrower and the overall appearance was closer to a conventional sans serif
typeface (ig. 47).
he electric and electronic typewriters introduced the possibility of designing
typefaces with several character widths. And the hegemony of monospace
typefaces in typewriters came to an end.
Fig. 46 - Sample of
Quadrato.
Fig. 47 - Lowercase
and uppercase leters
of Notizia.
1 A shitless alphabet was a type design that only included one character per typebar, so the
typewriter did not need a shit key.
47
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Vista
Windsor
Carlyle
Fig. 48 - Samples of
three proportional
typefaces for Oliveti.
Venezia (1964–1965)
Editor 5
electric typewriter
2.40
2.40
2.40 1.60 1.60 2.40
3.20
1.60
Carlyle (1968)
Editor 5
2.12
2.12
2.12 1.42 1.42 2.12
3.54
1.42
Venezia (1974)
Lexicon 93
electric typewriter
2.12
Fig. 49 - Example
of the evolution of
proportional type
in Oliveti.
2.12
2.12 1.42 1.42 2.12
2.64
1.42
Venezia (1976)
TES 501
electronic typewriter
2.54
2.12
2.54
1.69 1.69 2.12
2.96
1.69
Proportional typefaces
As it was mentioned before, Oliveti had created proportional typefaces for the
manual typewriter Graphika in 1958. hese designs were not as successful as
expected, and it was not until the arrival of the electric typewriter that Oliveti
decided to design more proportional typefaces.
he type design department of Oliveti worked in new proportional designs.
he font library of the company grew and electric models used typefaces like
Venezia, Tempo, Kent, Windsor, Vista, Doricus, or Carlyle. Unfortunately, it was
not possible to ind samples of all of them. (ig. 48)
he internal manual for type design, the Libro Cassinelli, included
speciications for the distribution of the characters in diferent widths. his
information showed how the width distribution could change from one design
to another (see appendix 3, p. 77). he proportional typefaces for Oliveti were
based on ive modular units. he smallest sizes used a basic unit of 0.7 mm, and the
biggest typefaces used 0.8 mm as the basic unit. In proportional type, uppercase
leters were usually wider than lowercase; the narrowest characters were ‘I’, ‘J’, ‘f ’, ‘i’
and ‘t’; and the widest ‘M’, ‘W’ and ‘m’.
All the typefaces mentioned in this group, were designed for the typeball.
When the irst electronic machine was manufactured, most of them were adjusted
for the daisy wheel. he design of the proportional typefaces in Oliveti evolved
with the machine (ig. 49). he width of the characters and the thickness of the
strokes changed through diferent models.
Venezia was one of the main typefaces used in Oliveti electric typewriters.
he letershapes were not a monolinear design, they had some modulation in the
strokes (ig. 50). Still, typewriters were not reliable as a printing method, and a big
part of the modulation was lost in the printed leters.
Fig. 50 - Drawing of
Venezia lowercase ‘b’
(25:1). For seeing the
image in original size go
to appendix 4, p. 79.
49
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 51 - Samples of
Oliveti typefaces
for diferent scripts.
From top to botom:
– Greek
– Cyrillic
– Hebrew
– Devanagari
– hai
– Arabic
– Amharic
Fig. 52 - Samples
of diferent type styles
for Greek and Cyrillic.
From top to botom:
– Greek Elite
– Greek Stampatello
– Cyrillic Roman
Medium
– Cyrillic Stampatello
50
In the 70s, there was an atempt to design a new proportional typeface. Oliveti
commissioned Wim Crouwel, but his design was never released.
he design of proportional typefaces increased the variety of styles available
for the machine. he font library grew and changed with time. he typefaces were
drawn in diferent styles and scripts.
Non-Latin typefaces
here is no room in this research for an exhaustive analysis of the design of the
diferent scripts created for Oliveti typewriters. However, it is interesting to show
some examples of the writing systems that the company supported (ig 51). Some
scripts were developed further, and they were available in several styles (ig. 52).
Every script had particular features, and the dimensions of the characters
did not always it in the 2.6 mm width of the conventional Pica. For instance, in
monospace typefaces, the width of Arabic characters was 2.8 mm, and in Amharic
leterforms it was 3.14 mm.
Some scripts like hai needed to place marks above and below the leters, so
the height of the characters was also a factor to consider for the design (ig. 53).
he design of multi-script typefaces pursued the access to foreign markets. he
sales in the Latin script market was more segmented, and some fonts were made to
fulil particular purposes.
Limit for
upper marks
A = 2.55
Baseline for
upper marks
B = 1.09
Centre of
the platen
Baseline
Limit for
lower marks
C
D=0
E = 1.45
F = 2.51
Fig. 53 - (75%)
Speciications for
the design of hai
characters for
Oliveti (1982).
A–F = 5.07 mm (maximum height of the design)
C–E = 2.19 mm (height of the main character)
width of the character = 2.1 mm
51
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
a
b
Fig. 54 a. Colour selector in a
Lexicon 80, the white circle
is the option for stencil type.
b. Close-up of a text
sample typewriten in
the stencil mode.
Perforante
Fig. 55 - Samples
of the two Oliveti
protective-writing
typefaces.
Fig. 56 - Sample of
the typeface Roma
in an Oliveti type
specimen (1970).
52
Stampatello and Perforante
Typefaces for special purposes
he typewriter evolved with time, and that evolution came with new market
demands. he machine was both used in the oice and at home. he requirements
of a typeface for private purposes were diferent than those of a typeface for
professional use. he next examples are typefaces designed by Oliveti with a
particular function.
Perforante was a typeface used for protective writing in cheques and similar
work. he typewriter included an option for stencil type that embossed the
leters on the paper, instead of printing them (ig. 54). he Perforante characters
had sharp contours in the metal type, so that it cut the paper when using the
stencil mode. Oliveti ofered a type variant that included both Stampatello and
Perforante. With this typeface, the user could cut and print leters in security
documents with the same machine. (ig. 55)
here was another group of typefaces that were designed with a very particular
function, the script style. he increasing number of users that bought typewriters
for personal use, created the need for more informal designs. he tone of a leter
writen to a client was not the same as a leter writen to a friend. he script style
imitated the appearance of handwriting, and gave an informal appearance to the
typewriten leters.
In the sources consulted for this research, just one sample of this script style
was found among the Oliveti typefaces. It was called Roma, a typeface used
also by other typewriters like Olympia or Facit. his is an example of a typeface
designed by an external type foundry and sold to several companies. Roma cannot
be included in the group of typefaces designed for Oliveti, but it is shown in here
as a sample of other type style designed for typewriters (ig. 56).
he typefaces mentioned in previous pages are samples of the type styles designed
for Oliveti typewriters. hey have shown the evolution of type design in the
company. In order to have a wider perspective, the Oliveti typefaces will be
compared to a few designs created by other companies. he next pages ofer a
description and visual samples of several typewriter typefaces, and an explanation
of the diferences and similarities with those made for Oliveti.
4.4 - Comparison with other typewriter typefaces
he conventional Pica type was the most popular typewriter style before World
War II. It could look like all the companies used the same typeface, but this
is far from being the case. here were many diferent versions of Pica. Every
manufacturer used its own design.
he earliest typewriter machines used shitless sans serif alphabets, but by the
end of the 19th century, all the typewriter companies were using Pica. his style is
still today the most recognisable typewriter type design.
he design of Pica sufered many transformations in the more than 100 years of
existence. he changes from one typewriter to another, made it an interesting case
of study. Document analysts, like the American David A. Crown, used the design
diferences between Pica typefaces to identify typewriten documents. Some
53
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 57 Comparison
of Oliveti
characters with
other typewriter
manufacturers.
Other companies
Oliveti
European
Fig. 58 - Drawings
comparing three
diferent designs of
‘d’ for a typewriter
typeface.
Fig. 59 Comparison of
the conventional
typeface of diferent
manufacturers. he
circle highlights
the characters with
more distinctive
features in each
sample. From top to
botom:
– Oliveti
– Remington
– Corona
– Imperial
– Smith-Corona
– Underwood
American
Modern
references to typewriting identiication appeared as early as 1891 in the Sherlock
Holmes story ‘A Case of Identity’:1
It is a curious thing (…) that a typewriter has really quite as much
individuality as a man’s handwriting.
-- Arthur Conan Doyle, Tales of Sherlock Holmes, 409
In his article of 1968, ‘Class characteristics of foreign typewriters and typefaces’,
Crown showed the main diferences between American and European typewriter
typefaces. He used as examples typefaces from diferent manufactures, among
them the conventional type used in Oliveti (ig. 57).
he Libro Cassinelli also included a reference to the diferences in the design
of conventional typewriter typefaces. By looking at the pictures in ig. 58, it can be
said that the European type had longer serifs and smaller countershapes, and the
trend in the ‘modern’ style was to create wider characters with shorter ascenders.
here were many diferences in the Pica typeface from one manufacturer
to another. In the ig. 59 there are text samples of several typewriters. he most
distinctive characters in each sample have been highlighted. he leters that might
make the identiication easier are ‘a’, ‘g’, ‘t’, ‘w’, ‘E’, ‘J’, and ‘Q’.
European manufacturers used slightly diferent sizes from the American
companies. Apart from the American 2.54 mm width for pitch 10, in Europe, the
characters were also designed for 2.50 and 2.60 mm; and 2.00, 2.12, 2.20, 2.23,
2.25, and 2.30 mm were possible widths for pitch 12.2
he changes in the width and height of the leters, and the small diferences
in the design of the characters inluenced the colour of the typewriten text. he
typeface, the typewriter, the typist, and the ribbon, were factors that made every
document unique.
he second half of the 20th century was a complex time for the industry. he
exclusivity of typefaces became part of the past and manufacturers shared the
designs ofered by external companies. It was common to ind the same leterforms
in machines of diferent brands. he merge of companies, like Oliveti and
Underwood, also changed the typewriter scene; and making a clear classiication of
typefaces was complicated.
Some type styles were especially popular in the industry. he ‘techno’ designs
were a breakthrough in the typewriter market (ig. 60). he typeface Cubic,
distributed by Caractèreres, was used in Oliveti typewriters.
Fig. 60 - Samples of two
‘techno’ typefaces: Cubic by
Caractèreres (top), and Techno
Pica by Setag (botom).
1 Crown, ‘Landmarks in typewriting identiication,’ 105.
2 Hilton, Scientiic Examination of Questioned Documents, 47.
55
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Quadrato
Fig. 61 - (400%)
Comparison
between some
leters of Quadrato
and Cubic.
Cubic
Fig. 62 - Samples of
Quadrato (top) and
Cubic (botom).
Cubic by Caractèreres, in a Facit TP1.
Fig. 63 - Close-up of
the type slugs of two
typewriters with a
‘techno’ typeface.
56
Techno Pica by Setag, in a Hermes 3000.
Quadrato, the typeface designed by Arturo Rolfo for Oliveti, could also be
included in this style. his design was quite diferent from other ‘techno’ typefaces.
he proportions in Quadrato made the characters to look wider (ig. 61) and the
colour of text was completely diferent. Quadrato was a pitch 12 typeface and
Cubic pitch 10 (ig. 62).
he type manufacturers used reference codes to classify the designs. hey
included this reference and the initials of the company in the metal type, this way it
was easier to identify the typefaces (ig. 63).
he electric typewriter introduced many new designs. hose created for the
IBM Selectric were of special importance. hey survived digitally and are still
popular today. Courier (Howard Ketler, 1955), Leter Gothic (Roger Roberson,
1962) and Orator ( John Scheppler, 1962) are just a few examples. he three of
them were also used by other typewriter companies, among them Oliveti. IBM
typefaces became a major source for digital revivals.
57
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 64 -Type sample
of Foundry Gridnik.
Fig. 65 - Comparison
between Quadrato
(200%) and Valentine.
Fig. 66 - Sample
of Valentine.
58
-- 6 -Digital typewriter typefaces
Typewriter typefaces did not disappear with the machine. Beyond the diferences
between styles, the particular look of typewriten leters had an aesthetic unity.
Many designers today ind in typewriter type a source of inspiration.
6.1 - Typefaces based on Oliveti models
Oliveti was a leading company in the typewriter industry. Some of the machines
and the memorable advertising campaigns have already a place in the history of
design. A signiicant number of designers have created digital typefaces based
on original designs for Oliveti typewriters. With more or less depth, all of them
helped to maintain the legacy of Oliveti in type design.
Gridnik
Wim Crouwel and David Quay, 1997
In 1997, Wim Crouwel was approached by David Quay to revive some of his
alphabets as digital fonts. he New Alphabet, Fodor, Stedelijk and Gridnik were
released in the 90s by he Foundry, based in London.
he design of Gridnik was based on the typeface that Crouwel had made for
Oliveti typewriters, which was later used in the design of Dutch post stamps. It
was initially ofered as a single weight font, and in 2008 the family was expanded.
It was published as Foundry Gridnik and it included four weights: light, regular,
medium, and bold (ig. 64).
Among the Crouwel alphabets released as digital fonts, Gridnik was the only
one created as a text typeface. he design was digitised from the original pen
and ink drawings for Oliveti, the leters that had been designed with the width
restrictions of the typewriter. he digital design was faithful to the original, and
besides the leter ‘r’, all the leterforms maintained the width of the initial design.1
Gridnik was a success in the market. It brought back the work of Wim Crouwel
to the design scene. In 2015, the Foundry joined Fontshop, which was later
acquired by the Monotype corporation. Because of that, the rights of distribution
of Foundry Gridnik belong currently to Monotype.
Valentine
Stephan Müller, 2002
In 1993, Stephan Müller founded together with Cornel Windlin the digital type
foundry Lineto. his company is of especial interest for this research, because the
font library includes two typefaces inspired by Oliveti (Valentine and Letera).
Valentine was based on the typeface designed by Arturo Rolfo for the
typewriter with the same name. Müller used a typewriten sample of the typeface
and the original drawings supplied by the Associazione Archivio Storico Oliveti. he
design of Valentine is an accurate version of the original typeface (ig. 65). he
proportions and the width of the leters are very similar to Quadrato (ig. 66).
1
davidquaydesign.com/foundry-gridnik (retrieved 29.08.2015).
59
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 67 - Sample
of Lekton.
Fig. 68 - Sample
of Lekton Italic,
Regular and Bold.
Fig. 69 - Comparison
between Candia (top)
and Letera (botom).
Fig. 70 - Detail of
the joints of the
strokes in the leter
‘k’ of Letera.
Fig. 71 Comparison
between Letera
(top) and
Letera-Txt
(botom).
he main diferences are in small details, like the shapes of the counterforms or the
joints of the strokes.
Valentine is a typeface family of six weights: Light, Light Italic, Regular, Italic,
Bold, and Bold Italic. Quadrato had only one weight, so the added styles to the
family are a personal interpretation of Stephan Müller.
Lekton
ISIA Urbino, 2008
Lekton was born at ISIA, the Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche of Urbino
(Italy). he typeface was created by six students (Luna Castroni, Stefano Faoro,
Emilio Macchia, Elena Papassissa, Michela Povoleri, and Tobias Seemiller) under
the supervision of the lecturer Luciano Perondi. he initial typeface was designed
in only eight hours, and it was released under a Creative Commons licence.
he design of Lekton was based on Notizia, a typeface created in Oliveti
for electronic typewriters. he font is double and triple spaced, maintaining the
features of typewriter typefaces designed for the daisy wheel. he name Lekton,
which means ‘what can be said’, was chosen as a reference to the sophisticated
names given to Oliveti machines, such as Lexicon or Tetractys.
Lekton was a collaborative project opened to contributions for improving and
increasing the character set. he list of designers involved in the project grew fast.
Daniele Capo, Antonio Cavedoni, Riccardo Lorusso, Marco Comastri, Sabrina
Campagna, Elisa Ansuini, Rafaele Flauto, Mariangela Di Pinto, Jan Henrik Arnold,
and Paolo Mazzeti participated in the design of the typeface family. (ig. 67)
In 2011, Lekton was published in Google fonts. And now the typeface is only
available through this platform. he type family includes three styles, Regular, Italic
and Bold (ig. 68).
Letera
Kobi Benezni, 2008
he design of Letera was based on Candia, designed by Müller-Brockmann for
Oliveti (ig. 69). he name of the typeface was chosen by the designer, Kobi
Benezni, as a reference to the iconic Oliveti Letera 22.
Letera is a monospace typeface created in 2006 and published by Lineto in
2008. he design was inspired by an Oliveti type specimen. he sample had a
low resolution and did not show the details of the original design. What Benezni
interpreted as ‘reversed’ inktraps in the joints of the strokes, became one of the
main features of Letera (ig. 70). Later on, he found out that those details were not
in the original design, but he decided to keep them. he wide countershapes and
the large x-height of the leters, make it perform well in small sizes. Letera includes
six weights, Light, Regular, Bold, and the matching italics.
he typeface turned into a big success in the market and users requested a
proportional version of the design. As a result of this demand, Letera-Txt was
born. his proportional version of Letera was released by Kobi Benezni in 2012.
he typeface family includes the same six styles as Letera, and the extended
character set for Latin and Cyrillic. he monospace typeface Letera evolved into a
peculiar grotesque sans serif (ig. 71).
61
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 72 - Comparison
between Oliveti
Elite (200%) and
Typewriter.
Fig. 73 - Samples of
the typeface family
Typewriter.
Fig. 74 - Samples of
the typeface Sirio.
62
Typewriter
Henrik Kubel, 2012
Typewriter is a design of Henrik Kubel created in 2000 as a corporate typeface for
his studio A2/SW/HK. Typewriter was inspired by the conventional type used
in an Oliveti Letera 22. he main design diference with the Oliveti Pica is that
Typewriter is not a monospace typeface. Besides the changes in proportions, there
are some other diferences in the design of the leters, like the spur of the ‘g’ or the
terminals of the leter ‘a’ (ig. 72).
When the studio created the type foundry A2-Type in 2010, Typewriter was
included in the collection of 15 fonts ofered. he typeface family includes three
weights (Regular, Medium and Bold) and the italics for the three of them (ig. 73).
In the design of the italics, there is also a clear reference to the typewriter Italic
typefaces created by Oliveti (see ig. 37, p. 44).
Typewriter is a text typeface that captured the essence of the leterforms
created, a long time ago, for the typewriter. Since 2012 this typeface is also
available through Village, a platform that several independent type foundries use
for distributing their typefaces.
Sirio
Josh Young, 2014
Sirio was a project born from the personal interest of Josh Young, a graphic
designer based in London.
he inspiration for Sirio was the design, with the same name, that Herbert
Lindinger created for Oliveti. Young found an image with a small sample of Sirio
in the book Design Process: Oliveti, 1908–1978, and decided to create a digital
version. Sirio is a monolinear typeface with strokes of round endings (ig. 74).
Even tough Sirio did not start as a commercial project, when Young inished
the design, he decided to release it commercially. It is now available through the
digital font foundry HypeForType. Young himself points out that ‘it is a very quirky
typewriter face (…) and because of that it has a very limited audience.’1
Sirio was one of the last typefaces designed for Oliveti typewriters, a good
example of an unconventional design that still atracts the atention of designers.
here are some other examples of digital typefaces inspired by Oliveti. Most of
them created by typewriter enthusiasts who created their designs from typewriten
samples, for instance: Baksheesh (Stuart Brown, 2005), Oliveti Typewriter (Iza
W, 2008), Cassandre and Reiner (Richard Polt, 2010), Oliveti Type 2 (Hernan
Asorey, 2010) or Ivrea (Íñigo López Vázquez, 2015).
5.2 - Other examples of digital typewriter typefaces
Leter Gothic, Courier, and Orator are typefaces widely used today. hey were
created for typewriters and then digitised for computers. Some other typefaces
born later on, were also inspired by the machine. he few examples presented in
the next pages, show the role that typewriter typefaces played in the early years of
digital type, and the inluence that they still have today.
1
Email to the author, 23.08.2015.
63
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
something more than transitory fashion or gifted improvisation
Fig. 75 - Samples of
American Typewriter.
From top to botom:
– Light
– Regular
– Bold
something more than transitory fashion or gifted improvisation
something more than transitory fashion or gifted improvisation
Fig. 76 - Logo
designed by Milton
Glaser for promoting
the city of New York.
Courier (IBM typewriters)
Courier (Bitstream)
With its feather-light touch, consistently even
Courier New (Monotype)
With its feather-light touch, consistently even
Fig. 77 - Comparison
between a text sample
of Courier for IBM
typewriters and three
digital versions
of Courier.
64
Courier Prime (Quote-Unquote Apps)
With its feather-light touch, consistently even
American Typewriter
Joel Kaden and Tony Stan, 1974
American Typewriter was a typeface commissioned by ITC (International
Typeface Corporation). Originally designed for phototypeseting, it is one of the
irst typewriter typefaces created for printing.
American Typewriter is a proportional typeface which initially included
three weights. he Light and Regular were designed by Joel Kaden, and the Bold
weight by Tony Stan (ig. 75). It was released in 1974, the year that the typewriter
celebrated the 100th anniversary. he type specimen of ITC described it this way:
American Typewriter strikes a happy compromise with its forerunner. he rigid
spacing is dispensed with, but the distinctive typewriter lavour is generously
enhanced. And there is just enough nostalgia in American Typewriter to give it a
top billing in contemporary typography.
-- ‘Specimen of American Typewriter’, 1975.
he sources consulted did not mention any particular company, but Underwood,
Remington, and later IBM, were the most popular American manufacturers; and
they were probably considered in the design process.
In 1977, Milton Glaser used American Typewriter in his logo for the city of
New York (ig. 76). his image became a design icon and it increased the popularity
of the typeface.
ITC American Typewriter is now part of the libraries of important font
distributors (Adobe, Apple and Linotype). he typeface family is currently
composed by three weights (Light, Medium and Bold) with the matching Italic
and Condensed designs, nine cuts in total. Since 2005, the typeface has a Greek
version, American Typewriter Hellenic, which includes 12 weights/styles.
Courier
Howard Ketler, 1955
he design of Howard Ketler for IBM typewriters is probably one of the most
adapted typefaces ever.
When Courier was digitised it became the default system font of many
computers and printers. It was used by the US Government as a corporate typeface
and it became the industry standard for writing screenplays. It is still today one of
the most popular typefaces in computer coding.
In 1995, the operating system Microsot 3.1. introduced Courier New. his is
just an example of the many versions of Courier that one can ind in the market.
he diferent Courier typefaces are distributed through private foundries, font
libraries, and freeware licenses, by big and small distributors (Monotype, Linotype,
Adobe, Pampatype, URW++, Bitstream, etc.). It would be very diicult to point
out which one of them is more faithful to the original. (ig. 77)
Trixie
Erik van Blokland, 1991
Digital typefaces tried sometimes to emulate the look of the typewriten text,
where characters varied greatly in tone and weight. he design of Erik van
65
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 78 - he logo of
the X-iles series uses
the leter ‘x’ of Trixie.
Fig. 79 - Leter ‘a’
in the three grades
of Trixie, from the
lowest to the highest
deinition.
FF Trixie
FF Trixie Rough
FF Trixie HD
Trixie
Trixie Rough
Fig. 80 - Samples of
the six weight/grades
of FF Trixie.
Trixie HD
Light
66
Heavy
Blokland, Trixie, is one of the irst examples of this ‘realistic’ design approach to
a typewriter typeface. Chadler 42 (Steve Mehallo, 1994) and FF Magda (Cornel
Windlin, 1995) could be also included in this group.
he typewriten leters of a Triumph Durable were the basis of the design. he
characters were digitised trying to maintain the essence of the original. he leters
vary in height, some of them are slightly rotated, and there is not a strict baseline.
In the 90s, the printing and operating systems were not prepared for handling
fonts with highly deined contours. he design of Trixie was simpliied to make the
font work properly. his typeface was very popular, it was used for many mystery
ilms and series, among them X-iles (ig. 78).
In 2008, the typeface family was expanded with new styles for higher
resolution. FF Trixie Rough, was a new option for using the typeface in big sizes.
he outlines of the characters included more details, so the sharp straight contours
of the original Trixie were not visible. FF Trixie HD was an even more detailed
design, which included seven alternates for each character. he Opentype features
transformed Trixie in a dynamic font that could use alternative letershapes
throughout the text, so the text looked more similar to a typewriten document.
FF Trixie is available trough FontShop, and it contains three grades: Trixie,
Trixie Rough, and Trixie HD (ig. 79), with two weights per grade, Light and
Heavy, what makes a total of six styles (ig. 80), over 1 million of contours and 17
million points.1 FF Trixie covers the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek script.
Although the uniqueness of the typewriten document cannot be faked by
digital means, Trixie is probably one of the typefaces that got a beter resemblance.
here are many digital typewriter typefaces. It must be noted though that
monospace and typewriter typefaces are not exchangeable terms. A typeface that
belongs to the typewriter style is not always monospace, and the other way around,
a monospace typeface is not always designed in a typewriter style.
Every year new typewriter typefaces are released. It may be considered as an
over-adapted style, but typewriter typefaces are still open to digital interpretations.
1
trixiefont.com (retrieved 31.08.2015).
67
-Conclusion
Technology is evolution, it is future. It is the answer of the human being to a
faster pace of life. he typewriter was the result of the search for a faster way of
communication, where the printed leters were the vehicle for the message. he
irst typewriter manufacturers put much efort into improving the mechanics of the
machine, but it seems like in the early models they were not much concerned about
the design of the leterforms.
his situation was even worse if we consider that early typewriter typefaces
were oten designed by non-professional designers or by designers who had no
experience in this ield. he typewriter was a new printing method and needed new
designs that fulilled the particular demands of the machine.
Typewriter type design showed how conventions could change. And what
was considered bad typography or illegible documents before, became acquired
habits accepted by society. Leterforms evolve with time, and it is not just a mater
of fashion and trends, but also a way of adapting the writing systems to new
technologies and social changes.
he importance given in Oliveti to type design was probably above the
average of typewriter manufacturers. he company created its own typefaces,
invested in design, and used typography as an important element in advertising.
Ater all, the printed leters were the reason for the existence of the machine. he
typefaces created were part of the identity of Oliveti typewriters.
he design of proportional typefaces for Oliveti mechanical typewriters were
a big innovation, but the machine was not technically ready for them, and the
precious atempt turned into a failure in the market.
he evolution of the machine, from the manual to the electronic models,
introduced changes in type design, and the number of typewriter typefaces grew
quickly. he company mergers in the 60s had negative efects in the industry. he
typewriter manufacturers lost part of their identity, it was diicult to diferentiate
one model from another.
he particular style of typewriter typefaces was inluenced by the limitations
of the machine. he low-quality printing asked for simple shapes that ofered
optimum results. he monolinear strokes, the wide countershapes, and the
constructive serifs became important features of typewriter typefaces.
his particular style of typewriter type was not only in the dimensions of the
leters or the thickness of the strokes. Some characters adopted particular forms.
Leters like ‘m’, ‘i’, ‘t’, ‘J’ or ‘M’ changed substantially from printing leterforms.
hese new shapes were adopted as an evolution of the printed leters and they
became accepted conventions.
Typewriter typefaces survived the machine. hey found their place in the
digital market. hey are a popular style among scriptwriters and programmers. Two
professions that adopted the type conventions that technology ofered them. For
instance, Courier became the most popular typeface for writing screenplays with
the typewriter, and it is still a standard in the ilm industry today.
69
he typewriter became also a source of inspiration for new digital typefaces.
Every year new type families are released and they oten include a typewriter style.
It is probably not only the particular look of typewriter typefaces what atracts the
atention of designers, but also their historical signiicance. In an over-connected
world people search for the freedom of not being observed. he typewriters are the
expression of a primitive technology without the distractions of the internet. It was
just the man and the machine.
71
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
appendix 1
Example of the typewriten
samples created with
Oliveti models of the
Colección Sirvent.
72
73
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
appendix 2
Example of the typewriten
samples from the Special
Collections of the Department
of Typography and Graphic
Communication of the
University of Reading.
74
75
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
appendix 3
Information about width
distribution in proportional
typefaces, transcribed from the
Libro Cassinelli.
he leters with a diferent
width distribution in
diferent typefaces have been
hightlighted in the table.
76
source: Aso, Fondo Archivio Renzo Zorzi / Documentazione tecnica. Faldone 6, fascicolo
19. Libro Cassinelli, 120.
Character
Venezia
Tempo
Kent
Italico
Windsor
Vista
Doricus & Carlyle
Character
Venezia
Tempo
Kent
Italico
Windsor
Vista
Doricus & Carlyle
A
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
a
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
B
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
b
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
C
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
c
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
D
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
d
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
E
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
e
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
F
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
f
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
G
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
g
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
H
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
h
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
I
2
2
2
3
2
2
3
i
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
J
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
j
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
K
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
k
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
L
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
l
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
M
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
m
4
5
4
5
5
5
5
N
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
n
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
O
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
o
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
P
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
p
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Q
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
q
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
R
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
r
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
S
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
s
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
T
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
t
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
U
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
u
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
V
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
v
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
W
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
w
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
X
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
x
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Y
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
y
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Z
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
z
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Basic unit
Width 2
Width 3
Width 4
Width 5 Typefaces
0.7 mm
1.4
2.1
2.8
3.5
0.8 mm
1.6
2.4
3.2
4
Doricus and Carlyle
All the others
77
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
appendix 4
Original drawing of leter
‘b’ for the Oliveti typeface
Venezia (50:1).
78
source: Aso, Fondo Archivio Roberto Pieracini/Documentazione Oliveti/Documentazione
Tecnica. Faldone 6, fascicolo 38.
79
bibliography
Bartram, A. ‘Typewriter Type Faces,’ Typographica 6, London: Lund
Humphries, 1962.
Beeching, W.A. Century of the typewriter. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1974.
Broos, K. Wim Crouwel alphabets, Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 2003.
Crown, D. A.
– ‘Class Characteristics of Foreign Typewriters and Typefaces,’ he Journal of
Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science vol. 59, n. 2 ( June 1968):
298-323; htp://www.jstor.org/stable/1141953 (retrieved 28.06.2015).
– Crown, D. A. ‘Landmarks in Typewriting Identiication,’ he Journal of
Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science vol. 58, n. 1 (1967): 105–111;
htp://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc (retrieved 27.12.2014).
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– Millesimo di millimetro. I segni del codice visivo Oliveti 1908–1978. Bologna:
Società Editrice il Mulino, 2014.
– ‘Sulle tracce di Valentine,’ Linea Graica 345 (May 2003): 56–63.
Fiorentino, C. C. and Piscitelli, D. ‘Il libri Rossi dell’Oliveti,’ Linea Graica 341
(September 2002): 32–39.
Hilton, O. ‘A systematic method for indentifying the make and age-model of
a typewriter from its work,’ he Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and
Police Science vol. 41, n. 5 (1951): 661–674; htp://scholarlycommons.law.
northwestern.edu/jclc (retrieved 28.06.2015).
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Jury, David ‘he typist and her typing manual,’ Baseline 48, Kent: Bradbourne,
2005, 21-24.
Kicherer, S. Oliveti: a study of the corporate management of design. London: Trefoil
Publicatons, 1990.
Mackay, E. he typewriting dictionary. London: Pitman, 1977.
Mouron, H. Cassandre, Munich: hames and Hudson, 1985.
Musati, R., Bigiareti, L., and Soavi, G. Oliveti 1908–1958. Ivrea: Oliveti, 1958.
Museum of Modern Art of New York, ed.
– ‘Oliveti: Design in Industry,’ he Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art vol. 20,
n. 1 (Autumn, 1952): 3–19.
– ‘Exhibition of architecture and design executed for the Oliveti company in
Italy to go on view at museum,’ press release (22.10.1952), htps://www.
moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/1655/releases/
MOMA_1952_0077_70.pdf (retrieve 06.07.2015).
Pitman, I. A. Manual of the Typewriter. London: Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1893.
81
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Purcell, K. W. Josef Müller-Brockmann, New York: Phaidon Press, 2006.
Rawsthorn, A. ‘Oliveti’s Artful Breakthroughs,’ he New York Times (10.02.2013),
htp://www.nytimes.com (retrieved 13.08.2015).
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(Winter, 1995), htp://www.eyemagazine.com (retrieved 19.08.2015).
Tullet, B. Typewriter art: A modern anthology. London: Laurence King, 2014.
Williams, R. he Mac is Not a Typewriter. San Francisco: Peachpit Press, 1990.
Zorzi, R. and Saphira, N. H. Design Process: Oliveti, 1908–1978. California:
University of California, 1979.
Documents Associazione Archivio Storico Oliveti (Aso)
hese references were provided by the Assoziacione Archivio Storico Oliveti.
Aso, Fondo Documentazione - Società/1. Fondo Presidenza/2 (riservata).
Documentazione. Faldone 63, fascicoli 346-347. Correspondence with I.
Reiner and A. M. Cassandre, 1958.
Aso, Fondo Archivio Renzo Zorzi/Documentazione tecnica. Faldone 6,
fascicolo 19. Libro Cassinelli, 1969.
Aso, Fondo Archivio Roberto Pieracini/Documentazione Oliveti/
Documentazione Tecnica. Faldone 6, fascicolo 38.
Aso, Fondo Documentazione - Società/9. Breveti Oliveti/Uicio Breveti/
Breveti Storici Oliveti - Copia a stampa. Faldone 3, fascicolo 150.
Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F./Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 15, fascicolo 5.
Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F./Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 17, fascicolo 1.
Interviews
Wim Crouwel, graphic and type designer.
Amsterdam: interviewed by the author, 28.03.2015.
Gianmaria Capello, type designer in Oliveti since 1977.
Ivrea, Italy: interviewed by the author, 30.06.2015.
Online sources
Ancient scripts website,
htp://www.ancientscripts.com (retrieved 20.08.2015).
Archivio Nazionale Cinema d’Impresa: advertising and documentaries on Oliveti,
htps://www.youtube.com/cinemaimpresatv (retrieved 13.08.2015).
82
David Quay, htp://davidquaydesign.com/foundry-gridnik
(retrieved 29.08.2015).
Fondazione Adriano Oliveti, htp://www.fondazioneadrianoliveti.it
(retrieved 03.09.2015).
FontFont focus: FF Trixie, htp://trixiefont.com (retrieved 31.08.2015).
Graik, ‘Leterform. Right Type’ (01.07.2014), htps://www.graik.net/category/
leterform/right-type (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Lekton, htp://lektongroups.blogspot.co.uk (retrieved 29.08.2015).
Letera-Txt, htp://cargocollective.com/letera (retrieved 29.08.2015).
Lineto type foundry, htp://lineto.com (retrieved 29.08.2015).
Museo della Scritura Meccanica, htp://www.typewriterstory.com
(retrieved 20.08.2015).
‘Oliveti, storia di un’impresa,’ Associazione Archivio Storico Oliveti,
htp://www.storiaoliveti.it (retrieved 13.08.2015).
he Foundry, htp://www.foundrytypes.co.uk (retrieved 29.08.2015).
Typetoken, ‘Letera-Txt, Kobi Benezri’ (16.09.2012), htp://www.typetoken.net/
typeface/letera-txt-kobi-benezri (retrieved 29.08.2015).
Village type foundry, htp://vllg.com/a2-type/typewriter (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Audiovisual sources
De Sica, A. Cità dell’uomo. Italy: Rai 150 (La Storia siamo noi) and Fondazione
Adriano Oliveti, 2013.
Fasano, M. In me non c’è che futuro. Italy: Satva Films and Fondazione Adriano
Oliveti, 2011.
Piccardo, E. Letera 22. Italy: Plug_in, 2009
83
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
sources of the illustrations
Fig. 1 - Messenger, R. ozTypewriter
– Skrivekugle: ‘On this day in typewriter history (cxv),’ 18.09.2011,
htp://oztypewriter.blogspot.com.es/2011/09/on-this-day-in-typewriterhistorry-cxv.html (retrieved 31.08.2015).
– Type Writer: ‘On this day in typewriter history (xcix),’ 28.08.2011,
htp://oztypewriter.blogspot.com.es/2011/08/on-this-day-in-typewriterhistory-xcix.html (retrieved 31.08.2015).
Fig. 2 - ‘Great designers remembered. George C Blickensderfer and the irst
portable typewriter,’ he opinionated designer blog, 29.12.2014,
htps://opinionateddesigner.wordpress.com/2014/12/29/forgoten-designers
(retrieved 31.08.2015).
Fig. 3 - Antique typewriters, the Martin Howard Collection,
htp://www.antiquetypewriters.com/collection/enlarged.asp?img=pic-victor.
jpg&typewritername=Victor#.VexsQJ2qqkp (retrieved 31.08.2015).
Fig. 4 - ‘Inside the Oliveti Typewriter Factory, Glasgow’, pictures from John J.
Brady, son of the manager of the Oliveti plant in Glasgow.
htp://oztypewriter.blogspot.com.es (retrieved 13.08.2015).
Fig. 5 - Fiorentino, C. C. ‘Storia di una irma: caratere Oliveti,’ I+Diseño vol. 1, n. 1
(2009): 21.
Fig. 6 - ‘Giovanni pintori and letera 22: old copy, modern look’, Italian ways.
htp://www.italianways.com (retrieved 13.08.2015).
Fig. 7 - ‘Oliveti’, Pinterest board by Koichi Yanagimoto
htps://www.pinterest.com/metaboyana/oliveti (retrieved 13.08.2015).
Table 1
– M1: Scritura meccanica, typewriter colection of Etore Pocceti.
htp://www.scritura-meccanica.it (retrieved 14.08.2015).
– M2o; MP1; Studio 42 y 46; Lexicon 8; Letera 22, 35 and 10; Valentine; and
Linea 98: pictures by the author, Colección Sirvent.
– Praxis 48, Lexicon 90, ET 101 and ET 55: web Museo Nazionale Scienza e
Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan (Italy).
htp://www.museotecnologicamente.it (retrieved 14.08.2015).
Fig. 8 - Pictures of the typebars and the daisy wheel by the author. Picture of the
typeball from a Oliveti type catalogue (Aso).
Fig. 9
– ‘Who is the Oliveti girl?,’ Vogue 6, vol. 159 (1972).
– ‘Joe Namath is an Oliveti girl,’ George Lois website
htp://www.georgelois.com (retrieved 15.08.2015)
Fig. 10 - Pictures by the author, Colección Sirvent.
Fig. 11 and ig. 12 - Type sample by the author in an Oliveti Studio 42 and a
Italia 90, Colección Sirvent.
84
Fig. 13 - Mackay, he typewriting dictionary, 236–238.
Fig. 14 - Mackay, he typewriting dictionary, 49–50.
Fig. 15 - Diagram trascribed from: Aso, ‘Documentazione Design ex-Zorzi.’
Fig. 16 - Beeching, Century of the typewriter.
Fig. 17 - Aso, ‘Caratere datilograico Oliveti,’ March 1986.
Fig. 18 - Typewriter heaven (blog), ‘Graphika journey.’
htp://typewriterheaven.blogspot.com.es/2013/09/graphika-journey.html
(retrieved 18.08.2015)
Fig. 19 - Bartram, Typographica 6, 53.
Fig. 20 - he typewriter revolution (blog), ‘Oliveti Graphika’.
htp://writingball.blogspot.com.es/2010/12/oliveti-graphika.html
(retrieved 18.08.2015)
Fig. 21 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F/Arte./Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 15, fascicolo 3.
Fig. 22
– a and c: Huygen and Boekraad, Mode in module.
– b: Broos, Crouwel alphabets.
Fig. 23 - Purcell, Josef Müller-Brockmann.
Fig. 24 - Zorzi and Saphira, Design Process: Oliveti, 1908–1978, 226.
Fig. 25 - Aso, Fondo Eidoteca/Identity. Faldone 5, fascicolo 87.
Fig. 26 - Rudge, Print, 11.
Fig. 27 - Aso, Libro Cassinelli, 52–55.
Fig. 28 - Aso, Fondo Archivio Renzo Zorzi/Design, Designers, Ergonomia.
Faldone 8, fascicolo 123.
Fig. 29 - Aso, Libro Cassinelli, 115.
Fig. 30 - Aso, Libro Cassinelli, 115.
Fig. 31 - Aso, Libro Cassinelli, 112.
Fig. 32 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F/Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 15, fascicolo 3 and fascicolo 4.
Fig. 33 and 34 - Type samples by the author in an Oliveti Linea 98 (Pica) and a
Studio 46 (Elite), Colección Sirvent.
Fig. 35 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F/Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 15, fascicolo 4.
Fig. 36 - Type samples by the author in an Oliveti Studio 46 and a Letera 22,
Colección Sirvent.
Fig. 37 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F/Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 15, fascicolo 4.
85
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
Fig. 38 and 39 - Type samples by the author in an Oliveti Studio 46 (Elite) and a
Studio 46 (Letera), Colección Sirvent.
Fig. 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F/Arte/Arte
(Ed. Oliveti). Faldone 15, fascicolo 4.
Fig. 45 - Design iles, courtesy of Gianmaria Capello.
Fig. 46 - Type sample by the author in an Oliveti Dora.
Fig. 47 - Eleprint type specimen, courtesy of Gianmaria Capello.
Fig. 48 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F/Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 16, fascicolo 5.
Fig. 49 - Aso, Fondo Archivio Renzo Zorzi/Design, Designers, Ergonomia.
Faldone 9, fascicolo 193.
Fig. 50 - Aso, Fondo Archivio Roberto Pieracini/Documentazione Oliveti/
Documentazione Tecnica. Faldone 6, fascicolo 38.
Fig. 51 and 52 - Aso, Fondo Archivio Annibale Fiocchi/7. Varie. Fascicolo 125.
Fig. 53 - Aso, Fondo Archivio Renzo Zorzi/Documentazione tecnica.
Faldone 6, fascicolo 19.
Fig. 54 - Pictures by the author.
Fig. 55 - Aso, Fondo Archivio Annibale Fiocchi/7. Varie. Fascicolo 125.
Fig. 56 - Aso, Fondo Biblioteca/Biblioteca - Sala F./Arte/Arte (Ed. Oliveti).
Faldone 16, fascicoli 2-5-9.
Fig. 57 - Crown, ‘Class Characteristics of Foreign Typewriters and Typefaces,’
311 and 315.
Fig. 58 - Aso, Libro Cassinelli, 92.
Fig. 59 - Type sample by the author in an Oliveti Linea 98, Colección Sirvent.
And type samples from the Special Collections of the University of Reading,
Remington 7, Corona 3, Imperial Good Companion 5, Smith-Corona Courier
and Underwood 5.
Fig. 60 - Type sample of Cubic, by the author in an Oliveti Letera 22, Colección
Sirvent. Type sample of Techno Pica, from Beeching, Century of the typewriter.
Fig. 61 - Type samples by the author, Quadrato in an Oliveti Letera DL and
Cubic in a Letera 22, Colección Sirvent.
Fig. 62 - Type samples by the author, Quadrato in an Oliveti Dora and Cubic in a
Letera 22, Colección Sirvent.
Fig. 63 - Fountain Pens & Typewriters (blog), ‘Tale of Hermes 3000 substitute
platen knobs’ and ‘Facit TP1 Techno Pica.’
htp://ofountainpenstypewriters.blogspot.com.es (retrieved 28.08.2015)
Fig. 64 - Wikimedia Commons, htps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:GridnikSpec.svg (retrieved 29.08.2015).
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Fig. 65 - Type sample of Quadrato by the author in an Oliveti Letera 35, Colección
Sirvent. Sample of Valentine from htp://lineto.com (retrieved 29.08.2015)
Fig. 66 - Type sample of Valentine from htp://lineto.com (retrieved 29.08.2015)
Fig. 67 and 68 - Google fonts, htps://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Lekton
(retrieved 29.08.2015)
Fig. 69 - Purcell, Josef Müller-Brockmann.
Fig. 70 - Letera-Txt, Kobi Benezri (2012), htp://cargocollective.com/letera
(retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 71 - Sample of Letera from htp://lineto.com, and sample of Letera-Txt from
htp://cargocollective.com/letera (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 72 - Sample of Elite by the author in a Letera 22, Colección Sirvent. Sample of
Typewriter from htp://vllg.com (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 73 - Samples of Typewriter from htp://vllg.com (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 74 - Samples of Sirio from htp://www.part-twocreative.co.uk/sirio.php
(retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 75 - Linotype website, htp://www.linotype.com (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 76 - Wikimedia Commons, htps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I_
Love_New_York.svg (retrieved 30.08.2015).
Fig. 77 - Sample of Courier from Typographica 6, 45. Samples of Courier, Courier
New and Courier Prime are shown in the actual font.
Fig. 78 - Wikimedia Commons, htps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:he_X-Files_title_logo.png (retrieved 31.08.2015).
Fig. 79 and 80 - Samples of FF Trivie from htp://trixiefont.com
(retrieved 31.08.2015).
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aknowledgements
Colección Sirvent, especially Alfredo for sharing his time and knowledge.
he Donor Study & Travel Fund of the University of Reading, for giving me the
opportunity to travel to Italy for the research.
Associazione Archivio Storico Oliveti and Gianmaria Capello, for all the information
and documentation provided.
Wim Crouwel, for his generosity and valuable opinions. And Gerard Unger, for
making the interview possible.
Ricardo Lorusso, Frederike Huygen, Josh Young, and Elena Papassissa, for their
selless help.
My sisters Natalia, Raquel, and Berta, for proof reading the text and not leting me
get lost in translation.
Type design for typewriters: Oliveti
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