Lexicon (typeface)
Encyclopedia
Lexicon is a serif
typeface
designed by Dutch
type design
er Bram de Does
between the years 1989 and 1992. The typeface was specially designed for use at very small point sizes in Van Dale's Dictionary of the Dutch Language.
. After the release of Trinité, De Does held a lecture at the 1983 edition of ATypI
. People had asked him when his next typeface would be released, and in his lecture he announced that there would be no new typefaces from his hand. According to him, he would not be able to design something significantly different from the Renaissance
inspired roman
like Trinité. In 1989 however, he was approached by the designer of the Van Dale dictionary, who wanted to test Trinité for use at 7pt. De Does suggested to specially design a new typeface instead.
The first rough drawings were made with a felt-tipped pen, and then photographically reduced to be able to judge the design at the right size. The editors of the dictionary were happy with the results, and accepted the offer to produce the typeface. De Does worked together with Peter Matthias Noordzij, who used Ikarus to digitize the drawings that De Does made. The first version of 1992 was optimized for legibility
at the point sizes that were used in the dictionary. The version that is published by The Enschedé Font Foundry (TEFF) was released in 1995.
—resulting in open counters
—and by the relatively small capital letters. Just as Trinité, Lexicon shows a strong calligraphic influence, specifically that of the broad-nibbed pen.
Both versions of Lexicon consist of a roman
and an italic
, all in six weights (named with letters A to F). There are several types of numbers available; tabular old-style figures, tabular lining figures, proportional old-style figures
, and superior and inferior
figures.
Serif
In typography, serifs are semi-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. A typeface with serifs is called a serif typeface . A typeface without serifs is called sans serif or sans-serif, from the French sans, meaning “without”...
typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
designed by Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
type design
Type design
Type design is the art of designing typefaces.- History :Although the technology of printing text using movable type was invented in China, and despite the esteem which calligraphy held in that civilization, the vast number of Chinese characters meant that few distinctive, complete fonts could be...
er Bram de Does
Bram de Does
Bram de Does is a graphic and type designer. De Does studied at the Amsterdamse Grafische School in the 1950s. De Does came into contact with the printing trade at an early age, as his father had a printing office in the east of Amsterdam. From 1958 to 1988 he worked, with several intervals, at...
between the years 1989 and 1992. The typeface was specially designed for use at very small point sizes in Van Dale's Dictionary of the Dutch Language.
History
Lexicon was De Does' second typeface, his first one being TrinitéTrinité (typeface)
Trinité is a serif typeface designed by Dutch type designer Bram de Does. He worked on the design from 1979 to 1982. In 1991, he received the H.N. Werkmanprize for the design.-History:...
. After the release of Trinité, De Does held a lecture at the 1983 edition of ATypI
ATypI
The ATypI or the Association Typographique Internationale is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to typography.-The organisation:...
. People had asked him when his next typeface would be released, and in his lecture he announced that there would be no new typefaces from his hand. According to him, he would not be able to design something significantly different from the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
inspired roman
Roman type
In typography, roman is one of the three main kinds of historical type, alongside blackletter and italic. Roman type was modelled from a European scribal manuscript style of the 1400s, based on the pairing of inscriptional capitals used in ancient Rome with Carolingian minuscules developed in the...
like Trinité. In 1989 however, he was approached by the designer of the Van Dale dictionary, who wanted to test Trinité for use at 7pt. De Does suggested to specially design a new typeface instead.
The first rough drawings were made with a felt-tipped pen, and then photographically reduced to be able to judge the design at the right size. The editors of the dictionary were happy with the results, and accepted the offer to produce the typeface. De Does worked together with Peter Matthias Noordzij, who used Ikarus to digitize the drawings that De Does made. The first version of 1992 was optimized for legibility
Legibility
Legibility is the degree to which glyphs in text are understandable or recognizable based on appearance. "The legibility of a typeface is related to the characteristics inherent in its design .....
at the point sizes that were used in the dictionary. The version that is published by The Enschedé Font Foundry (TEFF) was released in 1995.
Characteristics
As a result of this, there are two versions of Lexicon: Lexicon no. 1 and Lexicon no. 2. The difference between these two lie in the extenders: Lexicon no. 1 is basically the dictionary version, which has very short extenders, while Lexicon no. 2 has extenders of a more regular length. Lexicon has been designed for optimal legibility, specifically when set very small. This is achieved, in part, by its large x-heightX-height
In typography, the x-height or corpus size refers to the distance between the baseline and the mean line in a typeface. Typically, this is the height of the letter x in the font , as well as the u, v, w, and z...
—resulting in open counters
Counter (typography)
In typography, a counter or aperture is an area entirely or partially enclosed by a letter form or a symbol . Letters containing closed counters include A, B, D, O, P, Q, R, a, b, d, e, g, o, p, and q. Letters containing open counters include c, f, h, i, s etc. The digits 0, 4, 6, 8, and 9 also...
—and by the relatively small capital letters. Just as Trinité, Lexicon shows a strong calligraphic influence, specifically that of the broad-nibbed pen.
Both versions of Lexicon consist of a roman
Roman type
In typography, roman is one of the three main kinds of historical type, alongside blackletter and italic. Roman type was modelled from a European scribal manuscript style of the 1400s, based on the pairing of inscriptional capitals used in ancient Rome with Carolingian minuscules developed in the...
and an italic
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
, all in six weights (named with letters A to F). There are several types of numbers available; tabular old-style figures, tabular lining figures, proportional old-style figures
Text figures
Text figures are numerals typeset with varying heights in a fashion that resembles a typical line of running text, hence the name...
, and superior and inferior
Subscript and superscript
A subscript or superscript is a number, figure, symbol, or indicator that appears smaller than the normal line of type and is set slightly below or above it – subscripts appear at or below the baseline, while superscripts are above...
figures.
Applications
- The typeface is still being used by the Van Dale dictionary.
- The Dutch newspaper NRC HandelsbladNRC HandelsbladNRC Handelsblad, often abbreviated to NRC, is a daily evening newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. The newspaper was created on October 1, 1970, from merger of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and Algemeen Handelsblad . In 2006 a morning newspaper, nrc•next, was launched...
(and nrc•next) uses the typeface. De Does designed a special version to be used for the large headlines. - The ESV Study Bible published in America by Crossway uses the typeface for its body text.
- The Slovak Ecumenical Bible (interconfessional translation) first published in 2007 (1st corrected ed. 2008, 2nd corrected [pocket] ed. 2011) uses this font.