Typophile - Joanna - Where is it used? - Comments

From the sublimity of

will powers — Thu, 1 May 2008 06:48:56 -0700

From the sublimity of “Victorian Review,” I take you to what many consider the height of ridiculousity: ice fishing. Book designer Brian Donahue has submitted sample pages for a photo book on that subject, and he’s used Joanna as his text face:

I was not thrilled when I read his note before opening the file, for Joanna has never been a favorite of mine. I like the “idea” of Joanna, but have rarely seen it used well. But this book may help me appreciate the face. It is well suited to the matter. Its overall sharpness evokes that first great lungfull of cold winter air. Its “f” looks like something one could catch an eelpout on. I’m really happy with the choice.

My dislike of Joanna goes back to metal days. Few USA Monotype houses had mats for Joanna, so if one wanted Joanna, choice was limited. Los Angeles Typefounders set a lot of horrendous Joanna for me once. It appeared that sorts had been cast on wrong set widths, and the line composition had to be re-worked by hand.

& the first versions I saw for photo and digital also had major problems. So I just put it out of mind. “Victorian Review” and this ice fishing book suggest I should re-look at the face.

At times in the past when I wanted the “feel” of Joanna I used Chaparral. Whitman is, of course, a much better face for text setting.

powers

Look at the example

eliason — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:54:39 -0700

Look at the example Jongseong posted – “Tromdomskonstens …”. The italics might be unusual, but come up beautifully and in an effective contrast to the text set in regular.
Though, to be fair, it’s a bit of a loaded-dice example since those italicized words happen to be much longer than the roman words on the page.

@mondoB Nonsense :) Look at

poms — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:45:11 -0700

@mondoB
Nonsense :) Look at the example Jongseong posted – “Tromdomskonstens …”. The italics might be unusual, but come up beautifully and in an effective contrast to the text set in regular.

BTW. I love the richness of existing typefaces, i’m looking forward to new typefaces to come. I don’t look for an “ideal typeface fits all”-thing!

Further (okay, much further)

SuperUltraFabulous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:35:57 -0700

Further (okay, much further) afield I would also put the Martin Majoor’s work (Seria, Scala, Nexus) as inspired from Eric Gill’s work.

I see a little Joanna in Odile too.

Mikey :-)

Kent’s improvements on

mondoB — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:53:37 -0700

Kent’s improvements on Joanna are very subtle; I admire his work here very much, especially the larger counter for the lower case a, which sets a tone of clarity and balance throughout all Whitman usage. For me, the Joanna italics, which seem to belong to another family, serve as an unwelcome speed-bump for the reader, though others love them for precisely that effect...also Joanna’s figures seem crude, whereas Whitman’s figures look right to the point of transparency.

All in all, the appearance of Whitman allowed me to get the Joanna roman look without the Joanna problems. Whitman seems so right it achieves transparency.

Kent has written that he

William Berkson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:05:03 -0700

Kent has written that he drew inspiration for Whitman from both Caledonia and Joanna.

Would it be fair to say

mondoB — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:58:24 -0700

Would it be fair to say Whitman is Joanna without what some consider the mismatched italics?

The new(ish) Routledge

ben_archer — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:32:02 -0700

The new(ish) Routledge Classic edition of CG Jung’s Four Archetypes: Mother, Rebirth, Spirit, Trickster uses it, but it’s not set as nicely as Jason’s example above.

I believe Fortress Press set

akma — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:05:57 -0700

I believe Fortress Press set several books in Joanna in the late 80’s, early 90’s. A Festschrift for Hans Frei stands out in my recollection; the italics in the footnotes were awfully tight.

They set the commencement

Ehague — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:33:14 -0700

They set the commencement program at Emerson College in Joanna the year I graduated. It was a neat coincidence, since I have a sort of esoteric connection to it by name (it was designed by Eric Gill and René Hague).

Thanks Jason for showing –

poms — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:24:18 -0700

Thanks Jason for showing – i really like what you did, especially how you elaborated the regular | italic contrast! Suspenseful.

I’ve used it for a

jason — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:49:45 -0700

I’ve used it for a redesign of an academic journal called Victorian Review. Both the client and their readers have been pleased with the font, which both enacts the restrained pomp of the Victorian period and yet allows for a comfortable read.

more examples from

pattyfab — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:56:51 -0700

more examples from typophile: http://www.google.com/search?q=site:typophile.com%20joanna

I used it for the running text in a book called The Downtown Book but not on the cover (that was AG)

http://www.amazon.com/Downtown-Book-York-Scene-1974-1984/dp/0691122865/r...

“Think of your favorite

dezcom — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:34:09 -0700

“Think of your favorite Eric Gill - Homeland Security ironic comment.”

It is “Bring Your Daughter to Work Week” in the office of Homeland Security.

ChrisL

thank you!!

vwhiffen — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:22:32 -0700

thank you!!

Joanna - Where is it used?

vwhiffen — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:58:08 -0700

Could anyone tell me where Gill’s typeface ’Joanna’ has been seen before? Publications, advertisements, identities...anything would be helpful! Thanks!