American Typewriter

American Typewriter is a slab serif typeface created in 1974 by Joel Kaden and Tony Stan for International Typeface Corporation.[4] It is based on the slab serif style of typewriters; however, unlike most true typewriter fonts, it is a proportional design: the characters do not all have the same width. American Typewriter is often used to suggest an old-fashioned or industrial image. It was originally released in cold type (photocomposition) before being released digitally. Like many ITC fonts, it has a range of four weights from light to bold (with matching italics) and separate condensed styles.[5] Some releases do not have italics.[6]

American Typewriter
Categoryserif
ClassificationSlab Serif
Designer(s)Joel Kaden and Tony Stan
FoundryITC, published by: Adobe, Apple and Linotype[1][2]
Date created1974[3]
Design based onSholes's 1868 typewriter patent
Also known asITC American Typewriter, Helvetica Typewriter

In the history of typewriters, early typewriters were initially thought to be replacements for printing and so featured proportional fonts. Monospaced typefaces, those designed so every letter takes up the same amount of space, were a more practical alternative and soon replaced printing types.

American Typewriter was by no means the first typeface to imitate typewriting.[7] Foundry catalogs of the late nineteenth century were already offering them, and press manufacturers even made press-size ribbons so that letters looking as if they had been typed could be produced wholesale.

In the original release, the A faces are identical to the regular ones, except for alternate versions of the following characters: &, $, R, e.

Used in media

From the 1983–84 season to the 1988–89 season, MotorWeek used the font for road tests, as well as the closing credits. Another prominent example is the CBS sitcom Young Sheldon, which uses it in its opening and closing credits, as well as its logo, and is it also used by Chuck Lorre in his vanity cards. It is also used in the famous I Love New York (I ♥ NY) logo.

The U.S. TV series The Office uses the font as its main logo.

Tesco used the font for in-store signage between the late 1970s and mid-1990s.

Office supplies retailer OfficeMax uses the font for its logo.

macOS and iOS include the font (without italics), and some applications use it.

The current TVOntario logo uses this font.

References
  1. "Identifont". Retrieved 2009-09-28.
  2. "Typedia". Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  3. "MyFonts". Dec 3, 2007. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
  4. "Tony Stan bio". Linotype. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. "ITC American Typewriter". Linotype. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  6. "Adobe release". MyFonts. Adobe. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  7. Specimens of type, borders, ornaments, brass rules and cuts, etc. : catalogue of printing machinery and materials, wood goods, etc. American Type Founders Company. 1897. p. 582. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
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