Solus is a serif typeface that was designed by English sculptor and stonemason Eric Gill for the British Monotype Corporation and released in 1929. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Solus has a structure of straight, regular serifs reminiscent of slab-serif typefaces of the nineteenth century, but with a reduced build giving an impression of crispness. [6] Along with these characteristics, Solus bears the distinct personality of Gill's characteristic preferences in letterforms, such as the pointed end to the top left of the letter 'a'. [7] [8] [9] James Mosley describes Solus as "essentially a mechanistic type — a ‘light Egyptian’", a conclusion also reached by editor Robert Harling in his book on Gill's work. [10] [a]
Solus was not particularly popular during the metal type period, which Harling suggests was because it was too similar to Gill's pre-existing Perpetua, not having an italic and having little appeal in display use, unlike more aggressive slab serif designs. [12] Gill's Joanna, designed some years later in a similar style but with an italic, has become much more popular. [10]
Solus has not been digitised by Monotype; an unofficial revival has been made by the company K-Type. [10] [13] Financier, by Kris Sowersby, is a respected revival loosely influenced by Solus, Perpetua and Joanna. [14] [15] Its optical size designed for small-size text is influenced by Solus and Joanna more while its display size more recalls Perpetua. [16] [17]
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link)
Solus is a serif typeface that was designed by English sculptor and stonemason Eric Gill for the British Monotype Corporation and released in 1929. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Solus has a structure of straight, regular serifs reminiscent of slab-serif typefaces of the nineteenth century, but with a reduced build giving an impression of crispness. [6] Along with these characteristics, Solus bears the distinct personality of Gill's characteristic preferences in letterforms, such as the pointed end to the top left of the letter 'a'. [7] [8] [9] James Mosley describes Solus as "essentially a mechanistic type — a ‘light Egyptian’", a conclusion also reached by editor Robert Harling in his book on Gill's work. [10] [a]
Solus was not particularly popular during the metal type period, which Harling suggests was because it was too similar to Gill's pre-existing Perpetua, not having an italic and having little appeal in display use, unlike more aggressive slab serif designs. [12] Gill's Joanna, designed some years later in a similar style but with an italic, has become much more popular. [10]
Solus has not been digitised by Monotype; an unofficial revival has been made by the company K-Type. [10] [13] Financier, by Kris Sowersby, is a respected revival loosely influenced by Solus, Perpetua and Joanna. [14] [15] Its optical size designed for small-size text is influenced by Solus and Joanna more while its display size more recalls Perpetua. [16] [17]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)