Victorian Typography



With the progression of the Victorian era came the major increase of ornate elaboration in typeface and lettering design. The elaborated types of the early 19th century were based on letterforms with traditional structure. Shadows, outlines and embellishments were applied while the classic lettering structure was maintained. The second half of the century presented advances in industrial technology that allowed metal-type foundries to push elaboration, which included fancy distortions of basic letterforms to an extreme degree. 

In an attempt to push type design to a more intricate level, punch cutters cut their designs in soft metal and then hardened them with electroplating. These hardened punches were able to stamp designs into brass matrixes. The uninhibited lettering of Chromolithography served as a significant inspiration to foundries and letterpress printers that sought to maintain their share of the fiercely competitive industry of Graphic Design.

Herman Ihlenburg was a major typeface designer. He spent many years of his career with the MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan foundry in Philadelphia, which became a main component of the American Type Founders Company in 1892. This profound foundry played a substantial role in the design and production of Victorian display types. Ihlenburg was a leading member of their design staff. He designed over 80 display typefaces and cut punches for over 32 000 typographic characters by the end of the 19th century. That’s about the equivalent of 1 230 alphabets. One can only fully grasp how remarkable this achievement is when one witnesses the complexity of his designs. (Follow this link to be enriched: Herman Ihlenburg's Typeface Designs)

Another vast collection of elaborate typefaces was designed by John F. Cumming for the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston. Unfortunately, the passion for Victorian ornamental typefaces began to decline in the 1890s due to the new inspiration derived form the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Cumming adapted to the change, put this new inspiration to good use and designed typefaces presenting this fresh era of design. Outlandish and fantastical lettering was very popular as they still somewhat reflected the Victorian love of ornamental complexity to a certain extent.

The popular graphics of the Victorian era didn’t stem from a design philosophy or artistic convection. It stemmed from the prevalent attitudes and sensibilities of the period. The influences of Victorian design conventions are still used and visible today.

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