The typeface belongs to a tradition of general-purpose, unadorned sans-serif types that had become dominant in German printing during the nineteenth century. Regarded as “the best typeface ever designed” per Pentagram’s Domenic Lippa, Akzidenz-Grotesk iconic type design influenced a whole range of other fonts including the infamous Max Miedinger’s Helvetica and Adrian Frutiger’s Univers. In 1950, type designer Günter Gerhard Lange embarked upon a long affiliation with the company, for which he designed various original typefaces, including Concorde and Imago, and oversaw the foundry's revivals of classic faces such as Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, and Bodoni. Berthold foundry's most celebrated family of typefaces is arguably Akzidenz-Grotesk (released 1898), an early sans-serif that prefigured by half a century the release of enormously popular neo-grotesque faces such as Helvetica. Petersburg, Leipzig, Riga, Budapest, and Vienna.įollowing World War II, Berthold actively developed proprietary typesetting equipment: in the 1950s, Berthold unveiled its first phototypesetting machine, the Diatype and in the 1960s, Berthold introduced the Diatronic, its first keyboard-controlled phototypesetting for volume production. Renowned for crafting high-quality typefaces the type foundry had become the largest in the world by 1918 with offices in Stuttgart, St. Berthold AG was one of the largest and most successful type foundries in the world for most of the modern typographic era, making the transition from foundry type to cold type successfully and only coming to dissolution in the digital type era.

Learn more here #TypographyMatters /uRaDwz7Kuqīest known for its celebrated and highly influential sans-serif family of Akzidenz-Grotesk typefaces, the Berthold library is a treasury of seminal type designs.įounded in Berlin in 1858 by Hermann Berthold, initially to make machined brass printer's rule, H. Monotype is thrilled to welcome and celebrate #Berthold's historic typefaces as they join the family today. “But more than that, this acquisition ensures iconic type families including Akzidenz-Grotesk, Imago, and Formata remain as accessible and relevant as other historic typeface families in the Monotype library such as Helvetica Now, Gotham, and Neue Frutiger” she adds. Monotype aims to “increase global visibility of Berthold’s inventory, celebrate its legacy, and get these important typefaces in the hands of more creative professionals” notes Monotype’s CEO, Ninan Chacko. As announced on the 25th of August 2022, Monotype has acquired the Berthold inventory of typefaces that bare a “unique historical significance in the type industry.” Monotype owns a significant part of type design history with its latest acquisition.

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