The italic design process

ATypI All Over 2020

This presentation is a rapid and brief introduction to the italic design process, based on my italics research. It was prepared for ATypI All Over 2020. Here’s the programme text:

Italic typefaces are an integral part of Latin-script typographic culture. Since the first italic type appeared in 1501 the style has been adopted to indicate both linguistic and typographic differentiation—that the italic phrase or passage is different from other text. Within a hundred years the association between roman and italic was firmly established. The expectation that text typeface families contain both roman and italic styles continues to the present day.

The process of designing italics, however, has remained a mystery. There are hundreds of resources available that address roman/upright type design, yet very few of them mention italics. There are many articles about the history of italic typefaces, but not about how designers approach their design.

This talk will explore the Latin-script italic design process, based on the results of a five-year study into historical and contemporary design practice, including interviews with over twenty current designers. It will examine the context for italic design, how designers make style decisions, and what techniques they use to carefully balance the tension between differentiation and connection with the roman. This model for italic design provides a fresh approach that embraces the diversity of italic design, encourages further exploration, and hints at how the concept of ‘italic’ might—or might not—be appropriately explored for other scripts.