This concludes the 1982 Seybold Report articles on the Principles of Digital Type. This final section discusses and illustrates three categories of digital fonts: (1) “correspondence quality” fonts derived from typewriter faces and rendered by various digital techniques; (2) sophisticated lower and higher resolution fonts in a popular sans-serif style; (3) original faces designed for digital rendering in various media. Some of the typeface designers whose original work is briefly illustrated in these articles have since passed away, including Howard Kettler, Ladislas Mandel, Richard Southall, and Hermann Zapf. They are honored more fully in other publications and memorials, but the glimpses of their work shown in these articles show some of the enthusiasm, vision, and variety with which designers tackled the challenges of a new medium of literacy at its beginnings.
Also, as historical artifacts, early versions of experimental designs called “Macrofonts” by Bigelow & Holmes are shown. Two years later, a new rendering from similar basic concepts resulted in the Lucida fonts, first shown in September, 1984.
As with the previous Seybold articles, the text was written by Charles Bigelow, most of the illustrations were prepared by Kris Holmes, and the editing was done by Jonathan Seybold.
The author and illustrator remain grateful all these years later to Patricia Seybold for suggesting the articles, to Jonathan Seybold for editing the texts and writing introductions and conclusions, and to the memory of the late John W. Seybold for devoting substantial space in The Seybold Report for this series.
— Chuck Bigelow
(Please note: The Seybold Seminar advertised above took place in February 1982, so places at that seminar have not been available for 33 years. At the time, it was not only interesting but prophetic :-)