Semplicità
Sans-serif typeface / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Semplicità is a sans-serif typeface of the geometric style. It was published by the Nebiolo type foundry of Turin, Italy from around 1928.[1][2][lower-alpha 1]
Category | Sans-serif |
---|---|
Classification | Geometric |
Foundry | Nebiolo |
Date created | c. 1928 |
Semplicità, named for the Italian for "simplicity", is an example of the new wave of "geometric" sans-serifs such as Erbar and Futura appearing in the late 1920s and early 1930s.[5][6][7] These designs were based on the proportions of the circle and the square and the influence of Roman square capitals, breaking from traditional "grotesque" designs of the nineteenth century.[6][5] Semplicità, however, has a number of unusual features, including a 'U' with an angle, following the classical model, and an 'f' which descends below the baseline.[8][lower-alpha 2] It is also a "spurless" design, similar to the contemporary Bernhard Gothic and more recently FF Dax, in which most strokes end without terminals.[8][3] These features give Semplicità an appearance similar to some of the flamboyant, modernist Art Deco lettering of the period.[4][8]
The design of Semplicità has sometimes been credited to type designer Alessandro Butti,[3] but Colizzi and Olocco do not credit it to a single designer, although Butti may have been the final draughtsman.[10][11][12][13][1]
Digitisations are available in commercial releases from Durotype and Canada Type, and an open-source version (shown) from Studio Di Lena, who require attribution as a condition of its use.[14][15][16] A proprietary digitisation has also been used by the French clothing company Céline.[17]