AVANT GARDE

The Avant Garde was originally designed by Herb Lubalin as the logo and headline for the short lived Avant Garde magazine in 1968. It was one of the most original typefaces designed in the twentieth century. Herb and Tom Carnasse transformed it into a typeface which remained the property of the magazine until 1970. The original 26 characters were only available in uppercase. It is a geometric sans serif type because the basic shapes were made with a T-square and a compass. Geometric sans-serifs are best used for headings and logos. They’re least suitable for use as a body of text.

The International Typeface Corporation was formed in 1970 by Lubalin and Burns who had the rights to the typeface because the magazine ceased production in the same year. The popularity for the typeface led to the first full set (upper and lower case) of Avant Garde fonts release in 1970.

Avant Garde was intended to be used for headlines and short texts and it became a classic icon of the 70’s advertising design.

It was originally available in five different roman weight which ranged from extra light to bold. However, the increasing popularity of the typeface led to many variations of the family. Lubalin Graph designed by Tony DiSpigna was a serified version of Avant Garde and this was released shortly after. Tony DiSpigna said
“The first time Avant Garde was used was one of the few times it was used correctly. It’s become the most abused typeface in the world”
Ed Benguiat, Andre Gurtler, Christian Mengelt and Erich Gschwind were all commissioned to develop variations of the typeface including condensed fonts, open type version, additional cap and ligatures.
The Avant Garde was one of the landmark typefaces of the 60’s. It became a typographic icon. Avant Garde consists of geometrically perfect rounds and straight strokes and is perfect for headlines and short texts. The lower case letters were designed as an outgrowth of the upper case letters.

Characteristics of the typeface include:
- The characters are set tightly together
- The ‘R’ doesn’t close but the ‘P’ does
- The tail of the ‘Q’ is curved
- The dots on the ‘I’ and ‘j’ are rectangular
- The descenders on the lower case characters are shortened

Other fonts designed by Herb Lubalin include the ITC Avant Garde Gothic, ITC Lubalin Graph, ITC Ronda, ITC Ronda (Linotype) and ITC Serif Gothic.






Reference:

Alex W. White on Avant Garde
www.graphic-design.com/Type/Avant/Avant2.html

ITC Avant Garde Gothic
www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/itc-avant-garde-gothic/

The Type head Chronicles-of Thomas Christensen, ABCedminded Typesetter
www.rightreading.com/typehead/avant_garde.htm

ITC Classics: ITC Avant Garde Gothic Pro
www.itcfonts.com/Fonts/Classics/AvantGardeGothicPro.htm