gordonated

Fav: Gill Sans

I love Gill Sans.

Probably an extension of my favor for British Design. Have combined it with Times New Roman, Sabon, Galliard and other old style typefaces. Possibly sometime ago, I stunningly tried to combine it with ITC Avant Grade; yes, I failed of course. You will need to be a pro typographer to do it.

And like many others, I do think its overused. Easily available on any computer running on either Windows or Mac platform, accessibility to the typeface further results in even more usage and some bad public examples. Some inappropriate usage as text, boring usage on ad’s and sometimes an eyesore on billboards.

I like it on book covers. I like it in large sizes on a small confined grid on a canvas. I like it as headlines, subtitles and quotes. I like it in capitals. I think if evenly spaced, it can be elegant and beautiful. And I love the black sheep of the family; the italic ‘p.’ I love the lowercase ‘g’ and think that ‘a’ is annoyingly addictive to look at. But all said in this paragraph, only if set in the hands of someone who appreciates it and has a good eye for it.

Other humanist sans typefaces like Agenda or FF Milo might have better consistency and beauty and more weights but I guess I’m sticking with the fact that Gill Sans has more authenticity. It would have been so much more exclusive if it hadn’t been overused widely.

My thoughts on Gill Sans extends beyond the sophistication of the typeface alone. I have an admiration for the complicated life of its creator, Eric Gill. Having to have read An essay on Typography and halfway through reading his biography, my admiration for the man simply developed a little further. Though I might not take his spiritual theologies as good advise sometimes. And of course the sexuality stuff he keeps mentioning about and repeatably shown in some of his work. Probably after completely reading his biography, I might change my mind on this.

Fontshop.com has some alternatives to Gill Sans, of which it will be a crazy idea to use with. Eric Gill is also featured in this months Creative Characters newsletter from Myfonts.

Someday, I will challenge myself to the ultimate task of using Gill Sans next to Stone Sans. Might never succeed.

I know, sometimes I overly mention about Gill Sans.