News Gothic
News Gothic
Year: 1908
Designer: Morris Fuller Benton
Foundry: American Type Founders
“Upside down, left to right.” This phrase is the mantra of those who set individual pieces of type by hand. Typesetters (the people, not the machines) have the amazing ability to compose and read the backwards text of metal type.
The heyday of the metal type industry has long been eclipsed by technical innovations like chromolithography, phototypesetting and the desktop computer. But in its day, metal type was the most fundamental cog in the mechanized production of books, newspapers and advertising collateral.
Foremost among the foundries who produced metal type was American Type Founders. Their chief designer was Morris Fuller Benton, who was responsible for the development of over 200 typefaces including News Gothic, a lighter version of their popular Franklin Gothic. News Gothic was one of ATF’s most legible and popular typefaces, remaining a bestseller even as it transitioned into the modern digital era.