Didot (typeface)

Didot
CategorySerif
Shown hereLinotype Didot
by Adrian Frutiger

Didot is a group of typefaces named after the French Didot family of printers, punch-cutters, and publishers.[1] They are classified as Modern or Didone.

The most famous Didot typefaces were developed in 1784–1811. Firmin Didot (1764–1836) cut the letters and cast them as type in Paris. His brother, Pierre Didot (1760–1853), used the types in printing. His edition of La Henriade by Voltaire in 1818 is considered his masterwork. The typeface takes inspiration from John Baskerville's experimentation with increasing stroke contrast and a more condensed armature. The Didot family's development of a high contrast typeface with an increased stress is contemporary to similar faces developed by Giambattista Bodoni in Italy, though Didot’s slightly earlier development surpassed Bodoni as the first Modern typeface in history.[2]

Didot is described as neoclassical and evocative of the Age of Enlightenment. As the movement grew during the 18th century of France, Didot became a signature typeface in the region due to its calculated construction and thin, shaven appearance appealing to the refined tastes of the neoclassical community.[3] The Didot family were among the first to set up a printing press in the newly independent Greece; typefaces in the style of Didot have remained popular in Greek since.[4][5]

Revivals and digitisations

Several revivals of the Didot faces have been made, first for hot metal typesetting and then for phototype and digital versions.

Among the most successful contemporary adaptations are the ones drawn by Adrian Frutiger for the Linotype foundry, and by Jonathan Hoefler for H&FJ. Hoefler's design anticipates the degradation of hairline in smaller point sizes by employing heavier weighted strokes in the smaller point sizes.[6] Frutiger's Didot revival, which is bundled with macOS, was specifically intended for display use and not for body text, and adds in addition an even more delicate headline font.[7][8] Additionally, a libre open source implementation of Didot including the Cyrillic and Greek alphabet was released under the name Theano Didot by the Russian historian Alexey Kryukov.

Digital use of Didot poses challenges. While it can look very elegant due to the regular, rational design and fine strokes, a known effect on readers is 'dazzle', where the thick verticals draw the reader's attention and cause them to struggle to concentrate on the other, much thinner strokes that define which letter is which.[9][10][11] For this reason, using a font adapted to the intended text size — optical sizing — has been described as particularly essential with Didone designs.[12] Fonts to be used at text sizes will be sturdier designs with thicker 'thin' strokes and serifs (less stroke contrast) and more space between letters than on display designs, to increase legibility.[13][6][14] (Optical sizes were a natural requirement of printing technology in the time of metal type, since each size of metal type would be custom-cut, but declined as digital fonts made printing the same font at any size possible. A revival has taken place in recent years but they are normally only offered in commercial fonts.[15][16])

  • Didot's type in the Code civil des Français, printed by the company of Firmin Didot in 1804.
    Didot's type in the Code civil des Français, printed by the company of Firmin Didot in 1804.
  • Didot typeface from Histoire d'un trop bon chien by Gaspard de Cherville, 1867. In the last "N" the fine line of the vertical has completely disappeared due to the fine print.
    Didot typeface from Histoire d'un trop bon chien by Gaspard de Cherville, 1867. In the last "N" the fine line of the vertical has completely disappeared due to the fine print.
  • An example of Firmin-Didot-style body text from the same book.
    An example of Firmin-Didot-style body text from the same book.
  • Vogue’s usage of the Didot logo on the May 2000 UK edition magazine.
    Vogue’s usage of the Didot logo on the May 2000 UK edition magazine.
  • Zara’s tightly kerned Didot logo on a storefront within IFC Mall (Central, Hong Kong).
    Zara’s tightly kerned Didot logo on a storefront within IFC Mall (Central, Hong Kong).

Usage

Alexey Brodovitch implemented the usage of Didot in Cahiers d'Art and Harper's Bazaar. Though Vogue had used Didot for their magazine covers multiple times starting from the 1940s, the typeface became permanent in 1955.[17][18]

The "CBS Didot" version of Didot was commissioned and used by broadcast network CBS for many years, alongside its famous "eye" logo. Its usage had declined in contemporary times; by 2020, its on-air use was largely limited to CBS News, CBS Television Distribution, and its late-night talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. CBS began migrating to TT Norms as its corporate font across all divisions in 2020, although it was reintroduced to the logo of the CBS Evening News in 2026 following the arrival of Tony Dokoupil as new anchor.[19][20][21]

In 2019, the Spanish fast fashion company Zara introduced a new logo using a heavily-kerned Didot.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ Tracy, Walter (1985). "Didot: an honoured name in French typography". Bulletin of the Printing Historical Society (14): 160–166.
  2. ^ Meggs, Philip B.; Carter, Rob, eds. (1993). Typographic specimens: The great typefaces. New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-28429-1.
  3. ^ George, Albert J (1961). The Didot Family and the Progress of Printing. Syracuse University Press. pp. 12–15. ISBN 9780815600084. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ John D. (ed.). Berry (2002). Language Culture Type: International Type Design in the Age of Unicode. ATypI. pp. 82–4. ISBN 978-1-932026-01-6.
  5. ^ "GFS Didot". Greek Font Society. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b "HFJ Didot". Hoefler & Frere-Jones. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Didot LT". MyFonts. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  8. ^ Frutiger, Adrian (8 May 2014). Typefaces: The Complete Works. pp. 362–369. ISBN 9783038212607. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  9. ^ Berkson, William (November 2010). "Reviving Caslon, Part 2". I Love Typography. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  10. ^ Cees W. De Jong, Alston W. Purvis, and Friedrich Friedl. 2005. Creative Type: A Sourcebook of Classical and Contemporary Letterforms. Thames & Hudson. (223)
  11. ^ Katz, Joel (2012). Designing information : human factors and common sense in information design. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. p. 140. ISBN 9781118420096.
  12. ^ Coles, Stephen. "Trianon review". Identifont. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  13. ^ Heller, Steven. "Jonathan Hoefler on type design". Design Dialogues. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  14. ^ Sowersby, Kris (22 January 2008). "Why Bembo Sucks". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  15. ^ Ahrens and Mugikura. "Size-specific Adjustments to Type Designs". Just Another Foundry. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  16. ^ Coles, Stephen. "Book Review: Size-specific Adjustments to Type Designs". Typographica. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  17. ^ "The 1940s: 1940 | The Complete Vogue Archive". Vogue Archive. Retrieved April 17, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ Miller, Abbott. "Through thick and thin: fashion and type". Eye. 17 (65): 16–23.
  19. ^ Dillon, Dak (December 30, 2025). "'CBS Evening News' returns to Didot era with new logo design". NewscastStudio. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  20. ^ "CBS deconstructs its 'eye' for updated branding strategy". NewscastStudio. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  21. ^ "Sharpshooting Graphic Design in Times Square, With Michael Bierut". Intelligencer. November 22, 2015. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  22. ^ Hilder, Rosie; Hamilton, Ruth (2019-01-28). "New Zara logo has been kerned into oblivion". Creative Bloq. Retrieved 2026-04-28.

References

  • Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN 0-300-10073-6.
  • Fiedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. ISBN 1-57912-023-7.
  • Lawson, Alexander S. Anatomy of a Typeface. Godine: 1990. ISBN 0-87923-333-8.
  • Macmillan, Neil. An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press: 2006. ISBN 0-300-11151-7.
  • Meggs, Philip and Rob Carter. Typographic Specimens: The Great Typefaces. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1993. ISBN 0-442-00758-2.
  • Meggs, Philip B. and Roy McKelvey. Revival of the Fittest. RC Publications, Inc.: 2000. ISBN 1-883915-08-2.
  • Updike, Daniel Berkley. Printing Types Their History, Forms and Use Dover Publications, Inc.: 1937, 1980. ISBN 0-486-23929-2.
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