Berthold introduces a new version of Günter Gerhard Lange’s classic AG Book in OpenType Pro.
Günter Gerhard Lange’s AG Book design, based on Berthold’s Akzidenz-Grotesk, was originally released by H. Berthold in 1969-1972. The family offers an extensive weight range, from ultralight to bold in the normal width and light to bold in the condensed and extended versions. This new update adds italics to all of the condensed and extended fonts.
For the first time, the AG Book Collection is available in PostScript and TrueType flavors of OpenType with over 500 glyphs and extended language support for Central European, Baltic and Turkish as well as Welsh, archaic Danish and Esperanto.
About Günter Gerhard Lange
The renowned master craftsman, Günter Gerhard Lange was born on April 12, 1921 in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, Germany. Beginning in 1941, Lange studied at the Akademie für Graphische Künste und Buchgewerbe in Leipzig. There he studied calligraphy, and typesetting and printing under Professor Georg Belwe. Following his graduation in 1945, Lange served as an assistant to Professor Walter Tiemann at the Leipzig Institute, and worked as a freelance graphic artist and painter. In 1949 Lange moved to Berlin and resumed his studies at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste.
Beginning October 1, 1950, Lange returned to freelance work and began his long association with the H. Berthold type foundry of Berlin. Lange produced his first typeface designs for Berthold in the 1950s. While continuing his freelance work, Lange also served from 1955-60 as a lecturer of typography at the Meisterschule für Grafik und Buchwerbe in Berlin. In 1961 the Berthold appointed Lange as its artistic director. Lange was appointed to Berthold’s board of directors in 1971, confirming the importance of type at Berthold.
As the force behind Berthold’s type program from 1961 to 1990, Lange was responsible for the creation, meticulous production standards and attention to quality found in each of the Berthold Exklusivs.
Lange retired from Berthold in 1990 yet remained active in lecturing and teaching typography and design. After 10 years of retirement, Lange resumed his design activities with Berthold (Whittingham, Imago Expert), and now serves as exclusive artistic consultant to Berthold. Lange’s reunion with Berthold provides an indispensable element in the continued development of the Berthold Exklusiv Collection and solidifies Berthold’s position as a leading, independent type foundry
About Berthold
Building on its strong heritage, Berthold Types, successor to the highly regarded H. Berthold type foundry, looks back onto a history of 148 years of distinguished type design. Lange, along with Bernd Moellenstaedt and Dieter Hofrichter, form the core of Berthold’s Type Atelier located in Munich and Berlin to provide an indispensable element in the continued development of the Berthold Exklusiv typefaces.
For more information about Berthold fonts, visit https://www.bertholdtypes.com
This article was last modified on January 10, 2022
This article was first published on January 22, 2007
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