The original publisher of the Gill Sans® typeface has introduced the complete 21-font family in the OpenType® format. The Gill Sans Pro package, available for $690 with individual fonts starting at $42 and weights ranging from light to ultra bold, can be viewed, purchased and downloaded from www.fonts.com/new.
“The enduring Gill Sans design, with its Roman character shapes and proportions that provide a warmth and humanity unlike any other sans serif typeface, is now available in fonts with character sets that support several languages,” said Allan Haley, director of words and letters at Monotype Imaging Inc. “The new fonts also include a variety of capabilities that can turn good typography into great typography when using OpenType-savvy applications.”
OpenType fonts, which operate on both Macintosh® and Microsoft® Windows® platforms, allow type designers to create large character sets within fonts – up to 65,000 characters – well beyond the 256 characters supported by PostScript® Type 1 or TrueType® fonts. Instead of creating multiple fonts, a typeface designer can build a single OpenType font that provides access to characters that would have previously required switching between fonts. The Gill Sans Pro typeface family enables users to take advantage of several OpenType capabilities, including extended character sets and the automatic insertion of ligatures and small caps. The new Gill Sans Pro fonts also support languages in addition to English, including European and Central European languages such as Baltic, Turkish, Czech, Hungarian and Polish.
The development of the Gill Sans Pro typeface family was directed by Robin Nicholas, head of typography at the Monotype Studio in Salfords, Redhill, U.K. Commenting on the new typeface, Nicholas said, “Gill Sans Pro was designed from the original drawings that we still have here at Salfords in the Monotype Studio, so designers can count on the authenticity of this face from its original foundry.”
The Gill Sans typeface was released in 1928 for The Monotype Corporation Limited by British designer Eric Gill, who spent most of the 1930s further developing the typeface, considered by many as his finest typeface creation and enduring legacy to typography. Several companies have incorporated the design within their brand identities including the British Broadcasting Corp., Network Rail, Saab and AT&T.
About Monotype Imaging
Based in Woburn, Mass. with regional offices in the U.K., Chicago, Redwood City, Calif., Japan and China, Monotype Imaging provides fonts and font technologies to graphic professionals, software developers and manufacturers of printers and display devices. Formerly Agfa Monotype Corp., the company also provides print drivers and color imaging technologies to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). Monotype Imaging is home to the Monotype® typeface library, a collection that includes widely used designs such as the Arial®, Times New Roman® and Gill Sans® typeface families. Monotype Imaging offers fonts and industry-standard solutions for most of the world’s written languages. Information about Monotype Imaging and its products can be found on the company’s Web sites at
www.monotypeimaging.com
www.fonts.com
www.monotypefonts.com
www.customfonts.com
www.fontwise.com
www.itcfonts.com
www.faces.co.uk.
This article was last modified on January 10, 2022
This article was first published on August 3, 2005
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