Category Sans-serif Foundry H. Berthold | Designer(s) Hermann Hoffman Date created 1908 | |
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Berthold Block is a sans-serif typeface released by H. Berthold and intended for display use. Block has a chunky design suitable for headings, with short descenders allowing tight linespacing and rounded corners. Several re-releases and digitisations exist, some "distressed" in style matching the effect of worn type and rapid printing. It is sometimes simply called "Block". Font design expert Stephen Coles describes it as "a soft but substantial display face with compact dimensions and an organic appearance…[it] isn’t meant for body copy."
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History
The Block design has been credited by the Klingspor Museum to Hermann Hoffman, who managed type design for Berthold in this period. It was released in 1908; Berthold later added additional weights and styles, also releasing phototypesetting versions. It was often used by Praktiker and by the Whitechapel Art Gallery for branding in the 1970s and 80s.
Block was one of Berthold's most popular typefaces, and was released in a wide range of versions, including lighter weights and type in wood (for large sizes) and hard-wearing steel. Some print versions had stylistic alternate characters, such as a more compact 'S'. Berthold also used the name "Block" for a number of other typefaces not particularly closely related to it as a brand extension marketing strategy. These included the script font "Block-Signal" and the blackletter Block-Fraktur.
Digitisations
A variety of digitisations of Block exist, including by Berthold and successor companies and by Bitstream (the condensed weight only). Paratype of Moscow released an expansion with Cyrillic characters in 1997. Matthew Butterick's Hermes, released by Font Bureau, is a loose adaptation also inspired by other German grotesque typefaces of the period, adding lighter weights and unicase features.