Garamond (original) (raw)

There are several typefaces called Garamond. Some are based on the work of the great 16th-century French type designer Claude Garamond. The Original Garamond belongs to the family of Renaissance serif typefaces; see "typeface" for more on classification.

Other typefaces such as American Garamond or Elegant Garamond are not, typically being based instead on the rather different typefaces of Jean Jannon. Italic typefaces called "Garamond" are almost never based on Garamond's own italics; usually they are derived from typefaces by Robert Granjon, a younger colleague of Garamond. (The practice of pairing roman and italic typefaces was new in Garamond's time, and he does not appear to have done so himself.)

He also designed a coordinated series of italic typefaces. Though less influential, they also clearly belong to a typeface related to Garamond. They also have notably graceful forms.

Typography