1980s Type - The Digital Revolution

The personal computer, laser printing, and pixel resolution all contributed to the typography's digital revolution: the 1980s. For the first time ever, new fonts could be designed, trialled, perfected, and made available in a fraction of the time and expense needed for hot metal type. What's more, these fonts weren't going exclusively to design firms and ad agencies, they were also made available to amateur designers.

One of the underlying themes of this revolution was the notion of postmodernism. This relies on the idea that order can be established through expression, fragmentation, and decoration, rather than a formulaic structure. Some of this era's most memorable fonts include Template Gothic, Citizen, Stone, and Trixie.

Perhaps the most well known font associated with the 1980's is Arial Black, created by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders in 1982. The san serif design was unique in its humanistic characteristics, including is soft and full curves, to give a less mechanical letterform.

This decade also saw the formation of several key organizations and programs that would contribute to the memorable '80s style. First was the development of Bitstream, the first digital type foundry and eventual developer of the Charter and Verdana fonts. Next was the
Fontagrapher program which made a fonts instantly accessible for designers to utilize and manipulate. Another important venture came in the typographic explorations of David Carson. His magazine layouts for The Face became an enduring style that pushed the boundaries of legibility and structure. Last, but definitely not least, is the tool still used most by designers today: the Macintosh computer.

By taking a contrasting approach to IBM's 'programmer' style, Macintosh and its user friendly interface became the graphic designer's best friend. The digital availability of type created a frenzy of new solutions, as well as new problems (printing, pixelation, resolution), that would comprehensively shape the design of the 1980's.

QUIZ QUESTION: Describe how the style of postmodernism can be seen in the font Trixie? (pictured below)

Template Gothic:

Trixie:









The Face magazine: