# Clearface > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Clearface > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Clearface.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearface > Source revision: 1308056761 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Serif typeface}} {{Infobox font | name = Clearface | familyname = Clearface | image = ITC Clearface.png | style = [Serif](/source/Serif) | creator = [Morris Fuller Benton](/source/Morris_Fuller_Benton)
[Linn Boyd Benton](/source/Linn_Boyd_Benton) | commissioned_by = | foundry = [American Type Founders](/source/American_Type_Founders) | foundries = [Stephenson Blake](/source/Stephenson_Blake), [Linotype](/source/Mergenthaler_Linotype_Company), [Monotype](/source/Lanston_Monotype), [Intertype](/source/Intertype_Corporation), [British Monotype](/source/Monotype), [Ludlow](/source/Ludlow_Typograph), [ITC](/source/International_Typeface_Corporation) | creationdate = 1905 | releasedate = 1907 - 1911 | trademark = | based_on = | aka = | variations = | sample = | shown_here = ITC Clearface | sample_fullimage = }} '''Clearface''' is a [serif](/source/serif) [typeface](/source/typeface) designed by [Morris Fuller Benton](/source/Morris_Fuller_Benton) with the collaboration of his father [Linn Boyd Benton](/source/Linn_Boyd_Benton), produced at [American Type Founders](/source/American_Type_Founders) in 1907. Clearface is a warm, curving design, showing the influence of the [Arts and Crafts movement](/source/Arts_and_Crafts_movement), for instance in the tilted 'e' and blobby, organic design, but not particularly based on any past period of type design and with a mixture of cursive and structured features.{{cite journal|last1=Shen|first1=Juliet|title=Searching for Morris Fuller Benton|journal=Type Culture|date=2006|pages=27–35|url=http://typeculture.com/academic-resource/articles-essays/searching-for-morris-fuller-benton/|accessdate=13 April 2018}} ==Clearface== Clearface was released following Benton's preparation of [Century Old Style](/source/Century_Type_Family). The bold was drawn first, in 1905, but the regular weight was the first to be released. Six variants were released between 1907 and 1911, and the design has frequently been rereleased and revived since.McGrew, Mac, "American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century," Oak Knoll Books, New Castle Delaware, 1993, {{ISBN|0-938768-34-4}}, pp. 92 - 93. * ''Clearface'' (1907) * ''Clearface Bold + Italic'' * ''Clearface Heavy + Italic'' * ''Clearface Italic'' ===Hot metal copies=== ''Clearface'' had considerable popularity and was either licensed or copied by all the makers of mechanical composition machines, including [Linotype](/source/Mergenthaler_Linotype_Company), [Intertype](/source/Intertype_Corporation), [Monotype](/source/Lanston_Monotype), [British Monotype](/source/Monotype), and [Ludlow](/source/Ludlow_Typograph). [Stephenson Blake](/source/Stephenson_Blake) not only cast it as foundry type, but also made an open face version in 1925 that was sold under the names ''Clearface Open,'' ''Clearface Handtooled,'' and ''Dominus''.Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. ''The Encyclopedia of Type Faces.'' Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. {{ISBN|0-7137-1347-X}}, pp. 50 + 72. It was popular for newspaper headlines for many years, although by the mid-twentieth century it had declined in popularity: British newspaper designer [Allen Hutt](/source/Allen_Hutt) was moved to call it "an Edwardian shocker...few faces, the monstrosities apart, have more departures from normal letter design–strokes curved when they should be straight, blobs substituted for serifs...counters misshapen, horizontal strokes made diagonal. The Extra-Bold...is less offensive, since the thickening-up does something to conceal the basic defects."{{cite book|last1=Hutt|first1=Allen|title=Newspaper Design|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=100–103}} ===Phototypesetting versions=== ''Clearface'' was redesigned by [Victor Caruso](/source/Victor_Caruso) for [ITC](/source/International_Typeface_Corporation) in 1979, adding a black weight for a total of four weights with italics. Compared to ATF's original ''Clearface'', letters are slightly narrower, and certain eccentricities unique to individual weights, such as the open-looped "g" in the Roman, are eliminated in favor of a unified design throughout all four weights. Other [cold type](/source/Phototypesetting) versions were also available. ===Digital versions=== [Victor Caruso's](/source/Victor_Caruso) version, ''ITC Clearface'' is available through [Bitstream](/source/Bitstream), [Adobe](/source/Adobe_Systems) and [Linotype](/source/Mergenthaler_Linotype_Company). Other versions are made by [Elsner+Flake](/source/Elsner%2BFlake), [Monotype](/source/Monotype), and [URW++](/source/URW%2B%2B). ''Dominus'' was revived in 1997 by Steve Jackaman, and while lacking the original's italic, it includes not only the original "handtooled" version, but also "open", "engraved" and "solid" versions, the last functioning essentially as a higher-contrast display variant of ''Clearface Heavy''. [Kris Sowersby](/source/Kris_Sowersby) published a reinterpreted digitisation, Family, in 2023.{{cite web |last1=Sowersby |first1=Kris |author1-link=Kris Sowersby |title=Family Design Information |url=https://klim.co.nz/blog/family-design-information/ |publisher=[Klim Type Foundry](/source/Klim_Type_Foundry) |access-date=19 March 2023}} ==Clearface Gothic== {{Infobox font | name = Clearface Gothic | familyname = Clearface | image = | style = [Sans Serif](/source/Sans_Serif) | classifications = | creator = [Morris Fuller Benton](/source/Morris_Fuller_Benton) | commissioned_by = | foundry = [American Type Founders](/source/American_Type_Founders) | foundries = | creationdate = 1908 | releasedate = 1910 | trademark = | based_on = | aka = | variations = | sample = | shown_here = | sample_fullimage = }} '''Clearface Gothic''' is a sans-serif with only a distant resemblance to ''Clearface''. The typeface has a very organic and friendly appearance. It was designed by [Morris Fuller Benton](/source/Morris_Fuller_Benton) and cast by [American Type Founders](/source/American_Type_Founders). It was made in only one weight and was never expanded into a family.{{cite book|last=McGrew|first=Mac|title=American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century|year=1986|publisher=Oak Knoll Books|isbn=0-938768-39-5|pages=93}} ===Phototypesetting versions=== A Cold Type knock-off was made at [ITC](/source/International_Typeface_Corporation) by [Victor Caruso](/source/Victor_Caruso), who expanded the typeface to four weights: light, medium, bold, and extra bold. Italics were included, but stayed in photo-negative film format until recently. The latest version of ''Clearface Gothic'' has five weights: light, roman, medium, bold, and black. ===Digital versions=== Digital copies of the ''Clearface Gothic'' family include five weights and are available from [Adobe](/source/Adobe_Systems), [Linotype](/source/Mergenthaler_Linotype_Company), [Monotype](/source/Monotype), and [URW++](/source/URW%2B%2B). Two weights of Victor Caruso's version, demi bold and bold, are available from [FontShop](/source/FontShop). A slightly altered version of the family, called ''Clear Gothic Serial'', complete with [italics](/source/italics), is available from [Myfonts.com](/source/Myfonts.com). ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[https://flickr.com/photos/20994543@N04/albums/72177720305338419 Release brochure], ATF Category:Serif typefaces Category:American Type Founders typefaces Category:Letterpress typefaces Category:Photocomposition typefaces Category:Digital typefaces Category:Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1907 Category:Display typefaces Category:Typefaces designed by Morris Fuller Benton Category:International Typeface Corporation typefaces --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Clearface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearface) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearface?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.