Eurostile Next

Eurostile™ has been with us for decades. Its heritage is a bit obscure. Born in Italy, Eurostile had two designers, and two release dates, even if purists might insist that it really just had one of each. Without a doubt, the typeface has had two official names. Of course, the first of those two names – Microgramma™ – only refers to part of the final design. After many years, Linotype is releasing an extended revision and update, named Eurostile Next. Confused?

Once a few signposts in the Eurostile history are defined, things become much clearer. The type was created as an uppercase-only face and was drawn by Alessandro Butti, with help from a young assistant named Aldo Novarese. Novarese would go on to become one of Italy’s premier typeface designers, but in 1952, the release of this all-caps titling face revolved around Butti and the foundry where he worked, Nebiolo.

The design in question was called Microgramma, and it was intended strictly for display composition. Microgramma was a real “Titling Design.” To have this classification in the old hot metal type days meant much more than just being all-caps; a titling design would have its capital letters go all the way to the edge of the top of the lead sort. “72-point titling caps” were much larger than 72 point caps from a regular font. Even if you had wanted to mix Microgramma’s letters with lowercase letters from another font of type, it would have been very difficult.

Read full article here: Eurostile Next