Gill Sans Morality
I first came across Gill Sans as a young publisher. Choosing the right typeface for a particular book was always a pleasure as a copy-editor. Readability was always the aim, but aesthetics and appropriateness were vital. Gill Sans, a face designed in about 1930 by the famous sculptor and type designer Eric Gill, was much used. It was not good for text, but as a clear statement for headings, book jackets and titles it was and is excellent.
To say that Gill was bohemian would be a hideous defamation of all decent bohemians. Gill, much feted and hugely admired as a leader of the Arts and Crafts movement, was a vile monster, sexually depraved and unrepentant. His sisters, his daughters and his dog were his known victims. All this became public about fifty years after his death.
But this is a conundrum. How are we to view his work? His sculpture adorns even the BBC. And for copy-editors, proofreaders and publishers, how are we to use a typeface such as Gill Sans or the famous Perpetua? I offer no views, but welcome yours.
Oscar and Jack
Let’s say on a flight of fancy that Oscar Wilde was Jack the Ripper. Or that Jack the Ripper was Oscar Wilde on his nights off from all those plays what he wrote. Imagine a DNA coup. A cold case revelation to end them all. With Bosie as his accomplice, Oscar had roamed the Whitechapel streets going about his dastardly deeds. Perhaps he accompanied his work with small quips and observations about low society.
Well, how would you feel the next time you saw The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere’s Fan or An Ideal Husband? Would you laugh at and with dear Oscar in quite the same way? Would you say his plays should be banned? Or boycotted? Would actors refuse to perform them?
We shall never know. But we should try asking ourselves these questions.
For now, though, let’s move on.
San Serriffe
The ‘Sans’ in Gill Sans indicates that the typeface, or font, has no serifs. It is completely plain, without the small strokes or embellishments added to a serifed face. The type I am using here has no serifs.
On 1 April 1977 The Guardian’s editorial and advertising department conspired in a famous joke. Seven pages of holiday supplement devoted to a spoof island in the Indian Ocean, San Serriffe. Maps, travel information, climate, geography, politics. Everything was covered and major advertisers got in on the joke. Kodak even invited readers to send in their photographs of the island. Some beaches were almost free of terrorism.
If you would like to find out more, here’s a link. It’s worth it.