Image: Specimen of Didot typeface. Harper's Bazaar UK April 2008. Sourced from

The Didot typeface.

Firmin Didot, French typography based in Paris, founded the Didot typefaces during the period 1784 to 1811. The French printing and type producing family dominated the French typefounding for two centuries, and he is remembered today as the namesake of a series of neoclassical typefaces that exquisitely captured the Modern Style. The typeface came about from experimentation with increasing stroke contrast and a more condensed armature. Firmin Didot is credited with “designing and establishing the use of the ‘modern’ classification of typefaces”. (Apel, J. 2010. What is typography?)

Whilst Didot is similar to the typeface Bodoni, designed in 1978 by Giambattista Bodoni, it still has distinct characteristics that make this typeface as timeless as it is. Didot is very strict in their designs, and truly vertical in their counterforms, infact verticality is perhaps the prime characteristic of the Didot typeface. Other distinct characteristics of the Didot typeface include:

- Extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes

- Hairline serifs without bracketing

- Small x-height

- Vertical stress in rounded strokes

This family of typefaces includes, regular, bold and italic. With their substantial stems flowing into extremely thin hairlines, the serifs are straight across with virtually no bracket, these flowing, elegant features intricately link Didot to the notions of fashion and femininity. The characteristics of Didot are what exquisitely captured the modern style of type and It was these modern designs that represent the first movement toward visual expression in type.

It was in 1912 that Deberny and Peignot bought the original Didot typeface, making the font newly accessible to designers. From here, its use as type in a fashionable context, continued to grow as it was adopted by two influential American Art Directors, Dr Mehemed Fehmy Agha, art director of Vogue (1929 to 1942), and Alexey Brodovitch, art director of Harper’s Bazaar (1934 to 1958). Harper’s Bazaar would become a milestone in fashion publishing due to the use of Didot as its titling font, therefore making it suited to, fashion and femininity. As stated, it was created for “one of the most dramatic magazine reinventions in history”, a heroic period in French typographic History. (Hoefler & Frere-Jones. 1989-2010. Fashionable for almost 200 years.) Today the Didot typefaces continue to be a major part of the most fashionable brands, including Bazaar itself – a flexibility and durability of the style, fashionable for almost 200 years.

Today there are two major revivals of Didot typefaces. Adrian Frutiger designed a Linotype Didot in 1991 based on the work of Firmin Didot, and Jonathon Hoefler designed HTF Didot originally as a titling family for Harper’s Bazaar in 1992.

The overall epitome of the Didot typefaces is one of elegance, formality, and widely associated with high-end fashion.

Reference List

Apel, J. (2010). What is typography?. Viewed 26^th July 2010. http://provenceportfolio.com/otherprojects_graphicdesign09.html

Bitstream, I. (2007). Didot – About this font family. Viewed 26^th July 2010. http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/linotype-didot/

Hoefler & Frere-Jones. (1989-2010). A font for all sizes. Viewed 26^th July 2010. http://typography.com/fonts/font_features.php?featureID=29&productLineID=100004

Hoefler & Frere-Jones. (1989-2010). Fashionable for almost 200 years. Viewed 26^th July 2010. http://typography.com/fonts/font_overview.php?productLineID=100004

Miller, A. (2001). Through thick and thin: fashion and type. Viewed 26^th July 2010. http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=151&fid=647

Prochez, J. (2001). L’Ambroise en de’tails. Viewed 26^th July 2010. http://www.typofonderie.com/gazette/articles/AmbroiseDetails