Alt Visions

Caslon Exhibit Graphics

This project was designed for an academic assignment that required me to research the Caslon font and create three exhibition panels base on what I found. Caslon is an old style font so I took images of metal type, old books, and an old press that along with dark/rich colors give a feeling of history to the panels. I also converted the images to half-tones to further push the style. In case, anyone is interested in some of the information I found, just read on.

William Caslon began his career as a highly skilled gunlock engraver. At times, he was also asked to engrave lettering for book covers where his talents shined, eventually leading to his first font commission, the cutting of an Arabic typeface for a New Testament print in 1720. On this first print, W. Caslon supposedly cut his own name in pica roman and printed it at the bottom of a proof. "This roman letter was so admired that Caslon was persuaded to cut a font of pica roman and italic." This later became know as the Caslon Font. Prior to W. Caslon, Dutch type faces were the predominant fonts used in English print making because English type cutting was seen as a trade rather than an art. Caslon modeled his fonts off of the old style Dutch typefaces, but his skilled artistry brought with it a refinement and elegance which hadn't been seen in English fonts. The Caslon font, designed in 1725 quickly became one of the most popular typfaces in the world and even led to the common printer's saying, "When in doubt, use Caslon." It was Benjamin Franklin's favorite font and it was used to print the first editions of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.