Sabon Characteristics:
Aa: The capital and lowercase Aa are both two-stories, except the lowercase a in the italic and bold italic, which are both one-storey. The capital A has a concave apex, and bracketed serifs. The stroke widths on the capital A are also alternately thick and thin. The lowercase a (double-storey) has a slight calligraphic inflection, and also features a teardrop finial, and a tapered terminal. The crossbar on the capital A is shorter than the x-height as well.
d: The lowercase d varies between the roman/bold, italic, and small caps. In the roman/bold style, the d has a 'roman'-refined serif ascender, and an un-bracketed baseline terminal. The italic d however features the same ascender terminal, but has a tapered 'hooded' baseline finial. The small caps d, looks exactly like the capital D, and has bracketed serifs. The ascender extends past the cap-height of the capital D. Also, the lowercase b,d,and p all have the same ascender terminal.
Gg: The capital G has a oblique upper-terminal in the small caps,roman, and bold styles of Sabon. The italic has a barb on the upper-terminal, which is also seen on the capital C. The sm. caps,roman and bold style capital G also have a horizontal spur. The lower case g is double-storey, and the italic style has a teardrop shaped ear, and a blunt ear on the roman and bold style. The tail in all the styles is closed/continuous, and descends below the baseline.
M: The letter M has two flat bracketed serif apex, which are symmetrical on each side. There are some slight stroke width variations within the letter, as also seen on the letters A and N. The terminals are bracketed serifs. The capital M looks very similar in all of the styles in Sabon (regular,bold,italic,sm.caps)
Q: The capital letter Q is different in the italic version, than in the roman/bold ones. In the roman/bold/sm.caps, the tail doesn't dissect the bowl, and is attached to the center and descends below the baseline and to the right. In the italic, the tail is long, and angles towards the left and then 'swishes' out towards the right, going below the baseline,it has a very calligraphic look to it and is very elegant. The Q and O both have the same counter space and shape (minus the Q's tail). The O and Q both have an inclined stress as well. Another feature of the italic Q, is the teardrop lobe at the end of the tail.
x: The lowercase x is the same in the roman/bold/sm. caps styles. It has bracketed serifs on the ascenders and terminals, there is stroke width variation between the two crossing strokes. The top and bottom counter spaces look like arrows, the counter space on the right and left however do not create that effect. Compared to other fonts, the x-height is fairly average/tall, it is shorter than belizo, calisto, and palatino, and taller than baskerville,garamond, and janson, it appeared to have the same x-height as times new roman however. The italic x is very different than in the other styles, it does not have bracketed serifs and the the terminals and finials are instead more of a 'hooded stroke' and have a curved like tail on the bottom terminals.
R: The capital R features bracketed serifs, and the leg is fairly straight(besides a the baseline terminal), and attaches to the bowl, which forms the crotch. The counter is in the shape of a capital D. There are some stroke width variations throughout the letter.
t: The lowercase t in the roman/bold have a short triangulated ascenders, and tapered finials. The italic t however, has a horizontal crossbar, and a longer tapered finial, and a blunt ascender terminal. The t does not fall below the baseline, and the cross bar is located at or below the x-height depending on if it is in italics or roman/bold style.
4: The number 4 is the same in all of the styles of Sabon, except the small caps. It has a flat/blunt apex, without serifs, and is the same on the baseline terminal as well. The counter space is in the shape of a right-angled triangle. The 4 starts from the cap-height down to the baseline. The unique feature of the 4 would be in the small caps, the numbers are non-lining, and the 3,4,5,7,and 9 descend below the baseline. The 4 rest on it's crossbar on the baseline in the small cap style.
?: The ? mark is the same in the roman/ bold/sm.caps, and different in the italic version. In the roman/bold/sm.caps, the ? mark has a teardrop shaped finial and curves around in a c-shape and then tapers off downward, followed by an enclosed circle, which is larger than the dot of the i's. The italic version is unique, and follows more of an s-shape, with teardrop finials, and a dot that is approx. the size of the i's dot.
Other unique features:
Some of features of Sabon that make is unique from other fonts, would be that it has non-lining numerals in the small caps. The italic '&' sign is different from the roman/bold styles, and is very elegant and has teardrop finials. The whole italic style has the most unique features in comparison the rest of the Sabon styles. Another unique feature, would be the open counters, which are seen on the P's and the cross stroke in the italic p is also a neat feature..
I initially thought that Sabon was rather boring, and that it had very basic and similar features throughout the different alphabet styles. However, after really studying the font, I have found that almost every character has it's own unique features, and that there is a wide range of variety between the roman and italic versions.
Nicely compiled!
ReplyDelete