FONTS – Franklin Gothic

The London Sign Writer Nick Garrett

Long over shadowed by Gill sans and Helvetica, Franklin Gothic is now making a comeback.

Its slightly grave graphic profile and retro appeal is now creating a cool option for type setters, designers and creatives.

History

Franklin Gothic and its related faces are realist sans-serif typefaces originated by Morris Fuller Benton (1872–1948) in 1902. “Gothic” is an increasingly archaic term meaning sans-serif. Franklin Gothic has been used in many advertisements and headlines in newspapers. The typeface continues to maintain a high profile, appearing in a variety of media from books to billboards. Despite a period of eclipse in the 1930s, after the introduction of such European faces as Kabel and Futura, they were re-discovered by American designers in the 1940s and have remained popular ever since.

In 1979, under license with ATF, Vic Caruso began work on more weights of the…