Comments on: Typewriter Typefaces

By: Richard Massey

Richard Massey — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:59:57 +0000

you should take a look at the catalogs wim crouwel designed for both fodor and the stedelijk in the late 60s and early 70s — for many of them (especially the fodors) he used a single typewriter typeface, very similar to some of the olivetti-ish faces that lineto has been reviving — he was excited by the possibility of typesetting everything in house.

By: Santiago

Santiago — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:12:35 +0000

Fantastic Post! Thanks for the information… I have a little question. I posses a Triumph Condessa de Luxe typewriter, a german beauty with a killer 70s look. The typeface is very very similar to the Olympia Typestyle 69 cursive, and I was wondering if you know of any way place to get a downloadable font to reproduce it in all my Word documents. Cheers! Santiago.

By: Ryan Nelson

Ryan Nelson — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:03:57 +0000

Hi Thomas ---Unfortunately, I have yet to find a good resource about or on the history of Olivetti typefaces. Though I just got word of a new Olivetti Lettera-inspired typeface from the Swiss type foundry, Lineto that you may be interested in. Lettera was adapted from a Olivetti typewriter typeface originally designed by Joseph Mller-Brockmann.

By: Thomas Karlin

Thomas Karlin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:50:11 +0000

I found on Ebay a very peculiar Olivetti Lettera 35. What made it so peculiar was the typeface. It was like nothing I have seen before. It looked like Helvetica except it as thicker on the vertical side than the horizontal, almost like calligraphy but not cursive or italic. I lost the auction and have never seen such a font again. Do you know where I can get more information on Olivetti fonts?

By: Ryan Nelson

Ryan Nelson — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:22:33 +0000

Chank and Monda —Yes, the cursive typefaces are a delight. This issue of Typographica—which all of these type specimens were scanned from—actually has a couple more examples of “script” or cursive typefaces. Some of the typefaces were a little less machined (they more so resembled handwriting) than the example shown above. Thanks for your contributions to the blog.

By: Monda

Monda — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:52:53 +0000

This is wonderful. I’m always curious about typefaces, especially cursive. That Olympia cursive is delicate, lovely. I’ve been typecasting on my blog and have a couple of different examples there of an Olivetti and Tower/Smith Corona cursive typeface, as well as some others.

http://freshribbon.blogspot.com

By: Cuyler Brooks

Cuyler Brooks — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:56:59 +0000

Have you ever seen the strange typeface called “diacritical”? I have a book typed in it, but have never seen it on a machine.

By: Chank Diesel

Chank Diesel — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:13:56 +0000

Oh wow, cool! Thanks for the cool typewriter type displays… that’s quite a range. I like the Micro the best. Looks like it would work well on my carbon triplicate invoices. I used to have a landlord who sent me letters typed with his Olympia Typestyle 69 and I was always so jealous he had a *cursive* typewriter…. whoa! I made a couple typewriter fonts at my site for people who like the “printed” look and feel of typed type. Not my best sellers, but some of my personal faves. Typewriters are awesome machines.

By: Ryan Nelson

Ryan Nelson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:11:50 +0000

Thanks for your interest Heidi! The link is a great addition. I wish I had one to tinker around with.

By: heidi

heidi — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:11:06 +0000

Hey, GREAT find! I posted about my typewriter just a couple of weeks ago:

http://faboolosity.blogspot.com/2008/02/shift-freedom.html