William Addison Dwiggins

Caledonia Typeface

Julie A. Farrell
 Copyright 2013
Julie A. Farrell
Essay copyright 2013
Julie A. Farrell

Library of Congress Catalog Number: x000111000

ISBN: 1-000000-xx-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means
without written permission of the publisher and author
except for brief quotations in reviews or critical articles.

Published in 2013 by Art 430: Typography III

The Art 430: Typography III class produces books related to
the history of type design.
Printed in the United States of America

Distributed by JAF Publishers, Baltimore, MD

Cover Image:
William Addision Dwiggins personal trademark/logo
A puppet of William Addison Dwiggins
Contents

William Addison Dwiggins 4

Caledonia Typeface 10

The Making of Caledonia 14

Technology and Caledonia 18

Conclusion 22

Bibliography 24
William Addison Dwiggins

William Addison Dwiggins was an American type designer,

advertising designer, calligrapher, book designer and illustrator.
Dwiggins greatly influenced the marked improvement of book
design in the 1920s and 1930s. He is credited with coining the term
graphic designer in 1922.1 He was an accomplished individual
but also embodied a fun personality. He was well respected and
highly regarded. Among the many other typefaces he produced,
Caledonia is one that has stood the test of time and remains with
us in the digital age.
William Addison Dwiggins
W illiam A d d i s o n D wi g g i n s , also
known as WAD, was born June 19,
1880 in Ohio and died December 25, 1956
in Massachusetts, he was 76 years old when
he passed away. As a boy, Dwiggins wanted
Figure 2: Carvan Borders
to become an artist. He came of age during
the height of the influence on the turn-of-
the-century Arts and Crafts movement on
fine printing embodied by William Mor-
ris and his Kelmscott Press. At the age of
nineteen, he attended the Frank Holme
School of Illustration of Chicago. There he
studied typography under Fredrick Goudy,
a prolific and accomplished American type
designer, and illustration with Frank and
Joseph Leyendecker. In 1903, he returned
to his home in Ohio and established the
Guernsey Shop, which was purposed to
produce illustrated books but with a lack of
clientele it failed, and a year later Dwiggins
accepted Goudys invitation to join him at
the Village Press in Massachusetts.2 Lack
of income became a problem in work-
ing with Goudy at the Village Press, so in
Boston, he began his career in advertising
6
design, producing work for numerous busi-
nesses.3 Although he kept at this for twenty
years, he is now remembered most as a dis-
tinguished book designer, illustrator, and
typographer.4
In Boston, Dwiggins met D.B. Updike
and Bruce Rogers, two leaders in the de-
sign and production of books. Updike em-
ployed him with Merrymount Press in 1907.
After World War I, when book production
in the United States was at an all time high
because of the growing economy, he was
led to write about higher standards of book
production in his pamphlet titled, Extracts
from an Investigation into the Physical
Properties of Books.5 It is a satirical essay
in which he made up the Society of Callig-
raphers and their president, Herman Pter-
schein. This is one example of Dwiggins
playful attitude and creative imagination,
which many believe helped make him the
success he was.
Alfred Knopf read this pamphlet and
in 1923 met Dwiggins and established a
working relationship with him through the
Plimpton Press. Dwiggins designed 340
books for Knopf.6 The two men had over
a thirty-year association.
Around the same time Dwiggins also
coined the term graphic design in his ar-
ticle New Kind of Printing Calls for New
Design, published in the Boston Evening
Transcript on August 29, 1922. This term
used by Dwiggins describes the encom-
passing work of a type, typography, page
and ad designer.7 Philip Hofer wrote in the
Dolphin (1935) that Dwiggins was Ameri-
cas one truly modern typographer, and by
far her most outstanding book decorator
and calligrapher; a mechanical wizard, type
designer, and specialist in advertising lay-
out; an illustrator, mural painter, costume
designer, and sculptor, a playwright, satirist,

and perhaps beyond ever the best of his art
a thinker and poet in prose.
In 1928, Dwiggins published his most
famous book, Layout in Advertising, which
is still used as a standard today. It was re-
issued in 1948. The book is primarily de-
voted to the technical aspects of advertis-
ing layout, including excellent illustrative
examples.8 In his book, he also criticizes
American sans-serif faces in comparison
to European designs. This led C.H. Griffith
of Mergenthaler Linotype to commission
Dwiggins. To design Metroblack, a san-ser-
if used widely in America for many years.9
He went on to design a total of eighteen
typefaces while with Mergenthaler Lino-
type Company. Caledonia, subsequently
furnished with a suite of decorations called
Caravan (Fig 2), has become and American
classic, surviving into the digital age.10
Dwiggins great success was based on
a simple principle: a book should be easy to
read and attractive to look at. For his work,
he chose easy to read typefaces, insisted on
adequate margins and leading, and did not
William Addison Dwiggins
1 Livingston, Alan and Livingston, Isabella.
Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers
(London: Thames and Hudson, 1992), 122.
2 Shaw, Paul. Tradition and Innovation: The Design
Work of William Addison Dwiggins, Design
Issues, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Autumn, 1984): 26.
Figure 3: Colorful stenciled
ornamentation
Accessed February 22, 2013. url: http://www.jstor.
org/stable/1511497.
3 Hall, Elton W. Dwiggins, William Addison,
American National Biography Online (2000).
Figure 4: Hand-signed copy
Accessed February 22, 2013. url: http://www.anb.
for LEC
org/articles/17/17-00244.html.
4 Thompson, Ellen Mazur. Early Graphic Design
Periodicals in America, Journal of Design
History, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1994): 120. Accessed
February 22, 2013. url: http://www.jstor.org/
stable/1316080.
5 Hall, Elton W. Dwiggins, William Addison,
American National Biography Online (2000).
Accessed February 22, 2013. url: http://www.anb.
org/articles/17/17-00244.html.
6 Ibid
7 Heller, Steven and Pettit, Elinor. Graphic Design
Time Line: A Century of Design Milestones
(New York: Allworth Press, 2000), 64.
7
William Addison Dwiggins

allow decoration to intrude. His decorative

style was simplistic; this is seen especially
with his distinctive system of stenciled or-
namentation which much of the time in-
cluded skillfully used bright colors (Fig 3).11
The Limited Editions Club was founded
in 1929 by George Macy to publish finely
made and finely illustrated limited editions
of the classics of literature. Most of the
books were beautifully illustrated with orig-
inal artwork by leading book illustrators.
In most cases, the illustrators hand-signed
each copy of the books that they illustrated
for LEC (Fig 4).12 The development of his
famed stencil method of illustration can be
traced to his work for Direct Advertising
and the paper mills.13 Figure 6: Dwiggins personal logo

8 Marsh, Charles, Journal of Marketing, Vol. In 1923, Dwiggins learned he had dia-
13, No. 4, Review of Layout in Advertising by
betes. This knowledge led him to center his
WA Dwiggins. (American Marketing Association,
April 1949), 159. url: http://www.jstor.org/
life on things that were important to him.
stable/1247803 He ended his career in advertising, which
9 Ferguson, Lorraine and Scott, Douglass. A
he called a seduction to exploit weak-
Time Line of American Typography, Design nesses of mankind. He believed in honest
Quarterly, No. 148, The Evolution of American broadcast of product information but was
Typography (1990): 43. Accessed February 22,
2013. url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4091232
appalled by the extensive research behind
advertising to delude the consumers.14 He
10 Hall, Elton W. Dwiggins, William Addison,
American National Biography Online (2000).
did however, keep developing his typogra-
Accessed February 22, 2013. url: http://www.anb. phy and designing for LEC and other pub-
org/articles/17/17-00244.html. lishers as well as Knopf. He also amused
11 Ibid
himself and his friends with an elaborate
marionette theater, which he designed be-
12 Majure, Bill. A Brief History of the Limited
Editions Club, last modified 2012, http://www.
neath his studio (Fig 5, 7). In addition to
majure.net/lechistory.htm. winning critical acclaim for his work, he
13 Shaw, Paul. Tradition and Innovation: The Design
also earned a gold medal of the American
Work of William Addison Dwiggins, Design Institute of Graphic Arts in 1929 and an
Issues, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Autumn, 1984): 27. honorary degree from Harvard University
Accessed February 22, 2013. url: http://www.jstor.
org/stable/1511497.
in 1947. Dwiggins was an accomplished
man, had many distinguished friends, and,
14 Ibid, 27.
Figure 5: Dwiggins marrionette it seems, a lifetime of enjoyed hard work.
Graphic design truly was his field. He even
Figure 7: Dwiggins marrionette theater designed his own personal logo (Fig 6).

8
 Caledonia Typeface

Caledonia typeface is classified through the ATypI system, of

the Association Typographique Internationale, as a Transitional
typeface. The Transitional typeface is a bridge between Old Style
and Modern serifed typefaces in that it has a more vertical axis and
sharper serifs than that of its predecessor. The most widely used
font within this category is Times New Roman, which is easily
comparable with Caledonia in similarity and disparity. However, the
font most recognized in association with Transitional is Baskerville.
Transitional typefaces derive their heritage from Scotch Roman
Type.15 What may be considered the first of the Transitional style
typeface is the Kings Roman.16
 Caledonia Typeface

Figure 8: Roman du Roi

T he Kings Roman (Romain du Roi)

marked a significant departure from
the former Old Style types. Louis XIV,
15 Ascender Fonts, Scotch Roman Roman, Scotch
Roman Roman Type Information, 15 May
2003, http://www.ascenderfonts.com/font/
scotch-roman-roman.aspx (15 May 2003).
King of France, commissioned it in 1692.
16 I Love Typography, History of Typography:
This time period was the beginning of Transitional, Part 3: Siecle Des Lumieres,
the Enlightenment, which was marked by 17 Jan 2008, http://ilovetypography.

a resistance to tradition.17 This resistance com/2008/01/17/type-terms-transitional-

type (17 Jan 2008).
enveloped all areas of life: art, literature,
philosophy, religion, as well as typogra- 17 Felici, James. The Complete Manual of
Typography (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2003), 46.
phy. The Romain du Roi typeface was
a novelty. It was based on rational prin- 18 Morison, Stanley. Letter Forms (Point Roberts:
Hartley and Marks, 1997), 23.
ciples of mathematics (Fig 8, 9). Where
Humanist and Old Style typefaces owed 19 I Love Typography, History of Typography:
Transitional, Part 3: Siecle Des Lumieres,
much to the handwritten letterform, Tran- 17 Jan 2008, http://ilovetypography.
sitional types had decreased calligraphic com/2008/01/17/type-terms-transitional-

flow and increased readability.18 19 type (17 Jan 2008).

Figure 9: Roman du Roi

11
Caledonia Typeface

Transitional typeface characteristics

are as follows: 20
STROKE CONTRAST
1. Greater contrast between thick and
thin strokes (Fig 10)

2. Wider, gracefully bracketed serifs with

flat bases

3. Larger x-height

4. Vertical stress in rounded strokes

(Fig 11)
OLD STYLE TRANSITIONAL
Comparing and contrasting Caledonia
Palatino Baskerville
with other types within this category is es-
sential but it is also important to notice the
details of the typeface on its own stand-

OO
ing. Two letters in particular are telling of a
20 Craig, James. Designing with Type (New York:
Watson-Guptill, 2006), 34.
VERTICAL STRESS typeface, the O and the H, h.
The O is more oval and upright (ver-
21 Felici, James. The Complete Manual of tical stress), with both higher and lower
Typography (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2003), 46. contrasts, like that of all Transitional type-
22 Beier, Sofie. Reading Letters (Amsterdam: BIS, faces.21 The capital letter forms of C, G and
2012), 93. Q follow the specs of the O form almost
23 Cheng, Karen. Designing Type (New Haven: perfectly. The lower case includes much
Yale University Press, 2005), 44. more letters that follow the curvature of
24 Kraus, Nick. History of American Art Deco, the o: c, e, and the rounded side of the b, p,
Last modified December 2005, http://www. d and q. The stemmed side of these letters
brynmawr.edu/cities/archx/05-600/proj/
follow the curvature of the h. The optical
p2/npk/historydeco.htm
OLD STYLE TRANSITIONAL and mathematical centers are equal in the
Caledonia typeface, whereas New Times
Palatino Baskerville Roman and Baskerville have a slightly high-
er optical center. Caledonia and Baskerville
have a higher contrast of stroke width than
New Times Roman, and the counter of
Figure 10: Stroke Contrast the O and the width of the H is wider in
Baskerville than the other two types.
Figure 11: Vertical stress The H is almost identical in all three.
Caledonia differs the most in that the
crossbar is thinner and, as with many of its
capital letters, the flat, horizontal portion
reaching to the cap height and/or extend-
ing to the baseline are slightly indented or
grooved, whether it is the serif or the arm
of a letter. Though all of the serifs of the

12

Figure 12: Sharp curve in the lowercase
h of Caledonia Typeface
h
capital letters are bracketed, a very different
aspect of Caledonia is that the serifs of the
lowercase letters do not all include brackets.
A strong example of this is the lower case
h. Where New Times Roman and Basker-
ville both show bracketing throughout,
Caledonia does not show bracketing on its
baseline serifs except solely on the hs right
inner leg. This stands true with many of the
typefaces lowercase letters.
In continuing to look at the lower case
h of Caledonia, the most noticeable differ-
ence in comparing with other types is the
abrupt sharpness of the inner curve of the
h.22 This sharp curve is contained in the
lowercase letters a, n, m and u, but is not
as prominent as it is in the h (Fig 12). This
really gives Caledonia its distinction among
the serifed types. This characteristic will be
talked about later in more detail.
The letters that include a hook-form,
ball terminal are the J and the lowercase a,
c, f, j and y. All with a reduced stem width
leading into the terminal. A couple outli-
ers to this consistency are the lowercase p
and q. Their descenders include modified
serifs, bracketed on one side of the stem
and unbracketed on the other. Two other
letters with noticeable difference from this
regularity are the r and g. The ball terminal
of the lowercase r is cut at an angle. Simi-
larly, the gs ear is also cut at an angle and
resembles that of the rs terminal.
The ascenders of the lowercase b, d,
h, k and l have a heavier width at the top,
which gradually thins descending down the
stem of the character. They are distinctly
capped with a one-sided, slanted serif. This
capped slanted serif is also seen with other
lowercase letters such as the i, j, n, m, p, r
and u, but the v, w, x, and y have straight
horizontal caps. The crossbar of the lower-
case t is slanted in unison with other capped
slanted serifs, matching their angle. The t is
noted as having no serifs.
Spurs and tails (Fig 13) are included in
the Caledonia typeface. Letters that include
spurs are the uppercase C, G and S, and
lowercase q and s. However, the throat of
the G is serifed with no spur. The capital
Stem
Handglovery
Terminal
Bracket Crossbar Counter
Figure 13: Letter Anatomy
Q has a tail that extends from the bottom-
center of the oval form and swoops to the
right. This action reinforces a left-to-right
reading motion.23
This typeface follows an unusual pat-
tern with many outliers and distinctions.
This gives it its invaluable rugged feel and a
quality that can require detailed study if de-
sired. The uniqueness of each letter grants
a reader visual interest but also easy read-
ability as it still strongly fits into the guide-
lines of a Transitional typeface.
Though this typeface is categorized as
Transitional (or Neoclassical), it was cre-
ated in 1938 during the time of Art Deco
in America. It shows, through Caledonias
structure, that Dwiggins was influenced by
Ascenders
Ear Bowl
Axis
Link/
Neck
Loop/Lobe
Caledonia Typeface
this art movement. Art Deco is known for
its ornamentation being focused on geom-
etry, machinery, botany, nationalism and
color. American Art Deco conveyed both
beauty and strength.24 Caledonia has the
clean sparseness of the motor age, as well
as an incorporation of mathematical exact-
ness, which shows strength through the
stability and commonality seen throughout
the typeface. Also in Caledonia, beauty seen
in the small details, through slight botanic
treatments such as flared ascenders, and a
delicate thinning and thickening through-
out the letters.
CAP HEIGHT
Eye Shoulder
X-HEIGHT
BASELINE
Finial
Descender
Tail
13
 The Making of Caledonia

In 1928, Dwiggins most successful writing, Layout in Advertising,

was published and included a criticism he had made about the
need for better sans-serif types, which led Mergenthaler Linotype
Company to invite him to design one. Dwiggins accepted the
challenge, and designed the Metro series. Impressed with this type,
Mergenthaler Linotype offered Dwiggins a contract, where he
worked with them for twenty-seven years, producing twelve type
designs, five of which were issued to the trade, two of which have
been digitalized and are currently used.
 The Making of Caledonia

A t the end of the 1930s, the Mergen-

thaler Linotype Company asked
Dwiggins to produce an update to their ver-
sion of the popular book typeface, Scotch
Roman (Fig 14). In America, Scotch Roman
was criticized for its heavy capitals and un-
even color. Dwiggins studied Baskerville,
Bodoni, and Didot along with studying
Bulmer. Bulmer is the name of a transi-
tional serif typeface originally designed by
William Martin in 1792 for the Shakespeare
Press. Martin worked under John Basker-
ville, and his types show Baskervilles in-
fluence.25 Bulmer is said to be between
Baskerville and Didot, so this was the hy-
brid that Dwiggins was looking for as a
base for this new typeface.26 Though Dwig-
gins began with the thought of refining the
Scotch Roman typeface, eventually he drew Figure 14: Scotch Roman 25 Macmillan, Neil, An AZ of Type Designers,

much inspiration from Bulmer typeface (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 132.

(Fig 15).27 As compared earlier, Baskerville 26 Lawson, Alexander, Anatomy of a Typeface,

and Caledonia have many similarities in de- (Boston: David R. Godine Inc., 1990), 214.

sign. However, Dwiggins follows the mold 27 Hlasta, Stanley C., Printing Types & How

of Scotch Roman as he induced the flat top
of the t and long lowercase ascenders into
Caledonia typeface.28 But in no way is Cale-
donia known to be a pastiche. Dwiggins
sense of form was so strong that it perme-
ates even the smallest detail, preserving its
originality.29
So in 1938, Dwiggins designed Cale-
to Use Them, (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Press,
1950),111-114.
28 Typefoundry: Documents for the history of type
and letterforms, Scotch Roman, http://
typefoundry.blogspot.com/2007/02/scotch-
roman.html. Last modified February 14, 2009.
29 Unger, Gerard, Experimental No. 223, A
Newspaper Typeface, Designed by W.A. Dwiggins,
Quarendo 11 (1981): 4.

donia for the Mergenthaler Linotype Com-

pany. He chose the name Caledonia, the
Roman name for Scotland, to express the
faces original intended basis on the early
nineteenth century Scotch Roman type-
face, created by Richard Austin, an English
punchcutter.30
Dwiggins took great care in the details
when creating Caledonia. The positiveness
of stroke that he adds to the long ascend-
ing stems of the lowercase letters, as they Figure 15: Bulmer
start out thinner at the base and widen and

15
The Making of Caledonia
30 Bringhurst, Robert, The Elements of
Typographic Style. (WA: Hartley and Marks,
1996), 299.
31 Zonghi, Roberta, The Dwiggins Marionettes at the
Boston Public Library, in, edited by Dirks, Phyllis
T. (Jefferson: Mcfarland & Co., 2004), 199.
32 Unger, Gerard, Experimental No. 223, A
Newspaper Typeface, Designed by W.A. Dwiggins,
Quarendo 11 (1981): 320.
16
flare at the top, gives the typeface a liveli- resulting in blurred text. This usually oc-
ness and rustic feel that Dwiggins inten- curred with smaller point sizes such as size
tionally sought to keep. 7 and smaller. In Dwiggins quest to solve
Also, there is a subtle pinch in the this problem, he used the basis of the M-
transition of the small h, n, m and u. This Formula. He worked on Caledonia from
was based on what Dwiggins termed the 1932-1939, and during the last years of this
M-Formula (Fig 16, 17). The M in M-For- period, along with many other experimen-
mula stands for marionette and refers tal typefaces, he worked on Experimental
to the principles of puppet making. In No. 223 (Fig 18). The M-Formula was ap-
1928, Dwiggins became interested in mari- plied more discretely in Caledonia than in
onettes. He and his friends and colleagues No. 223 and is possibly the reason why Cale-
from the Hingham Manuscript Club built a donia turned out to be successful.32
marionette outfit to produce some of their
writings through theater venue. Dwiggins Figure 18: M-Formula Shown in
noticed that the faces of the marionettes Experimental No. 223 (See pg 17)
appeared flat and unnatural from the view
of the audience. He solved this problem
by carving extremely angular facial features
Figure 16: M-Formula for the puppets. This made the features
more visible and seem more lifelike from
far away. This new finding influenced his
typeface designs as well, especially that of
Caledonia.31
Caledonia was also brought to final-
ity through Dwiggins experimentation
of designs for newsprint. The director of
the Mergenthaler Linotype Co., Chauncey
Griffith, strove toward a more legible type
for newspapers. At this time, the web of
the pulp paper tended to fill up the small
counters of some of the lower case letters
Figure 17: M-Formula
The Making of Caledonia

17
 Technology and Caledonia

The Mergenthaler Linotype Company is a corporation founded

in America in 1886 by Ottmar Mergenthaler (Fig 19, 20). With the
companys primary product, the Linotype machine, it became the
worlds leading manufacturer of book and newspaper typesetting
equipment; its only serious challenger for book production was the
Monotype Corporation. The invention of the Linotype replaced
the labor-intensive task of setting type by hand (Fig 21, 22).
Mergenthaler Linotype dominated the printing industry through
the twentieth century. The company endured a complex history,
during which printing technology moved to phototypesetting, and
then to digital.33
 Technology and Caledonia

Figure 19: Current Mergenthaler

Linotype Company Trademark

Figure 20: Historical Mergenthaler

Linotype Company Trademark

19
Technology and Caledonia

C aledonia was sold by Linotype in

England under the same name, and
in Germany as Cornelia. A German typo-
graphic foundry, Stempel, had an exclusive
relationship with Mergenthaler Linotype
Company. Cornelia, as it was called in Ger-
many, proved so popular that the Stempel
foundry cast it as a foundry type.
Caledonia was specifically designed
for linotype composition and has the clean
sparseness of the motor age. Typefaces de-
signed for the Linotype were restricted by
two key factors, thus restricting the creativ-
ity of the designers. First, kerning of the
letters was very difficult. Special treatment
of the letters, which required detailed com-
positor work, was required. Second, the em
was divided into only 18 units, which dis-
33 Kahan, Basil, Ottmar Mergenthaler: The Man couraged subtlety of proportion.34
and his Machine, (New Castle: Oak Knoll Press, Caledonia is primarily a book typeface
2000), 30.
and Linotype sold an optional version of
34 Bringhurst, Robert, The Elements of Typographic the ascenders and descenders that were
Style. (WA: Hartley and Marks, 1996), 137.
longer than the shorter standard ones add-
35 Connare, Vincent, The Type Designs of William ed to increase readability in book text sizes.
Addison Dwiggins, http://www.connare.com/
essays.htm#footnote24. Last Modified May
In 1982, Linotype released a typeface titled
22, 2000. New Caledonia. The difference in the orig-
inal letterpress version and the Linotype
digital version of Caledonia is that the digi-
tal version has very straight ascender stems
and all the small letters have cupped serifs.
Also, New Caledonia shows flat serifs on
the bottoms of the small letters and shows
retained cups on the capitals. The subtle
pinch in the transition of the small n, m, h
and u is better represented as well. Overall,
the digital version, New Caledonia, is a bet-
ter example of the original idea Dwiggins
had in mind (Fig 23).35
Dwiggins also wrote articles for the
Boston Evening Transcript, one of which
Figure 21: Linotype Machine Logo
reveals his prediction as to where the art
Figure 22: Linotype Machine of typography was heading. In his article,
New Kind of Printing Calls for New De-
sign (August 29, 1922), he calls attention

20
 Technology and Caledonia

to the tremendous advances in printing

and reproduction technology and its ef-
fect on the printing industry, the growth
of the advertising industry and mass media
and the power contained within them, and
the recognition of a new profession fac-
ing new opportunities.36 Here he coins the
term graphic designer, and he was obvi-
ously aware and accurate of the prospect
of this new profession emerging. He also
expressed his concern for standard of qual-
ity and, challenging more than questioning,
if this quality could be carried across the
gap into this new wave of technological
advancement. 37 Although Dwiggins felt
that advertising was not what he wanted
to invest the last years of his life execut-
ing, because he was a critic of American
consumerism, he did promote advertising 36 Thompson, Ellen Mazur, Origins of Graphic

in his article, New Kind of Printing Calls
for New Design, and in his book, Layout
in Advertising. He writes about his view
that advertising design is the only form of
graphic design that influences everyone.38
Dwiggins was very aware of the progress
Design in America 1870-1920, (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1997), 159.
37 Dwiggins, William Addison, New Kind of
Printing Calls for New Design, Boston Evening
Transcript (1922) in Origins of Graphic Design in
America 1870-1920 by Thompson, Ellen Mazur,
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 184.

of his time. Though he might not have an- 38 Thompson, Ellen Mazur, Origins of Graphic
ticipated the technological advancements Design in America 1870-1920, (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1997), 35.
that we have today, he certainly was correct
about the combination of skills that make
up what we now know a graphic designer
to be.

Figure 23: New Caledonia

21
 Conclusion

Caledonia, accomplished its intended purpose of replacing the

popular book typeface, Scotch Roman. It became one of the most
widely used book typefaces of all time. The digital version, New
Caledonia, released in 1982 by Linotype, and is now published by
Linotype and Adobe, is available in four weights: text, semi bold,
bold, and black. The format of this font is OpenType, which lends
the font file to be compatible with both Macintosh and Windows
computers, and it is also able to support widely expanded character
sets and layout features. New Caledonia is designed to be used at
a text size of 12.0 points. Because Dwiggins viewed technology to
Figure 24: William Addison Dwiggins personal trademark

be at its peak during his time, he could not have anticipated that
his typeface would have been generated digitally or have endured
through to this age with such popularity. He designed his own
signature logo seen on the front cover, which he also sometimes
used in shortened form as seen with just his initials (Fig 24).
Dwiggins worked at perfecting typography and graphic design of
his time and had tremendous impact on these fields.
 Bibliography

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24
Lawson, Alexander. Anatomy of a Typeface. Boston:
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25
 Book Design, Cover Design and Typography by
Julie A. Farrell

Produced using a MacBook Pro and InDesign 5.5

Typefaces used are Garamond Regular, Bold and Italic
Printed by
Common Vision
Baltimore, MD

Printed on Coverstock 80 lb paper

Art 430, Typography III

Margaret Re, Instructor