This is an entry level quiz. Expert type identifiers not allowed. ;^)

That’s got to be the workhorse text face Book Antiqua, a wonderful Monotype Original™.

(Now if they only made a version suitable for display use…)

Nope, it’s not. ;^)

Book Antiqua is a shameless rip-off by Monotype of the true original typeface by another major type foundry. It caused its renowned and celebrated type designer to part ways with ATypI upon ATypI’s failure to denounce this ethical abomination. Recent events gave a quite surreal turn to this case.

BTW I asked to e-mail me the response so that other beginners would have the occasion to participate to the quiz as well. ;^)

I was kidding, Yves! I know the story; I was trying to allude to it.

I thought that the tip-off would be that I described it as a “workhorse text face”, when in fact the original was intended as a display face, and not as the text face that it eventually became. Oh, and the made-up trademark Monotype Original™. :D

(I did miss the part about submitting by e-mail. Sorry if I inadvertently spoiled the quiz.)

I was kidding, Yves!

Ack, stoopid me! :^P The absence of any smileys made me wonder if you were serious or not.

Don’t worry about the e-mail part, I guess it will take a little while until we find the proper way to do this one. I still haven’t heard the actual name BTW! ;^)

Palatino woot woot.

Heh heh, got it! ;^)

Next challenge. Please e-mail the solution through my profile to allow other beginner enthusiasts to participate.

Correct answers:

1. Jesse Phillips (Sept 4th, 2006 | 02:51)
2. Marie Matthews (Sept 4th, 2006 | 16:05)
3. Niall Moran (Sept 5th, 2006 | 11:57)

All times are GMT+2:00

Is it contemporary?

This looks so familiar but I just can’t place it. Definitely has a place in the ‘modern’ catagory by the structure of the glyphs, similar stress and structre to glyphs in bodoni/didot.

Marie was very complete in her answer — she was able to tell me it was designed in 1993 by one of the living legends in type design. ;^)

Mmh?! I first thought it is Georgia, but it is from 1996?

Dear Steven, you just blew the quiz for everyone else. Please send your answers through my profile next time. :^/

You’re right Steven, it is 1996. Where did you find the 1993 date, Marie? Maybe one is when he started designing and the other the release date.

By the way ;^)

Georgia, Georgia,
The whole day through
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

I’m say Georgia
Georgia
A song of you
Comes as sweet and clear
As moonlight through the pines

Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you

I said Georgia,
Ooh Georgia, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you

Georgia,
Georgia,
No peace, no peace I find
Just this old, sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

I said just an old sweet song,
Keeps Georgia on my mind

ChrisL

“Georgia is a font designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter for Microsoft.” thats from wikipedia.

Also i think its interesting how some fonts designed for microsoft like georgia are good, but others like book antique and of course arial are less than good. Although I don’t know if Georgia’s only real merit is screen legibility.

I found the 1993 date on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_font.

The more I think about it, the more I think that 1996 makes more sense than 1993. Georgia was designed for on-screen and web use. NCSA Mosaic, the first graphical browser that I know of, was released in 1993 and didn’t really begin to catch on until early 1994. The Netscape browser didn’t exist until late 1994.

Perhaps we should verify it and possibly correct the entry in Wikipedia?

Next challenge. Please e-mail the solution through my profile to allow other beginner enthusiasts to participate. It’s not like I haven’t got anything else to do all day than to post new challenges, people. ;^)

Correct answers:

David Bailey | Marie Matthews | Stephen Lording | D Riley | Jesse Philips | Eric West | Niall Moran | Bart De Ruyck | Joshua Covarrubias | Roy Wilhelm | Stephan Kurz | Frank Finnegan | Sebastian von Bischopink | Kris Dale | Heather McNabb

Most of the answers are very complete and include a short historical background — top quality stuff. Oh, and I really appreciate this particular comment:

“I’m hooked now …

By the way, I had to work fairly hard on this one, and I learned a lot from the process.”

Glad everyone likes it. Unfortunately I can’t respond to everyone personally anymore, so just check this box once you’ve sent your answer to see if your name appears in the list. :^)

I was thinking the same thing… about working fairly hard on this one, learning alot etc… alas, I was too lazy to write that. Next time i find some background info.
I stepped over to the advanced forum, for a second, ID’ing unreleased fonts. Hmmm…

Then I came back.

the words you used in the last ID made it too easy for someone knowing what it means. the man who designed the face is a great speaker, too ;)

what does it mean?

ok, i’ve been fortunate enough to hear the designer of the typeface speaking at an evening in an exhibition of the works of adrian frutiger. that made it easier.

i think the best translation would be “german federal mail”. this is a strong link to the original reason to design this typeface.

I picked Bart de Ruyck’s answer:

“FF Meta by Erik Spiekermann.

Originally developed as “PT 55” for the West German Post Office (Deutsche Bundespost) in 1985, but ultimately rejected in favour of Helvetica. The typeface was later released as FF Meta. The name refers to Metadesign, a design studio that was founded (among others) by Spiekermann.”

Good show, everyone! :^)

Some people thought the hint was a bit too obvious. Let’s see if this one is as easy. :^P

Next challenge. Please e-mail the solution through my profile to allow other beginner enthusiasts to participate.

Correct answers:

Frank Finnegan | Bart De Ruyck | Eric West | D Riley | Thierry Blancpain

Too tired tonight to look for this one. Might try tomorrow if i can think clearly. Thanks for posting them though.

Hehe, you’re welcome. I hated it that the Type ID Pop Quiz became so incredibly difficult that a lot of people felt they were being left out. This is more my idea of an interactive and collaborative forum, where users of all levels can participate.

This one proves to be more of a challenge it seems — just added the third correct answer. B^)

From Bart De Ruycke, again the most complete answer:

Hydrous is a typeface created in 2001 by Thai designer Anuthin ‘Newt’ Wongsunkakon in collaboration with Rodrigo Cavazos and published by PSY/OPS. Wongsunkakon teaches graphic design at Chulalongkorn Bangkok University and is a prolific designer of Thai typefaces. The industrial sans serif’s most striking feature, is the raindrop-like terminal, which re-enforces the typeface’s subtle “hydrous” character.

Nice going guys! Next challenge coming up.

A slightly easier one.

Next challenge. Please e-mail the solution through my profile to allow other beginner enthusiasts to participate.

Correct answers:

Frank Finnegan | Jelmar Geertsma | Eric West | D Riley | Stephan Kurz | James Mark Hatley | Stuart Marks | Eron Swedberg

Eron Swedberg had this to say:

“Hi Yves, the font currently posted is Bank Gothic Medium, designed by
Morris Fuller Benton in 1930 for the American Type Founders Company. This font is bundled with Corel Draw and Corel Word Perfect Suite. Bank Gothic is severly overused, but I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that ;) Oh yah and it looks like it is the Bitstream version.”

Anyone up for another one? ;^)

As Typophile was not feeling very well on Sunday the new challenge is a little later. As always please e-mail the solution through my profile to allow other beginner enthusiasts to participate.

Oh, and I need to warn you this challenge has added layers of trickery. Impossible to Google, and not everything is what it seems. Good luck!

lol if its impossible to google then im out.

Correct answers:

D Riley | Niall Moran | Bart De Ruyck | Eron Swedberg

Correct answer after the revelation that it wasn’t a German designer:

Thierry Blancpain

probably its too early for a hint, but: from the look im pretty sure its a german designer, i just cant get his name right now. before i invest too much time to find his name, is the designer german?

While I’m not entirely sure I’ve submitted the correct answer, I think the designer is not German. And don’t spend too much time finding his name — it could prove to be very unfruitful.

i found it now, it was a tricky one. and yes, no german designer.

Hi everyone, I just got back from Lisbon. Do you want the solution, or do I give a hint and some extra time to try and find this one? Let me know.

Whatever you choose, a hint can’t hurt:

Jane

alternate ‘a’

This is what you might have found if you had Googled incorporated town. There is a reason why I used the plural. ;^)

I’ll give this one another 24 hours, is that cool with everyone?

My internet was having the hiccups last night, so it was even more than 24 hours extra. The sample was Zuzana Licko’s bodacious Tarzana Wide, but I used the alternate ‘a’. Fooled some of you! :^)

The first one to tell me — in this thread, not through e-mail this time — what the hint was gets extra points!

This is the new challenge, a little easier this time. Please e-mail the solution through my profile to allow other beginner enthusiasts to participate. Have fun!

As to the linked hint, I assumed you were referring to Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan. This may have helped to confirm but certainly wouldn’t lead you to the answer if you hadn’t already guessed it.

Indeed, very good deduction, D.

Argh, Tarzana was really hard. It was indeed the alternate ‘a’ that threw me. It had an Emigre feel to it (in retrospect I was probably picking up Zuzana Licko’s style). But I skipped right past Tarzana when I was looking through Emigre fonts! Very, very tricky. Good job.