It’s likely that no other typestyle has been subject to more rephrasing than Garamond. Monotype, Simoncini, and Berthold all have their own versions; Adobe offers two interpretations and Linotype (if you count the Stempel design) has three. Other typefaces, such as Sabon and Granjon, are essentially versions of Garamond that go by different names. What is it, then, that make ITC Garamond a class unto itself?
A Family Resemblance
In one way or another, all the many different Garamond typefaces descend from the 16th century original. Like most members of even very large families, they share recognizable traits. For example, character stroke-weight stress in every Garamond design is canted, with the heaviest parts at approximately the two and eight o'clock positions. Head serifs (those at the top of character strokes) look like little banners, and baseline serifs tend to be long, slightly cupped and (in most Garamonds) have soft, rounded ends. Nearly every Garamond has “bi-directional” serifs on the top of the cap T.
ITC Garamond shares these design traits, but its large x-height, baroque character shapes and wide proportions in the regular designs set it apart from its cousins. The reason for ITC Garamond’s distinctive qualities? It was never intended to be a classic interpretation of the 16th century fonts; in fact, it was conceived as a display face.
Garamond on Display
Drawn by Tony Stan, ITC Garamond was first released in 1975 in Book and Ultra weights only. These were intended as display faces to complement existing text designs from other foundries. (In fact, many of ITC’s interpretations of traditional typefaces began as display counterparts for existing text designs.)
These first weights of ITC Garamond became so popular, however, that ITC released the Light and Bold weights and a suite of condensed faces in 1977. Now, the complete ITC Garamond family features sixteen members: four weights of roman and italic in normal width and four weights of roman and italic in companion condensed versions. The family resemblance is there, but ITC Garamond’s unique provenance gives it an unmistakable, one-of-a-kind appeal.