ITC Franklin Gothic
Morris Fuller Benton drew Franklin Gothic in 1902. At first only a roman was released, but as this single design became popular, additional variants were added to the family. A condensed design was drawn in 1905, and an extra condensed in 1906. Five years later Benton finally added an italic to the family, and two years after that a shaded was offered as the last Benton addition to the Franklin Gothic series.
In 1980, under license from ATF, ITC developed four new weights in roman and italic. Designed by Victor Caruso, ITC’s new weights matched the original face’s characteristics, but featured an enlarged x-height and a slightly condensed lowercase. In 1991, ITC commissioned David Berlow to create condensed, compressed and extra compressed versions for the family.
ITC Charter
Charter was the first original type design issued by Bitstream Inc. In 1993 ITC acquired the design through an exclusive license. The design follows traditional 18th century Roman types in proportion and form, but with some very untraditional traits of its own. Among its classic characteristics are the relatively narrow capitals, which are similar in proportion to late Oldstyle designs. The serif structure and the engraver’s forms derive from types cut by P.S. Fournier in Paris in the 1740s. The serifs, however, are not as delicate. Also, the contrast in stroke weights is less severe than Fournier’s.