Typographic Abbreviations Series #2: VAG

This entry is the second in a series of short articles explaining exactly what all those mysterious abbreviations you come across in your typographic lives actually mean. In this installation, the abbreviation we’ll examine is VAG (as in VAG Rounded).

VAG Rounded is a typeface that was originally developed by Sedley Place in 1979 as part of the corporate branding for Volkswagen. The “VAG” stands for “Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft” (which is German for “Volkswagen Incorporated”). In 1989, the font was published for public use by Adobe. Its designers were David Bristow, Gerry Barney, Ian Hay, Kit Cooper, and Terence Griffin.

VAG Rounded is one of many fonts which come bundled with several of Adobe’s industry-standard design programs, such as Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. Because of the huge popularity of Adobe software (and subsequent proliferation of VAG Rounded), many designers have VAG Rounded loaded on their computers whether they know it or not. It is not surprising then, especially when considering VAG Rounded’s clean, simple, and friendly design, that it has become a very commonly used font.

While the type experts at Adobe identify VAG Rounded as “a variation on nineteenth-century grotesque sans serif designs”, its most obvious distinguishing factor is the use of rounded terminals. This design element gives it a uniquely soft and friendly feeling, making it popular as a choice for many modern logo designs and marketing campaigns (for more on this topic, see this entry on the FontShop blog by Stephen Coles).

In fact, the clean and friendly appearance of VAG Rounded earned it the choice for use on the keyboards of all Apple iBooks and 2003-and-later PowerBooks, further exposing the font to designers around the world.

Another indirect testament to the success of VAG Rounded when used in the context of corporate marketing is GE Inspira, an adaptation of VAG Rounded developed by Michael Abbink around 2002 as part of a visual identity system for General Electric. Some comparisons between the two fonts are made in the following image (from Wikipedia):

I still haven’t figured out how to pronounce VAG Rounded in my normal conversation. My immediate instinct is to make a word from the VAG initials and refer to it as something that would sound like “Vadge Rounded” or simply “Vadge”. But for obvious awkwardness-avoiding reasons I think I’ll just take the time to pronounce each letter: “Vee Ay Gee Rounded”.

Innocent vernacular or sick typographic joke?

In the font business we sometimes pour light-hearted scorn on those who would use Comic Sans, particularly when there’s no particularly light-hearted or funkiness in the subject matter. (When arriving in Lisbon airport, I was amused to see stern warnings about bringing Cholera into the country, set in Microsoft’s most popular font.) Are the people who use Comic Sans “inappropriately” actually worse than other kinds of amateur typographer? Perhaps not in general. At least they have discovered the font menu – one of the first steps on the way to typographic enlightenment.

But every now and then all one’s prejudices come fulfilled in one glorious moment! Recently I took a trip to Germany, taking in the city of Jena (home of Carl Zeiss lenses) as well as Berlin. In a Jena side street, we came upon this laundromat combined with an internet station, call shop and copy shop. There are frankly so many mistakes, even subtle ones like upside-down E’s and H’s, that I can hardly believe it is all an accident, a genuine piece of vernacular use of lettering.

What do you think? Witty joke by a talented typographer? Or not…?

Robundo Publishing Visit

Adam Twardoch and I had the honor last week of meeting with a group of type-related people in Tokyo. The meeting was hosted at the office of Robundo Publishing [English translation], a venerable publishing house, type shop, and private design university all in one.

Robundo houses an impressive collection of typography books, Japanese metal type, and even a replica of a 1921 Adana tabletop printing press that Katashio-san of Robundo is building from scratch based on the original blueprints.

Here are a few photos from that afternoon.

Japanese metal type.

Type forme for Adana press.

More fleurons than you can shake a stick at.

Well-loved Linotype book.

November 2006 Rising Stars

Every month we add new, innovative fonts and sign up new foundries. In the November 2006 issue of Rising Stars, we show you our top-selling new fonts.

Camingo is a highly legible, modern sans serif typeface. Designed for the needs of editorial and corporate design Camingo is not only suited for large texts in small sizes, but is also robust enough to make your headlines stand out. Camingo comes in seven weights. The Camingo OpenType fonts contain a whole slew of typographic features including small caps, fractions, numeral variations, ligatures, and alternate glyphs.

Graphic Stylin is a decorative, stencil script with an old timey feel to it. It works well for headlines and poster art. Included in the font are several handy ink blots, a stylish tailpiece, and two ink bottles. Graphic Stylin is sure to give your projects some pizzazz!

TheNautigal is a contemporary script style, fashionable yet formal with beautiful connectors. It’s great for both casual use and sophisticated projects!

Yevida is a script font with a slightly Arabic twist. It includes a number of advanced OpenType features, including alternates, ligatures, and old style figures. We like its elegant flair, which makes it perfect for weddings and invitations.