What is "garamond"

1780, typeface named for 16c. French type-founder Claude Garamond.

Garamond is a group of many old-style serif typefaces, originally those designed by Claude Garamond and other 16th century French designers, and now many modern revivals. Though his name was written as 'Garamont' in his lifetime, the typefaces are invariably spelled 'Garamond'.

Garamond worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp matrices, the moulds used to cast metal type. He worked in the tradition of what is now called old-style serif letter design, that produced letters with a relatively organic structure resembling handwriting with a pen but with a slightly more structured and upright design. Although Garamond himself remains considered an eminent figure in French printing of the sixteenth century, historical research over the last century has increasingly placed him in context as one artisan among several active at a time of rapid production of new typefaces in sixteenth-century France, operating within a pre-existing tradition defined by the work of printers of the preceding half-century, in particular Aldus Manutius and his punchcutter Francesco Griffo. Therefore, the term Garamond may be understood to mean typefaces based on the appearance of early modern French printing, not necessarily specifically Garamond's work.

Some distinctive characteristics in Garamond's letters are the small eye of the 'e' and the bowl of the a, which has a sharp hook upwards at top left. The 'M' is slightly splayed. The x-height (height of lower-case letters) is low, especially at larger sizes, making the capitals large relative to the lower case, while the top serifs on the ascenders of letters like 'd' have a downward slope and rise subtly above the cap height. Garamond typefaces are popular and often used, particularly for printing body text and books.

Since around 1910, many modern revivals of Garamond and related typefaces have been developed. Among these, the roman (regular; upright) versions of Adobe Garamond, Granjon, Sabon, and Stempel Garamond are directly based on Garamond's work. It is common to pair these with italics based on those created by his contemporary Robert Granjon, who was well known for his proficiency in this genre. However, many 'Garamond' revivals are actually based on the work of a later punch-cutter, Jean Jannon, whose work was for some years misattributed to Garamond.

Modern Garamond revivals also often add a matching bold and 'lining' numbers at the height of capital letters, neither of which were used in Garamond's time. The most common digital release of Garamond is Monotype Garamond. Bundled with many Microsoft products, it is a revival of Jannon's work.

Garamond is the name of various old-style serif typefaces.

Garamond may also refer to:

• Claude Garamond or Garamont (ca. 1510–61) French type designer, for whom the typefaces are named
• Garamond (typography) or Garmond, Dutch or German name for 10-point (Long Primer) type size

• Jacques Nathan Garamond, French graphic artist

• Saul Garamond, protagonist of King Rat (Miéville novel)
• King Garamond II, in Valhalla and the Fortress of Eve
• Garamond Ray, in The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl
• Futura Garamond, in So Yesterday (novel)