| Date: 1914 Designer:
Morris Fuller Benton Foundry:
ATF Location:
Chicago, USA Current equivalent:
ITC Souvenir (recut 1967 by Edward Benguiat - shown above) See also:
Hobo by the same designer, URW Souvenir Gothic Technologies:
Metal (machine)
Photosetting
Postscript | | Famous for:
First of the 'legibility' group of typefaces. Applications: Book Publishing & General Purpose Text Setting Ubiquity:
Very widely used Category:
20th century Serif Roman Stress: Vertical
Serifs: Small Modern Serif | | Design history:
Designed originally in a single weight by Morris Fuller Benton in 1914, this is a 20th century roman that, like Benton's Hobo, incorporates Art Nouveau curves. Morris Fuller, like his father, Linn Boyd Benton, worked as type design director for ATF, and the continuing tradition lent something of a house style to ATF's type design programme. Souvenir became known as 'the printers friend', because it was so forgiving of poor quality presswork. In 1967, Ed Benguiat picked Souvenir as one of the first faces to be adapted for photocomposition by his new business Photo-Lettering. When ITC was formed in 1971, it released Benguiat's re-design as ITC Souvenir with an additional three weights and matching italics. | |  |
