Date: 1963
Designer:
Fred Lambert
Foundry:
Letraset
Location:
London, England
Current equivalent:
Compacta LET
See also:
Anzeigen Grotesk, MT Grotesque Extra Condensed, MT Condensed Sans
Technologies:
Instant lettering
Photosetting
Postscript
Famous for:
First original typeface produced for Letraset instant lettering.
Applications: Advertising and Display
Ubiquity:
Average use
Category:
Sans Serif Condensed Neo-Grotesque
Stress: Vertical
Serifs: Sans Serif
Design history:
Compacta is an extra condensed headline and display typeface, designed for very tight letter and word spacing. It was the first original Letraset typeface, designed by Fred Lambert to take advantage of the possibilities of a new method of applying letterforms to artwork boards. With the advent of instant 'rub down' lettering, closer spacing than previously possible became something of an obsession (this was also true of phototypesetting, whether specified with negative letterspacing, or pasted up as overlapping cutouts). Compacta was originally available in two weights with an oblique and an outline version; extra weights (light and black) were added later.
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