The Unit Gothic series was released by Hamilton Manufacturing Co. in 1907. This sans serif family features one of the first multi width/weight type 'systems' anticipating the Univers font system by 50 years. This set of 7 fonts was designed to aid in press room efficiency and with its incremental variation in widths gave poster printers unprecedented flexibility in fitting copy while using consistently harmonious fonts. This HWT release is the first ever digital version of these fonts. Each font contains 600 glyphs including Greek and Cyrillic character sets as well as alternate characters which are based on the actual special character production patterns from the Hamilton Wood Type Museum collection.
From Wood Type by Hamilton, Catalog 38, 1938:
All characters of the same size in any of these seven widths are on uniform bodies with the exception of caps M, W and I, and lower case letters i, j, f, l and t. This series of Unit Gothics will be found invaluable in the production of artistic posters as it embodies an even and gradual reduction in widths. If a line set in type of one width does not fit the space available, another width of the same size will always be right.
All characters of the same size in any of these seven widths are on uniform bodies with the exception of caps M, W and I, and lower case letters i, j, f, l and t. This series of Unit Gothics will be found invaluable in the production of artistic posters as it embodies an even and gradual reduction in widths. If a line set in type of one width does not fit the space available, another width of the same size will always be right.
American woodtype seldom has accents, but when an overseas client ordered woodtype, special considerations were made. These patterns provided insignts into accent placement and other seldom seen characters.
Alternate "Special" character patterns (using lower grade wood and nails to hold patterns together)were designed for Unit Gothic some time later and are included in all weights of the new digital version.
Production Patterns in the Hamilton Collection include Russian and Greek which have been expanded for full coverage in all of the digital weights.
Production patterns in the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum collection provided some harder to find characters. The production numbers 716 & 717 showed that some patterns were used for multiple widths by adjusting the proportions on the pantograph when cutting the type.
While keeping historical sources intact, the new digital versions of the Unit fonts featured additional characters drawn by designer James Todd.
The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin is the only museum dedicated to the preservation, study, production and printing of wood type. With 1.5 million pieces of wood type and more than 1,000 styles and sizes of patterns, Hamilton's collection is one of the premier wood type collections in the world and an unparalleled source of research material for type designers. A portion of proceeds from all sales of the HWT digital fonts goes toward supporting the mission and operation of the The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum.
