Compacta (typeface)

Compacta
CategorySans-serif
Designer(s)Fred Lambert
FoundryLetraset
Date created1963
VariationsLight, Regular, Bold, Black
Obliques[1]

Compacta is a condensed sans-serif typeface designed by Fred Lambert for Letraset in 1963.[2] It is visually similar to the typefaces Impact and Haettenschweiler, though Compacta has a distinctively square shape in comparison. Letraset was a dry transfer system, widely used by amateur or small-scale lettering projects, although many professional designers used it as well.[3] Compacta was Letraset's first original typeface design, and proved widely popular.[4] Rights to it were acquired by Linotype and others, leading to it becoming available in other formats such as digitally.

Compacta Bold on Letraset transfers

Compacta was reportedly designed to be similar to stencilled alphabets of the 1920s and to the 'much lusted-after' Schmalfette Grotesk, an upper-case only predecessor to Haettenschweiler, which had tended to attract attention among British designers but was not available in the United Kingdom.[5][6][7] Impact was released slightly later for similar reasons.[8] Lambert taught typography at the London College of Printing as well as working for Letraset; he also curated the Graphic Design Britain anthology, as well as a book on lettering.[9][10][11] The style of lettering Compacta is based on has been called gaspipe.[12] It is also quite similar to the masthead of Private Eye (which is caps-only), designed by Matthew Carter around the same time.[13][14] Carter would later design Helvetica Compressed for similar reasons.[15]

  1. ^ "Download Compacta font family". Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  2. ^ "Compacta - Webfont & Desktop font". Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  3. ^ Lamacraft, Jane. "Rub-down revolution". Eye. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  4. ^ Loxley, Simon. Type: the secret history of letters. p. 186. ISBN 9780857730176.
  5. ^ "ITC Compacta". fonts.com. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  6. ^ Dempsey, Mike. "Schmalfette: Tall, dark and handsome". Graphic Journey. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  7. ^ Dempsey, Mike. "Frederick Lambert: Graphic Design Britain". Design Journey. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  8. ^ Lee, Geoffrey. "Comments on Typophile thread". Typophile (archived). Archived from the original on August 26, 2005. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  9. ^ Dempsey, Mike. "Frederick Lambert". Design Journey. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  10. ^ Menten, Frederick Lambert ; edited by Theodore (1972). Letter forms : 110 complete alphabets (American ed.). New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 048622872X. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Lambert, Fred (1970). Graphic design Britain 70. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 0289798418.
  12. ^ "Tungsten". Hoefler & Frere-Jones. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ^ Walters, John. "Matthew Carter's timeless typographic masthead for Private Eye magazine". Eye. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ^ Carter, Matthew. "Carter's Battered Stat". Eye. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  15. ^ Drucker, Margaret. Re: essays by Johanna; Mosley, James (2003). Typographically speaking : the art of Matthew Carter (2. ed.). New York: Princeton Architectural. p. 53. ISBN 9781568984278.